All Stories

What if Adding Joy to Your Days Was Simple and Inexpensive?

When I ask my husband, Andy, what he wants to do to celebrate his birthday, he replies, “Let’s go on a picnic.” It’s winter. An icy wind has been blowing for days. It’s not ideal picnic weather, but does that matter? No. We’ll be brave and gritty. We’ll face the

The Art of Conversation and Lifelong Learning

Interviews, Podcasts, The Unschool Challenge, Unschool Books, Unschooling, Videos

Everyone has a story to share. Everyone is interesting. Unschoolers and hosts of the Self Directed podcast, Jesper and Cecilie Conrad, roam the world seeing spectacular sights, but the real heart of their travels is the people they meet. As Cecilie says, “People are the adventure.” I once read that

Is Trying to Impress Others a Waste of Time?

Christian Unschooling, Me, Unschooling

Strolling between the gum trees on a winter’s morning with Nora and Quinn, my fingers painful with the cold, I meet Matilda. I smile and stop. So do my dogs. They thrust their grinning heads into the undergrowth, happy to sniff up all the smells of the bush while I

Stories of Awful Hair Styles and Inspector Morse

The Unschool Challenge, Unschool Books, Unschool Challenges, Unschooling

I’ve been watching Inspector Morse, an old TV series, starring John Thaw. My dad was a great Morse fan. I contributed to his Morse DVD collection, buying him a new series for some of his birthdays. I knew my dad enjoyed this crime series but never wondered what exactly it

When We Don’t Know What to Do

Christian Unschooling, starting unschooling, Unschooling

I’ve just updated my blog. I started at the first post I ever wrote and then worked my way through 14 years of stories, reading each one before deciding whether to keep it or revert it to draft. I then checked the formatting of the retained posts, rearranging paragraphs, eliminating

Intuition and Independence: Unschooling Tips and Practical Advice

Parenting, Radical Unschooling

What do we do if a child refuses to brush her teeth? What if our kids choose not to wash their hair or shower their bodies? Personal hygiene is important, isn’t it? Without self care, our kids might develop cavities. They could end up not being accepted by other people.

Unconditional Love: the Glue that Sticks Us Together

Me, Parenting, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling, Videos

I miss my Mother's Day breakfast. My husband, Andy, and some of our adult kids enjoy coffee and pastries after the early Sunday Mass without me. I’m at home, a blanket drawn up to my chin with razor blades scratching my throat and a drum beating in my head: I’m

A Birthday Chat

Ageing, Podcasts, Unschooling, Videos

Every time I celebrate a birthday, going up a number, I ponder ageing anew. How do I feel about getting older? Am I reluctant to admit my age? Or am I grateful to be who I am at the age I’ve reached? I once saw a sign saying, Experienced cars

Live a Radical Life of Unconditional Love

Parenting, Podcasts, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling, Videos

Cecilie and Jesper Conrad invited me to be part of their Self Directed podcast, so I met them online, via Zoom, and I had a fabulous time recording episode 65 with them. After the interview, one of my daughters said, “How did it go, Mum?” and I replied, “I must

Encouraging My Daughters and Other Women by Embracing My Age

Me, Parenting, Podcasts

I was 58 on Christmas Day, 2019. If you do some real-life maths, you’ll soon work out how old I am today. There have been times when I haven’t wanted to admit my age and wished to appear younger than I am. Why? Did I fear no one would like

An Unschool Conversation with Jesper and Cecilie Conrad on the Self Directed Podcast

Unschooling, Videos

Remember how I was talking about pushing ourselves to do things outside our comfort zones? Well, I almost said no the first time someone invited me to discuss unschooling on their podcast because I didn’t want to put myself in an unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable situation. I was confident talking

Pushing Ourselves Instead of Our Kids

Podcasts, Unschooling

Often, we push our kids to try new things, don’t we? We want them to be adventurous. We say, “If you give it a go, you might discover you like it. You might be good at it.’ But what about ourselves? Are we willing to try new things? Or do

Chatting with My Unschooled Author Daughter

Books, Podcasts, Unschooling

It’s been a while, but I’m back with a new podcast episode! My author daughter Imogen is back too. In episode 205 of my Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast, we’re chatting about: Writing and how Imogen is promoting and selling her YA novels Collaboration and how we achieve more

Challenging Ourselves to Put Away Our Phones

Parenting, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling

Did you hear the story of the photographer who visited the Grand Canyon and took millions of photos of the awe-inspiring sights, and then later realised that he hadn’t seen a thing despite having his eye glued to his viewfinder the whole time? He retraced his steps, his camera dangling

Taking Risks, Looking Strange

Me, starting unschooling, The Unschool Challenge, Unschool Books, Unschool Challenges, Unschooling

A few days ago, when I arrived at my weekly parish women’s group meeting, I greeted my friend Anabelle, and the first thing she said was: “What do you do to your eyebrows?” My brows? Oh no, did they look bad? I gulped before saying, “I usually dye them, but

An Almost Empty Unschool House

Parenting, Unschooling

Recently, two of our daughters moved out of home, leaving behind two empty bedrooms, which my husband and I are turning into a study and a studio. For the first time ever, I will have my very own space where I can write, record audio and video, and join in

Too Anxious to Unschool?

