Meeting new people is always awkward for me.
It’s not that I’m weird or antisocial.
On the contrary, I’ve been told I’m a friendly person.

I used to be an extrovert.
Used to be…

Meeting new people, making new friends used to be so easy.
In fact, I never even thought about the whole friendship-making process at all back then.
Friendships just happened.

Now, I think I’ve become an introvert.
In real life.
Blog life, it’s uber-easy to make friends.
In RL, not so much.

Real face time?
I get more nervous meeting a new person than speaking in front of a crowd.

The culprit?
This question:

So, what do you do?

*shrink and cower under a rock*

This is my stock answer:

I used to be a teacher and vice principal at an elementary school, but now I stay home with the kids.  And I homeschool.

See what I did there?
I justified my real answer in the beginning of the sentence.
Why do I do that?

Is it all the stigma that’s been traditionally attached to SAHMs and Homeschoolers?

Oh she’s probably poor.
Oh she can’t get a job.
Oh her kids are “special.”
Oh she doesn’t have a degree.
Oh they can’t afford day care.
Oh this….
Oh that….

Is this all just in my head?

I don’t very much like telling people that “I don’t have a job.”
I don’t like the slight (unintended) change in their tone when they say, “Oh, you stay at home?  You’re so lucky.  I wish I could stay home too.”

People always say that.  “I wish I could stay home too.”

Do they really?
Or are they just trying to make me feel good about my choice?

I’m still looking for the best way for me to say, “I’M A SAHM AND I HOMESCHOOL AND I’M DARN PROUD OF IT!”
You know, without making the potential-best-friend slowly and gracefully walk away?

Although I don’t know if I’ll be a SAHM and Homeschooler for the rest of my life, I want to be confident about it while I am those two things.

Someday, I want to hear my children proudly say, “My mom chose us instead of the world because she loves us.  She’s a stay-at-home-mom!  And she chose to educate us instead of other people’s children because she’s our mother – she knows us best.  She’s a homeschooler!”

I really hope I hear it.
I really do.

If you’re a SAHM and/or Homeschooler, what do you say when someone asks you, “What do you do?”