Evolution of a Unexpected Homeschooler

Sometimes I suddenly have this feeling like, "Whoa! I'm homeschooling! How did I get here?". I NEVER, ever thought that I'd be a homeschooler. I hadn't even heard of it until I was an adult. But this is how it came about.

WHEN	WHO AND WHAT	MY REACTION
1990s	I heard that the winner of a national spelling or geography bee was homeschooled	Huh. People homeschool? Never heard of it.
Around 1999	An acquaintance from church began homeschooling her kindergartner	Oh! People HERE homeschool? That's unique.
Around 2006	A friend casually mentioned that she thought maybe someday she'd homeschool her child	Really?? Why would you want to do that? Seems like a lot of effort.
2009	Monkey starts public school kindergarten and hates it, cries getting on the bus and after school.	Well, it'll get better, he'll just have to get used to school.
2010-2012	Monkey gets stomachaches at school, gets excluded from recess games, gets bored and silly in class	We try to set up play dates and activities to help him make friends, we talk to him about paying attention in class.
2012	A different friend started homeschooling her son for kindergarten.	Sounds interesting! Seems like a great fit for her and her child. I start asking questions, but really have no clue about what it entails.
Winter 2012-2013	Monkey starts asking if he can be homeschooled	Uh. No.
Spring 2013	A new friend considers homeschooling her son again after a some time in public school	We have numerous discussions about the pros and cons of homeschooling. Sounds like a great idea for HER, I encourage her to go for it.
Summer 2013	Monkey still asking if he can be homeschooled. Dreads starting school again in the fall.	Uh. No. He'll just have to learn to accept that school is a part of life.
Sept. 2013	Someone doing work on our house mentions he homeschooled his now-grown kids	REALLY!? How did they do it? What are the kids doing now?
Fall 2013	Monkey is not liking 4th grade, continues to ask to be homeschooled	I start reading about homeschooling on the internet and checking out books from the library.
Fall 2013	Found out that 2 women from church were homeschooled, one fully, one only for the younger years.	Hey, these are vibrant, bright ladies! They turned out great! What did they think of their homeschool experience?
Fall 2013	Went to a kids' event at a local church and met a mom, who mentioned she homeschools	Oh! How coincidental! I've been thinking about homeschooling!
Fall 2013	Went to a book launch, and met the daughters of the author, who were both homeschooled.	Oh! More homeschoolers! They're everywhere!
Nov. 2013	Hubby and I are in agreement that there's no harm and much benefit to homeschooling, we should do it.	Now what?? Start researching curricula.
Nov. 2013	Conference with Monkey's teacher. She tells us Monkey is often unfocused (we knew that). We talk about how he is bored with the math, but she says they don't have any advanced track for math for another couple of years.	Told her we're considering homeschooling
Dec. 2103	Gave official notice to the school that we are withdrawing Monkey. He will stay in school until Christmas break.	We order teaching material and start telling people. I'm excited to start!