Day 191

20th September 2022

The Next Day

The next day after our snow trip we were all really sore and tired.

We sat around at breakfast, comparing bruises. 😂

I left for work and spent the morning sitting on the porch overlooking the gorgeous view. It was the perfect come down, to such a great weekend.

Liam and the kids picked dandelions from the garden and made dandelion tea.

Apparently, dandelion stems need to have a single root and when broken, secrete a milky substance. (Ew)

They washed the leaves & flowers, boiled & strained them and added a little honey.

Boom! Fresh dandelion tea!

Linc was still thawing out, from the snow and took himself to lay in the sun. ☀️😆

Later that night, we played more spoons. We are loving that game!

STEAM

This morning, we started with a steam exercise, I came across on Instagram.

I cut up some apple and gave the kids a packet of toothpicks, and told them to build the tallest structure they could.

They had completely different styles. Linc had stabilisers on the bottom and Mila was just going for it. 😂

After a collapse and a rebuild, we got it to 53cm high.

Mila decided to attach a cheeky spiel at the very top, to push it over 55cm.

Next, we went to the park with our Tuesday group and the kids played around for a while.

After lunch we did history, this time we learnt about Cyrus & the Persian Empire.

Oh and we did English/arts before that.

Linc got a new soccer ball and in the afternoon, he made a little training course and played soccer in the back yard.

Mila opened up the new tinker crate that came in the post.

Today’s crate was a phantom projector!

They usually do them together but as Linc was out the back playing with his soccer ball, Mila assembled it on her own.

I thought she’d need a little help as some of our crates have been quite tricky, but she did it all by herself.

When her friend came over after school, Mila took delight in explaining it all.

With just a handful of days left on this blog, I’ve been thinking about our family and how our life has changed.

Before we started home schooling our life was really stressful. It was stressful in a way we couldn’t really see.

The daily school lunches were a nightmare. They just were. I know it doesn’t seem like much but far out, every day! And they rarely get eaten. 😩

Trying to think of different lunches to make everyday is exhausting and I didn’t even realise how much it weighed on me, until they were gone.

I was so relieved, not to have to do this!

I remember having to be really tough on the kids, just to keep them on track and get them out the door, on time.

We were always watching the clock.

I never felt like I got to see them until the weekend because there was so many tasks to complete. Schedules, homework, uniforms, library books to find, missing jackets, b’day parties to attend & presents to purchase.

We were so busy!

The kids were always tired and grouchy.

I think we all were.

The thought of homeschooling seemed enormous.

We didn’t know what to expect but we knew we needed a change.

Logan La Plant finally inspired us to homeschool with his TedTalk below.

Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h11u3vtcpaY

Our little family has changed.

We’re much closer now. 💗

Lincoln & Mila are happier, which is the most important thing of all.

You can’t teach happiness and you can’t buy it.

We’re calmer, living on our own schedule.

We didn’t even know life could be like this.

We feel so free! Free to learn what we like, free to lay around and sleep when we like. Free to take off camping when we like.

Just, free!

Making all our own choices. Determining our own schedule.

No teachers to judge our children, belittle them & box them.

No bullying or gaslighting. None of that stuff exists for us!

Leaving the institution, was the best thing we ever did.

Oh gosh, it’s really late and I’m aware that I may have started rambling, so I gotta go.

Night. x