Many, possibly even most, times the phrase, “taken for granted”, is used in a negative way. I like to use it in a positive way. When I can take something for granted it shows, in my mind, that the situation is a very secure one, one I can rely upon.

There are many people in the past who have NOT been able to take their rights for granted. Many of those people have spent a lot of their time, energy (and sometimes their lives) fighting for those things that I can take for granted now. Those who fought the American Revolution, those who worked to change child labor laws, those who wouldn’t rest until women had the vote, and so many more… so many.

Homeschoolers of the 70s and 80s: thank you, thank you. You paved the way for my life today. You hid inside the house for years, keeping your children away from prying eyes during a time when homeschooling was “weird”. You wrote your own curriculum because there were few to choose from. You stuck to your beliefs that your children belonged at home. I have endless choices for curriculum. My child has options of many workshops, classes offered from a variety of places, co-ops, meet-ups and more. We don’t have to close our curtains during the day. We go out into the world without a shred of fear. We live in a country where most people have least heard of homeschooling, even if they don’t know much about it. The image of denim jumper moms and socially awkward kids are almost completely a thing of the past. I thank every parent who chose homeschooling and every child who lived that life. You have all made our right to homeschool something that we take for granted on a daily basis. Thank you for paving the way.

I think of the homeschoolers in Rhode Island who stood up against school districts and the state. The ones that fought for our stability and ease of how-to-legally-homeschool. Some homeschoolers today are relatives of those who stood up for their rights many decades ago. We cannot and should not forget their sacrifices and the fear they lived through in order to pave the way for us, now, to homeschool fearlessly. 



I appreciate all I have in my life. There are so many people who have made and who continue to make me, here and now, possible (including my husband who leaves the house 5 days a week to earn a paycheck, which enables my chosen role as a SAHM – something I do not take for granted!!). I pause, occasionally, to think, to breathe and sometimes to audibly say, thank you, but mostly, I take you all for granted. I am safe enough to do so.