Unsocialized?

Since we made a firm decision to homeschool our children last spring, I have frequently been asked the question, "How will they develop social skills if you don't send them to school?" I myself had doubts as to the possible repercussions of less interaction with other children. I often found myself defending my decision by saying things like, "They'll be participating in 4H" or "We go to church" or "I plan on joining a homeschool group".

It wasn't until this past weekend that I came to a full realization of the impact of homeschooling on my children's behavior and the level of social skill they are developing. I'm sure many of you have had the pleasure - or pain, whichever the case may be - of a large family dinner outing at a busy restaurant at one time or another. Some of you have even been brave enough to bring your children along to one or more of these events. Some of you, like myself, have experienced some level of humiliation at the behaviors of those dearly beloved creatures as well.

This past weekend, we had the rare pleasure of dining out on a Saturday in a suburb of Dallas with our 3 children and 6 relatives, 2 of which were small children. We were seated at a long table in the middle of a very, very busy dining room after a lengthy wait near the front doors. The thought crossed my mind a time or two that this might possibly not be worth it all in the end, but I was already committed to the event. There was no turning back.

Once we had all given our drink orders, the waitress came around with coloring pages and a small box of crayons for each child. I always appreciate restaurants managed by people with that type of forethought. All 3 of my children promptly began to color their pictures.

Our oldest child, Riley, had found herself seated at the end of the long table next to a woman in her late 80s that she did not know at all. Next to Riley on the other side was our next oldest child, Kole. I began perusing the menu, having already made mental notes of what the kids wanted for lunch. When I made my decision and laid my menu down, I looked across the table to see Riley attempting to engage the elderly lady in a game of Hangman using the back of her coloring page and the crayons she had received earlier. It was clear that at first the lady was shocked, but her shock quickly evolved into pleasant surprise at Riley's invitation.

When Kole recognized what Riley was doing, he turned to me and eagerly requested that he and I play Hangman also. I happily participated and the little bugger almost stumped me a time or two! We moved on to Tic Tac Toe after a while, and then our orders came.

We enjoyed a delightful meal, all of our kids ate the majority of their food, and their behavior was - dare I admit this? - better than some of the adults at our table. Upon exiting the restaurant, the lady that sat next to Riley made sure to compliment Keith and I on the "exceptional behavior" of our children. She said, "You should be SO proud."

I can honestly say after witnessing this interaction between Riley and an 86 year old woman - the comfort and ease with which she socialized with someone almost 9 times her own age - I feel fairly confident that my children's social skills are developing quite well. As for her little brother parroting her behavior, I'm all for that, too. I can't remember finding as much satisfaction in very many other things that they have done to date as I did on that day. I don't think it's a time I'll soon forget.

Thank you, Riley and Kole. You made your Mommy and Daddy VERY proud!