Homeschooled, Everyone Else

Brave and fierce or lovable and sweet? That is the difference between a lion and a house cat. I thought it would be interesting to share a story behind why we created each design for Retro Outfitters’ shirts. Today, I wanted to share the idea behind HOMESCHOOLED, Everyone Else.

Each design for the shirts are all dear to my family’s heart, but one of my husband’s favorites is the HOMESCHOOLED, Everyone Else shirt. He liked the idea of being proud that we homeschool and comparing that with the mainstream. Turning the tables, so to speak. I think a lot of times homeschoolers have a stigma attached to them that they are different and are outcasts. We think the opposite. We think that those families who choose to put their education in their own hands are brave as a lion.

Another aspect of the design we liked is the comparison of the cats. We happen to love visiting the zoo to see lions, and we own two family pets that are cats, whom we adore.Maddy, who is my oldest daughter Rachel’s cat, loves to sleep at her head on her pillow. She will often take up the entire pillow, leaving my daughter with nothing to sleep on.

She is an inside cat, but loves to go outside, especially when the weather is nice. Often times, when she is outside, she will sit at the door. A passerby might think she wants in, but really she is imploring someone to come out and cat nap with her on the lawn chair. She loves having company while she is sunning and being a lazy house cat.

Even though Rachel is Maddy’s favorite, she will share the love with everyone in our home. She is pictured here with Marin, our youngest daughter.

Our other house cat is Jersey. He is my cat, and often hides because he is scared. It is just his temperament. We saved him when he was a kitten from the alley by our work. His mama was a wild cat, and I think he still has a level of his mama’s wildness in him. He is very lovable and playful. He loves his puff ball. When he plays with it, he meows loudly as if he is being tortured. In reality, the sounds he makes are him “playing.” I imagine when he does this that he is running on the playground just like a child would do and screaming after his ball he dropped. Right before bedtime, he has a burst of energy and he loves to play with strings on my clothing and will attack them when he is on the back of the couch.

Up, Up, and Away! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Super Jersey!

This design, HOMESCHOOLED, Everyone Else, turns the tables and lets the world see what we think of ourselves as homeschoolers compared to everyone else. We think homeschoolers are fierce as a lion, and all-knowing just like Aslan, the Lion from The Chronicles of Narnia series. The “Everyone Else” kitten wearing glasses is just as adorable as our two cats that are apart of the Retro family.