J is home from school today. At 7:15 this morning I went in to wake her up and she complained of a stomach ache. I thought she was just making an excuse not to go to school, but then she proceded to puke over her bedrail from the top bunk. She has missed a lot of school this quarter. She had perfect attendance first quarter (even got a certificate for it). Now it seems she's out once a week. She did do all her homework last night and the online test (she took one in school on Friday so she had only one to do). This school year with her seems so surreal. Like we're just going through the motions or something. I mean she has NO interest in the schoolwork at all. I don't either. I have decided that after the March parent-teacher conference she is done with school. I can't let her go until June and let her see a final report card that states she didn't make it to the next GT grade. She might feel like a failure and it'll be hard for me to get her to understand that it's just not her fault. Jeez, all this pressure at 8 years old!!

I ran these thoughts past my mom this morning and unbelievably she was in total agreement with it. B is supportive, but has "reservations", he says. We talked about it again last night and his reservations are slowly disappearing, thank goodness. I mean, as long as I have support from B and mom, I'm good to go. My good friend M, finally supports this idea, too. She has been the sounding board for my complaints about J's schooling since J started PreK 4 years ago. It's vital to have support from key people in my life. Wow, this is starting to become real. My 2 biggest homeschooling fears are: 1. J will learn nothing, be miserable, and hate me for the rest of her life. and 2. Everyone I come in contact with will think I'm an asshole for taking her out of school and roll their eyes and shake their heads at me - and behind my back. Ok, so I guess I need some more encouragement and I have to arm myself with what I'll say to anyone who questions me. I am strong!