For Secular Thursday, Patchfire and I packed up our babies and headed out to the Scary Jesus Book Store*, our local homeschool book store. It caters to a…well, let’s just call them the Really Really Not Secular crowd. We both independently came up with the idea of photoblogging our trip, so check out her Secular Thursday post on the same topic!
This is Scary Jesus Book Store. It’s on the corner of a local strip shopping mall. It will help you build character. GET IT?
As you can see, it makes no bones about what it is. Christian. No Sundays. No Wednesdays. Not so many hours.
This is us. Patchfire and Purple Child on the left, Smrt Mama and a teensy bit of Babypie’s hand and shoulder on the right. Scary Jesus Book Store also featured.
Math. Fairly Jesus-free. Nice. Feeling pretty hopeful.
Hopes immediately dashed by shelf full of Creationism DVDs…
The neighboring shelf of $.50 Christian tracts (offering answers on many important issues)
And Literal 6-day Young Earth Creationist “Science” books on the next shelf over from that.
So much ignorance of actual scientific evidence, so little time.
Then we hit Bible versions. How many Bible versions does one need? The answer…
Home Economics for Homeschoolers? Only girl ones. Lucky for Captain Science, only girls need to learn about things like cooking, ironing, cleaning, and sewing.
“Better get right on that domestic stuff, Rosie. Daddyman’s shirts won’t iron themselves.”
Patchfire says Eclectic Girl really liked these books, which are parallel histories. Hi, Patchfire! Hi, Purple Child!
Bob Jones University. All of it.
At this point, the store owner (who might be German? Very blond, Aryan, with a Germanic-sounding accent) came over to ask why we were taking pictures. We both said, very honestly, that we were photoblogging for our homeschool blogs. “Some people might think it’s weird,” said Patchfire. Aryan Scary Jesus Book Store Owner replied, “I think it is you are** weird, too, and I think I do not like it.” No more in-store pictures. We made our purchases (I got Vocabulary From Classical Roots and Spencerian Handwriting — $20, not a bad deal!) and left.
Happy Patchfire!
Naughty rebel Smrt Mama! Please note my minivan, the Battlestar Galactogogue, with her lovely pro-gay marriage, pro-Obamacare, cloth-diapering, shop local bumper stickers — used to have a great breastfeeding magnet, too, but someone stole it at the homeschool co-op.
Smrt Mama is HARDKORE!
A nice field trip into the belly of the Christian Homeschooling beast. Another fun Secular Thursday!
*That’s Scary Jesusbook Store, not Scaryjesus Book Store. The store is the scary part, not Jesus.
**Patchfire reminded me that the book store owner did not say “it” was weird, but that “we” were weird.
You’d feel more than comfortable in our local Christian bookstore. I can hardly find a Christian book or DVD and while that annoys me to no end, you might actually be able to breath in there. LOL. I’m AMAZED by the selection of that store. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’d love to have a homeschool store like that nearby (regardless of christian/secular content).
Funny post.
I’ll trade with you!
Honestly, it has an amazing curricula assortment for everything but science. It’s a great resource, even if the owner isn’t a particularly nice fellow.
I’m glad you weren’t offended. Most of my blog isn’t like this, but wow, this guy really got under my skin today. Our original intent with this trip was a) to get stuff we needed and b) to treat it like a cultural exchange (hence the pics of us investigating curricula). When the guy was so rude to us, in front of other customers, I might add, I was embarrassed and that obviously carried over to this post. If you read my other stuff, I hope you’ll see that I also poke fun at secular homeschoolers and myself, and I have a high opinion of several very devout homeschooling mamas I know.
We have one of those too. In fact they could be scary twins. Does yours play bubblegum pop Jesus songs as muzak? I always thing that adds a nice touch to the experience.
I am lucky that our SJBS is not the only game in town. We have a secular-friendly children’s book store that carries hs stuff too. I haven’t been to our SJBS in a while as a result.
We had classical Muzak.
I’m jealous that you have any homeschool store at all! We have a teacher supply store, but it’s mostly filled with stuff that belongs in a large classroom. They do have a cool toys and games section though.
Oh, it’s a great store, and I’m going back to drop more money in the future. I like supporting a local business. I love the selection for everything but science. I wasn’t thrilled by the owner’s attitude, because we weren’t being rude or snarky when we took the pictures, and I stated loudly, before I started taking pictures, that I wanted a record of the curricula for reference later. We weren’t being sneaky and our intent wasn’t to mock, at least not until the owner got fresh with us.
Oh my dear! That was a laugh-fest. Surely you expected no less of the book store though. At least they SAID xianxianxianxianxian all over the place. What sucks is going in to what you think is a bookstore only to find it is really the equivalent of a Chick-Tract factory.
I knew what it was, for sure. Patchfire has actually been shopping there for years. I was surprised by the owner’s response to us, even after we explained our intent (to photoblog local homeschool-friendly places, businesses, etc.). At THAT point, however, the goal changed from photoblogging to mockery, because I was embarrassed by being scolded in front of other customers, especially since I had a handful of curricula I was preparing to pay for, and more I want(ed) to buy! I did come home fuming and wanting to say nasty things about him in the internet, because I did have the decency not to argue w/ him in the store.
I just started reading your blog and this one was awesome! I’ve never even visited any of our HS stores.
Glad you’re enjoying it! I got some flack today from some of the “really really not secular” folks on the Well Trained Mind forums, so I’m feeling a bit low.
I wish I could have gone! I have not Offended Normals in ages! Of course, I used to do it actively, but in my old age I mostly only do it inadvertently now.
And really, what is so offensive about photo-blogging your home school buying experience? Home schooling isn’t that common. It would be neat for others to see where you get supplies and stuff.
That was what I was going for. I was taking nice pictures of each set of shelves, partially so I could easily remember what books they had (looking for math supplements and all that) later on. I also love taking pictures and doing posts about them. Maybe it was that we were probably obviously secular or he was worried about the photos being used for some ill end (which, I confess, they rather did, since I’ve now snarked him and his store all to hell and back).
Is homeschooling something you might want to do with Mr. Mini-Pooka?
Are you knitters? If you’re knitters, there’s a chance you know what Kinnearing is. In which case, you can have crappy pictures and less of a chance o being called weird by Scaryjesus bookstore owners.
I’d never heard that before! I’ve done DITL all over this town and have never had anybody react like this guy did. Patchfire thinks he overheard me talking to hear about looking for a book with just the most important Bible stories in it, as a primer for Captain Science, and clued in that we weren’t actually Christian homeschoolers.
The saddest part is, despite finding the notion that it’s just for girl’s offensive, I must confess to loving the home ec book. I might buy it for my boys, because it really does list all the things you need to do to look after yourself — ironing, cooking, cleaning and all that.
Also, yes, I’m a knitter, but I’d never heard of Kinnearing before now.
Oh, look, dude, free advertising! Silly owner.. you’d think he’d want people actually shopping in his store! I think the “girls only” domestic chores books scared me the most… some people are just … scary.
Looks like y’all had fun, at least!
It would have been NICE free advertising if the guy weren’t a pud to us, too.
Awesome! You had me literally LOLing:)
I love that bookstore. Wish we had one around here. Only, then I would be very broke.
OMG – that’s the same bookstore we go to! I didn’t realize that you guys were here in my neck of the woods… I was there just today to look for a logic book (Art of Argument) but they didn’t have it there so we have to trek to the other location tomorow to see it in stock. Small world!