Mother's Day. It's a time to reflect on how great your own mom is, and the fine job she did raising you.
It's also a time to look across the room and appreciate the splendid job your own spouse is doing raising those two monsters who occupy your house.
Then, you look around the neighborhood. In this case, Falcon Heights, a first-ring suburb of St. Paul, Minn. Here, it's Beaver Cleaver-ville all the way. Plenty of picket fences, quiet streets and kids everywhere.
On one block, the happiest of yards seems to be where the Reasoner clan runs free. There's five of them in all(pictured, left): Kaitlyn, 9; Seth, 7; Emma, 5; Clara, 3; Noah, 2.
This gang is polite as can be, calling the interviewer "Mr." at every opportunity. There's a reason for it, of course. Their mom, Wendy, wouldn't have it any other way.
Wendy Reasoner, 45, doesn't just wear her "mom" cap day in, day out. She's also teacher, principal, playground supervisor and cook. Reasoner is a homeschooler, a mom who devotes her entire day -- and life -- to her children.
According to various homeschooling organizations, there are an estimated 1.5 million kids in the United States who learn their "three R's" at home. Of that number, Reasoner says moms are often the primary teachers.
Reasoner (pictured, right), who taught physiology at the college level for five years, says it's certainly a challenge, but worth every minute.
"It's definitely not easy, but we enjoy it," Reasoner said. "It's a big commitment."
Be it religious beliefs, lack of faith in public schools or socialization concerns, volumes have been written about
why parents homeschool their children at the turn of the century. But did you ever wonder
how they do it?
Think of it: five kids. The youngest is 2, the oldest is 9. They holler, run around, fight, laugh, cry and get sick. Five perfectly normal kids whom you've decided, for whatever reason,
not to send to the public elementary school just three blocks away.
Instead, they'll be with you all day long, yearlong. You will teach them yourself.
To some, it sounds like the latest Stephen King plot, with the heartiest of moms running down the street, screaming in terror.
Wendy Reasoner isn't screaming. Not yet, at least. In fact she says the biggest challenge isn't the kids, but the elements.
Remember, this is Minnesota, where that rascal Old Man Winter can arrive with bulging suitcases of snow in mid-October and lounge around until late April if he feels like it. So in January and February, when snowmelt seems to be a distant dream, Reasoner says the days can get a bit long.
"There are times when I feel I need a break," she said, "I don't get many breaks."
So how does she do it? Patience. And a tight morning schedule.
Reasoner's regiment starts at 7 a.m. sharp, when the kids get up. School starts at about 8:30 a.m., when breakfast is over. For the first 90 minutes, Reasoner teaches math, reading, language arts and spelling at individual grade levels to her bunch, shuttling between kids to make sure they understand their various lessons.
At 10:30 a.m. until noon, the family learns together as a group, with reading often taking center stage.
After lunch, the schedule loosens up a bit as the Reasoner class finishes up its morning tasks and focuses on arts and crafts until the school day is over, sometime between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.
The school year here starts after Labor Day and ends in mid-May. Falcon Heights Elementary down the street is in session until June, but Reasoner takes fewer breaks during the year than the public school does as she focuses on getting a lot of work done in those cold winter months.
That's basically it. Five kids. Homeschooled. Wendy Reasoner: teacher.
Well, actually, that's not it.
Did we mention the Reasoners don't have a television?
Some would argue this story is getting eerier by the second: more Hitchcock, less King. Wendy shrugs it off.
"We read a lot," she said, adding that in her first year of marriage to her husband, Mark, that they agreed not to have a TV in the house.
She's OK with the kids watching TV at a neighbor's house, but Reasoner contends they're pretty uninterested in the tube. Besides, her kids get to watch TV a few times a year when dad goes out of town on business. Reasoner says she'll rent a VCR and a few classic movies like "The Sound Of Music" or "The Music Man," which she says her kids love. But that's it.
Do the kids know what they're missing?
Reasoner said it's really not an issue, because they know when the TV is on, they realize how much less reading they're doing. Quoting her 5-year-old Emma, "One time she said, 'TV isn't as much fun as having Dad around.'"
"There's real joy in being able to teach your children," she contends.
No argument here. Just a question: Wendy, what do you want for Mother's Day?
"Time to get away," she said.
Makes perfect sense. So let's change the question a bit: Mrs. Reasoner, what do you think you
deserve for Mother's Day?
"I don't deserve anything," she replied. "I have five beautiful children and a wonderful family, that's more than I deserve."
"She deserves to have the rest of her life off," 9-year-old Kaitlyn chimed in. "She's patient with us."
So this Mother's Day, if you know a patient homeschooling mom, you could argue she deserves an extra hug.
Make that two, especially if she does it TV-free.
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