Unschooling

Some parents say they can't let go of control and unschool because they're too anxious about the outcome. What if things don't work out and kids fail to receive the upbringing and education they need? Perhaps it seems like unschooling and anxiety are incompatible. But I've never had a problem

When Children Move Out of an Unschool Home

Parenting, Radical Unschool Love, Radical Unschooling, Unschool Books, Unschooling

Some parenting ‘experts’ advise us to push our kids out of the family home as soon as possible. They tell us to make our kids stand on their own two feet. But my husband and I have ignored this advice. We’re happy for our kids to remain with us as

How to Respond to ‘Unlovable’ Kids and Cats

Parenting, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling

Poppy died, and I cried despite not liking the cat. Poppy was a grumpy animal. She was messy and unkempt, preferring not to groom herself. An unpleasant odour followed her wherever she went. We bathed the cat, clipped her long fur, and sprinkled deodoriser all over her body, trying to

Love or Fear? What Guides Our Lives?

Christian Unschooling, Parenting, The Unschool Challenge, Unschool Books, Unschooling

There are so many things we could fear. We might be too afraid to send our kids to school if we listen to the loud voices telling us how bad traditional education is. We might choose homeschooling because of that fear. If we decide to homeschool, we’re still not safe.

Does Love Keep You Awake While Others Sleep?

Difficult Times, Parenting

Lying in bed, trying to conquer insomnia, I noticed bright intermittent flashes of light illuminating the night sky. I slid from under the quilt, padded to the living room, and peered out the window, trying to locate the source of the light. White, blue, and green electric balls of light,

Ordinary Frida Kahlo Eyebrow Days

Unschooling, Videos

Quinn barked, alerting me to the policeman striding along the path towards our house. After securing the dog, I opened the front door, my heart racing, my hands shaking, thinking, “The police only make house calls when they’ve bad news to share.” “Have you seen any strangers lurking recently?” the

Parenting: Doing Our Inadequate Best

Christian Unschooling, Parenting, Podcasts, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling

Do you ever look back - a few years, months or even days - at your younger self and wish you could have done better? Perhaps you remember dragon parent days when you failed to be gentle. Could you have said things you now regret? I know I do. Sometimes,

Words Matter

Me, Unschooling

Yesterday, I sang happy birthday to a friend in a video message despite thinking I have a terrible voice. “I’ll sing the low version,” I announced before plucking up my courage, taking a deep breath, and attempting the first note. My low voice is the one I use when I’m

The Unanticipated Problem with Sharing My Kids’ Lives Publicly

Blog/podcast/write

When my kids were younger, I constantly had my camera in my hand, watching out for photo opportunities. I wanted visual evidence of all our learning experiences for our homeschool records book. I also wanted lots of photos to go with my blog stories. We had a rule in our

Reluctant to Persuade or Engage

Blog/podcast/write

I create a Friends Club, write and publish an exclusive members-only story, and then display a preview of it – an excerpt and an image – on my blog. I look at the red-tufted, painted cow staring back at me from my homepage’s sidebar and grin. Surely, the cow will

I Need Your Help. Do You Need Mine?

Blog/podcast/write

I decide to abandon my unschooling blog, leaving it online to look after itself while I move on. But then I discover I can’t actually do that. Blogs need attention, whether we’re writing on them or not. If I don’t keep a close eye on my website, making sure everything

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

Unschooling

“When I grow up, I’m going to be a YouTube Shorts video creator,” I tell Amina. My pretend friend raises her eyebrows and says, “But I thought you wanted to be a graphic designer.” “I could be a graphic designer who makes YouTube Shorts.” “When I was a child, I

Do You Need a Happy List?

Difficult Times, Parenting, Unschool Challenges, Unschooling, Videos

I’m at a cafe with my pretend friend Amina, who places her mug of coffee on the table between us, sighs and says, “Unschooling doesn’t guarantee our kids won’t have challenges in life, does it?” “I wish it did,” I reply. “Oh, yes, wouldn’t it be good if our kids

Put on Your Real-Life Maths Eyes

Maths, The Unschool Challenge, Unschooling

Lying awake in bed last night, I did some real-life maths: how long was it before I had to get up for Mass? As the sleepless hours ticked by, the answer to that question became smaller and smaller. After I emerged from the bathroom after this morning’s shower, I said,

Like this: