Thank You for Your Kindness

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who took the time to nominate this blog for the annual homeschool blog awards hosted at The Homeschool Post.  Thank you, also, to everyone who took the time to cast a vote for The Homeschool Apologist.   I appreciate the compliment and the vote of support.   

Now, please stop.

Four years ago, I wrote about my inner curmudgeon on a post appropriately titled “Crank.”   In that post, I shared the fact that deep down inside, I’m really a very cranky person.  I’ve reposted the article here if you have the time (or desire) for a good laugh at my expense.  Four years later, a lot has changed, but not my inner crankiness.  I share this with you in order to tell you that I really, really, loathe, dislike, despise, abhor, don’t like the annual homeschool blog awards.  I dislike most blog awards programs.  I’m not going to go into the reasons why.   I haven’t written about it over the years simply because I’ve tried to accept the kindness extended to me by the people who took the time to nominate and vote for my blogs in their various incarnations.  What has ended up happening over the years is that the folks who run the HSBA announced the nominees, and I immediately wrote them to request that my blog be removed from their contest.  I will give them credit where credit is due: they’ve always honored my request.

This year it got out of hand.  The Homeschool Apologist wasn’t just nominated in one category, but three.  This madness must end!   Please, whoever you are, stop nominating this blog for awards.  Instead, leave a comment!  Comments are far better than the emptiness that commonly follows posts.  Heck, even being told that my writing reminds someone of their uncle’s smelly socks is better than silence.    I will say that I appreciate the person who nominated The Homeschool Apologist for Best Group/Family Blog.   Together, Linda and I are not large enough to be a group, but she’s definitely family.   And for the record, Linda agreed with me.  She beat me to the punch Monday morning, requesting our blog to be removed from the voting rolls before I could.

For those of you who are interested in the annual homeschool blog awards, pretend you’re in Chicago.  Vote early and vote often!   And good luck to the remaining nominees.