When I hear the question, "You homeschool? What about socialization?" I cringe. Socialization or socialism?

My answer to that question is, "One of our main reasons for choosing to homeschool is because of socialization. We want our kids to become leaders and free thinkers rather than fresh young oddities being prodded at from all sides by peers and teachers compelling them to conform to the modern philoso-flavor of the day."

The public school is proficient at turning out "identical independents." Why is it that most teenagers look, talk, and dress exactly the same? They think they dress that way because they want to express their "individuality." But why is it that their "individuality" is identical to so many others their age? There are acceptable boundaries of individualism. I know this firsthand because when I was a little subject going through the State Indoctrination System, I was quite aware at a very young age of what and who one was to look and act like in order to survive in the classroom and playground. However, being the insipid noodle that I was, I could never quite put it all together and make myself presentable in the Higher Social Courts. It was especially bad in middle school. I remember gazing upon the royalty and longing for some sort of connection. I did not have such lofty goals to think that I, a mere nerdburger, could be in the regal circle; I simply wished for a moment or two in their presence. I dreamed silly dreams of being noticed by them ... or--be still my heart--to even perhaps win their affection, however small it might be. So when Lady Lisa happened to come by the little group I was in at the library, I knew my chance to make an impression was at hand. Sadly, I did not have a readymade plan to swing into action, for I had not been so vain as to believe my imaginations of being addressed by Her Majesty were a true possibility. So I called upon my common sense to pull me through. My common sense told me, "Simply laugh at everything she says, so she will know that you are a loyal subject and she will see that you're a fun type of girl."

And so the conversation went something like this:

Her Majesty: "Hi, are any of you guys going to Mark's party?"

Me: hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

Her Majesty (eyeing me warily): "I hear there might be a keg there."

Me: hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

Her Majesty: "It should be pretty awesome."

Me: hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

Her Majesty (staring at me with mortification while addressing the others): "I'll give the other details privately."

Me: hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

Yep, my one big chance and all I could conjure up was a Scooby Doo impersonation. Yet I suppose the experts and psychologists today would say that sort of interaction is important to build a child's awareness of others and how to interrelate. Well, if that theory is true, I never had the opportunity to let practice make perfect because when you are identified as an idiot in middle school, there are no second chances.