Unexpected benefits of unschooling

My eyes are open to the world. I don't know if I'm learning more than I used to, but now I'm aware of it and enjoying it.

We've found a huge, varied, inspiring, and always entertaining pack of friends.

At about midnight one night last week, our next-door neighbor called to see if the girls could babysit while she took her husband to the ER. (He continues to feel the effects of a bout of encephalitis last year.) She knew she could do this because our lights are usually still on at midnight and our girls usually don't have to get up early in the morning. She was able to stay with him all night, knowing her kids were safe.

Related to that: When I stay at work until 9, 10, 11, even 12, I still get to see my kids when I get home. Chloe and I have been playing piano together at midnight. I'm not sure the neighbors are as enthused with this benefit as we are.

We don't get sick very often. When the girls were in school, it seemed like somebody in the family was sick every week, and that's not much of an exaggeration.

We have freedom to travel when the time is right. (I'll never forget Everett High refusing to excuse Chiara when we wanted to take her through the southwest. Most frustrating. So she had a couple of extra weeks of U.S. history from a book, but she's never been to an Anasazi ruin or visited the Old West. Real sensible.)

The house is always in such a state that I have a real opportunity for personal growth.