Convention - post mortem

OK, it's Tuesday morning, and I should be planning out my day, and completing my devotion - got some great message ideas this morning - but this blog has quickly become my internal sounding board and I want to finish ruminating over this weekend.

A couple of things I didn't quite get to...

1) It's clear that homeschooling dads are present and active in this movement. I saw fathers everywhere - at least a 30 to 70 dad to mom ratio, which if you consider the fact that probably all of them (the dads) were full - time workers, is pretty darn good. I know the stereotype is still of the stay at home mom teaching the kids, while Dad swoops in to "rescue" the kids from the boredom of day to day curricula, but obviously dads like Charles and I see this as more than 'mom's world.' We are intensely concerned about our kids, which brings me to my next point....

2) Dads as primary home school teachers is a secret, small, but growing need that may hold the key to the true growth of family learning becoming an unstoppable force in society. Why do I make such a bold statement?

Because if it is true, even in 2008, that men continue to hold the majority of powerful and influential decision positions in government, church and institutions, then I can think of no greater testament to the power of home schooling than the sight of full time working men LEAVING their professions to be full time teachers at home.

Chris and Naomi at Joe's Crab Shack

Think about it. The 60's and 70's were the so-called liberation years for women to escape the home. We were (and are still) bombarded with the message that women should put their careers first. 20 years later, now the movement is in the 'you can have it all' phase where pre-K is government run and women's groups are promoting any thing and everything that DOESN'T involve the equal partnership of marriage and family. Moms are debating their choices to give up careers to have children late in life, only to find the society either punishes them for leaving work, or chastises them for staying at home. It's literally a no - man's land.

So where does that leave the men? Are we simply enablers, designed to bring home enough bacon so Mom can concentrate on the schooling? Or is it something more, like the fact that men are now entering their liberation movement? Haven't we also been shackled to the corporate chair? Haven't there been enough movies where the main character realizes, almost too late, that sacrificing family for career is a no-win situation?("Family Man" and others like that) So when, I ask, will the men of this country make the radical step that Moms make every day and come home?

Charles related a group at the convention called "Bringing Dads Home". I checked out their site at bobandtinafarewell.com and found they are using home-business opportunities to help dads have an income and still be at home. We discussed ways we can market ourselves and use what we are good at to make money. (I mean, how much corporate experience is used to make money for others, guys? Let's get selfish for our families and use that commercial sense for our own wealth building and not for distant and unconcerned CEO's!)

I know the majority of dads will never have the wherewithal to stay home full time. But the method does not matter, only the goal of having the family unit essentially unified in learning, growing, and sharing life. If that was the primary goal of every dad, I believe the social ills in our country would virtually cease. There is no substitute for the relationships
built when Mom and Dad make God their source and home their sole responsibility.

- Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father.
Proverbs 17:6

Thanks again, FPEA, for a wonderful convention and I and my family will be back many a year.
And to anyone reading, look for opportunities to be around people like the ones I met this weekend. They will help you be more in tune than ever with the strength and dedication you need to be a real family man or woman. Look to the links for more resources I found during our time in Orlando.

Looking unto the hills,

homeschooldaddy