When I look at family photos from a few years ago, I remember those chaotic and messy days when I was at the centre of my children’s lives. I felt like those days would last forever.
Sometimes, that was good: I wanted to stay firmly in the love-filled middle of my delightful mothering life. But there were also days when I was overwhelmed and tired and felt like I was failing. How would my children survive my parenting? I occasionally wanted to run away from the responsibility of raising kids, but I couldn’t see any way out. I felt sure I would be seeing to the multiple needs of my children forever.
But, of course, time marches on. Although some days can seem long, the years are always short. They pass in a flash. Children grow. And we end up looking back, wondering where time went. Did we make the most of it? Did we appreciate the opportunities we had? Could we have done more with our kids? Did we let fear dominate our days? Did we love our children well?
How do we look back without regrets? Perhaps we need to live in the moment, extracting joy from each day, putting aside any fears. We could accept that we won’t be perfect parents. We’ll get tired and maybe want to run away, but that’s okay. We can still give our kids what they need: unconditional love.
These unschooling challenges are designed to overcome the challenges of unschooling!
Each challenge focuses on one aspect of unschooling and comes with step-by-step suggestions, loads of questions to ponder, ideas to put into action, and is illustrated by real life stories.
Challenge
- Slow down.
- Look at your kids properly with your eyes and not through a camera lens and see how unique each one is.
- Listen to them with full attention.
- Hug them every opportunity you get.
- And at the end of the day, say, “I love being your mother! (father!) I enjoyed spending today with you.”
- And refuse to let fear interfere with the joy of this precious time with your kids which won’t last forever.
I look at this photo of my youngest child and remember the giggles as she and her older sisters twisted their hair into alien lumps, hoping to produce headfuls of curls overnight.
Giggles erupting from happy kids: that’s what we want to remember, isn’t it?
Would You Like a Password?
In my post, Would You Like the Key to the Secret Unschooling Garden, I shared the story of how I was laughed at by some people on the Internet, who obviously don’t understand unschooling. Now, I can put up with some negative reactions to my posts – unschooling might sound ridiculous from the outside – but I don’t like people making fun of my kids. That’s why I’ve password-protected many of their personal blog stories. I’ve also made some of my other posts private too. But everything here on my blog is still accessible for readers who have the secret password!
How do you get the password? If You Buy Me a Coffee, I’ll send it to you! The big question is: are my posts worth a coffee or two? I don’t know. What do you think?
As well as password-protecting some of my old posts, I’m also protecting some of my new ones. My last post, The Problem of Introverted Kids and Blogging Mothers needs a password to read. I wonder if you have one.
I hope you’ll join me in the secret unschooling garden!
So, What Do You Think?
Are you storing away lots of memories of giggling kids? Did you read my introverted story? Why not stop by and say hello?
You’re stories and your life’s work is inspiring, thank you to you and your incredible family for being bold enough to share your life with the world.
Kim,
Your fabulous words encourage me to keep writing and sharing. Thank you!