why we love home ed #1

Weather related issues. In particular, not having to go out when it's raining.

This was brought on by sitting at the computer this afternoon while the sprogits were watching The Emporer's New Groove, hearing rain against the window and looking outside to discover a monsoon like rain storm going on outside. When I looked back at the computer screen I realised it was 3pm - home time at the local primary which the sprogs used to attend. For a split second I must confess I felt a little smug at the thought that they would be all traipsing home in the bucketing down rain, while we were warm and dry and enjoying Kuzko's llama face.

There is an ongoing joke among probably every school-run-parent that the weather saves up the rain until school run time and then deliberately rains. * Several times there have been discussions about petitioning the met office to sort it for us that the weather is nice when it's drop-off and pick-up time - surely they should be able to do that by now?! The sprogits also used to comment every time we had to walk home in the pouring rain that they wished we had a car so that we wouldn't have to walk all the way home while getting wet. Umbrellas only go so far as well... Small Clanger used to use his as a gun, and Tiny Clanger was in that phase where as soon as you put a brolly in her hand she slowed to snail's pace.

Anyway, it's all a moot point now, because we don't have to go out anywhere if we don't want to. Especially not in the rain.

At the opposite end of this reason, is being able to make the most of the nice weather whenever it happens. So when there are those wonderful periods during the spring and summer where it is fabulously sunny all through the week (and then rains all weekend) - we can spend the entire week outside in the garden, or at the park, or playing in the fountains in town instead of cooped up in a classroom learning literacy or whatever. Or during the deep winter when schooled children spend the vast majority of the daylight hours inside - when there are pleasant days we get to go out and enjoy them, like we did when we went for a picnic in the park last week.

*as an aside, there might actually be something in that... there is some evidence that increased traffic pollution causes more severe rain to occur, and the traffic does definitely increase at school run times.