I live in that house.....

I have been neglecting my blog since grandma's birthday.  Right after the birthday celebration came Passover.  We spent it with my sister and her family.  The cousins all had a great time together.  Once we returned from that we got a little school work done only to be confronted with the public schools spring break.  "Pleaseeeee, can't we skip school and see our friends......pleaseeeee!" 

I did manage to get a little formal learning in there.  Music class, philosophy, dance class, a little math.

Today we jumped back in whole hog so to speak.  A bit of challenge getting back into things.

What does this have to do with the title of this post..I live in that house....well the other night our windows were open and we heard some of the neighbor kids and their friends outside.   "That is where xxxx lives" in a whisper, we hear.  "It is pronounced xxxx" is the next whisper.  "Let's moon them"  Don't ask.  I have no idea why they thought that would be entertaining.  They ended up not mooning our house.  Instead they mooned the traffic.  This led to my husband and I having a discussion about our neighbors.

We were never very close with the neighbors.  When the kids were little we would all be outside together.  The kids would all play together.  Moms and dads would chat a little.  But as our kids got older it became obvious to me that we were not in sync with our neighbors.  Our kids were in public school at this point so it wasn't the homeschooling.  It was a general our priorities/values/core beliefs are different.  We would invite them over for a bbq.  Some would come, some wouldn't.  We were never invited in return.  Okay, some people don't entertain.  Everyone is still nice to one another outside.

As the kids got older interests changed, alliances formed, the easy carefree block kids was now rife with kid politics.  Parents were hands off, let them work it out for themselves.  OK.  Still going with the flow.  Then we decided to homeschool. 

The first year everything was still OK.  Friendly hello.  Kids still played together.  The next year.  Oh, your still doing that.  Fewer rings of the bell for the kids to come out and play.  Then we got a dog.

Not just any dog.  A mixed breed that looks a lot like a pit bull.  The sweetest, kindest, most lovable dog you will ever meet.  One neighbor told his child that the dog is a killer and to stay away.  OK, I get that.  He looks scary.  No one else on the block has a dog.  Not everyone is a dog person.  But then he and his child proceeded to tell everyone on the block that the dog is a killer.  Not so cool anymore.   I feel a chasm open between us and the neighbors.  Oh, everyone is still friendly when we see each other but no more rings of the bell at all.

A couple of years later, we are still homeschooling.  My kids are on a swim team and we are rarely home.  We still have that dog.  We are busy with other friends and other interests.  We are not around to chat with the neighbors.  We are that house.  I think they think we are freaks. 

Having pondered that for awhile now I realize that I am okay with that.  I proudly let my freak flag fly.  Our family values/beliefs/core is not in line with theirs and that is okay.  As long as we can all be pleasant and lend a hand during a crisis (like last years flooding) I don't need anything else from the neighbors.  So the kids can point, and whisper, and moon the house.  We will continue to be who we are.

To end with my favorite t-shirt that I saw online....I have seen the village and I don't want it raising my children.