Homeschooling as a *job*

Over at Mental Multivitamin, she (who? I'm not sure of her name, just stumbled across the site) was talking about treating homeschooling with the attitude that it is a job and one should be prepared and fully present in carrying it out. Her point is that homeschooling is not something to be handled haphazardly or taken lightly.  Many assume that since they are home educating, their kids are automatically receiving a better education than they would in school and therefore the job is practically doing itself.  Personally my goal is not to be just better than public school, but the best that it is possible for me to be.

I would add to her comments that homeschooling and parenting deserves so much more than a job!  I work full time from home.  I am dedicated and serious about my profession, and I enjoy it.  I am appreciated as an excellent employee (most of the time anyway ;). 

Homeschooling and parenting is so much more important than that!  I spend hours planning, preparing, researching, studying, and self-analyzing to be a better parent/teacher/guide for my kids.  I spend hours *with* my kids; reading, creating, exploring, talking, cooking, cleaning, driving, explaining, discovering.

I am sure I am sometimes guilty of over-analyzing things, but  I would much rather err on the side of giving my kids too rich of an environment than the side of leaving them to create their own learning environment.