Legacy

My daughter starts kindergarten next week. She’s head to a public school. I would like my wife to be open to us homeschooling her. Today, I became aware of an emotional barrier to that goal: the legacy of wife’s family.

My wife’s family came to America in the late 18th Century and has been on this land ever since. This is a tremendous blessing. I don’t take it for granted. I love my in-laws.

As far as school goes, however, my father-in-law made clear to me what that legacy entails as he talked to my daughter about her kindergarten career.

“Lot of smart people have gone there,” he said. “Your mama. Me. Your great-grandmother. Your great-great grandmother.”

There it was. Four generations have gone to this elementary school. My daughter and her two cousins are the fifth.

That means something. Attending the school is a tradition. My father-in-law brought it up as a warning. “We’ll be watching how you do.” I took it another way. “This is what we do.”

It just means that if we decide to homeschool our daughter, we will need more than logic. To paraphrase Obi-Wan, the emotional force in this one is strong in this one.

Consider myself warned.