I do really wish that I didn't feel this way. It's hard to give up on an entire institution, especially one that is such a part of our shared cultural experience. It's hard to be this person who says "We homeschool, not because we *believe* in it, but because the schools failed us." It makes us the odd-balls in our homeschooling co-op, it makes us the odd-balls in the general public. But, I'd rather think of it as showing my kids that there's nothing wrong with forging your own path, that if something isn't working you should change it because the only person you can control is yourself. I try to keep all the doom and gloom on the inside (except for when I post it to unsuspecting message board readers, lol).