Whoever came up with the saying “You can’t eat the pie and have it too” was not only grammatically challenged, s/he was right. You see, something usually has got to give no matter how good the deal seems. However, it is not always apparent what that ‘something’ is, least of all if you’re the one enjoying the pie.
We have been enjoying the pie for quite a while. Homeschooling. We have had all the freedom and time in the world to explore; there were no schedules to abide by, no exams to pass, and no curricula to dutifully stick to.
Learning up to this point has been free, unencumbered and enjoyable. And no matter how eagerly people in the past have tried to point out that we were supposedly missing out on ‘something’, we were one happy group of larks.
But it looks like we are finally coming to a point where our freedom will have to give way to the culturally overpowering system of British formal education. In a class society like this one, eyebrows are constantly raised, and noses pointed upward at non-conformers (unless you have the funds and/or arrogance to back it up).
I never really cared because I know it is not only reprehensible but also futile to measure people by the school they attended, the badges they have obtained, or the number of A-pluses on their report cards. But Zoë is beginning to be more aware of cultural norms and the expectations that go along with them.
At eleven, she wants to be like everyone else. She wants to enjoy the walk to school with her friends and join in on the complaints about her teachers and the terror of the next upcoming exam. She has all but forgotten about her time in Germany, where she was sidelined and walked home from school alone every single day.
I SO get her.
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