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Action day!

Make that playlist for the car that your child will enjoy, que up a storytelling podcast, buy or make supplies for a project, print out coloring sheets, go outside, go to the library and check out books. Find time and/or materials for your child’s alone time. If today is too busy, write down your ideas (you can even start to ask for their input).

Check your expectations

Just because you buy/do/set up an activity for your kids doesn’t mean they have to do it. It’s their time to decompress. Guide, but don’t force. It’s okay to schedule and try, but make adjustments as needed. Modeling really is one of the most effective ways to ‘teach’ how to be alone. Not sure how to present the idea to them? Show, don’t tell. Write about your expectations…how was today’s Alone Time? What did you think it would look like? What did it actually look like? What did you expect your kids/family to do? Take their own time? Leave you alone during yours? Were you clear about your wishes?

Today we’ve looped back around to observing ourselves in relation to our family. Write about your expectations for others and think about whether they are fair, loving, needed, clear, etc. …

Keeping expectations in check can help keep goals obtainable and decrease frustration. What could you let go of that would get you closer to more quality Alone Time? Are your goals of a whole day at the spa too expensive or impractical? Is your wish for zero interruptions keeping you from enjoying the few minutes you do have? Do you expect everyone to make way for your Alone Time without offering any in return? Do you feel like you’re not planning big enough? Do you have expectations, or do you think of them as goals?

Today’s action: make Alone Time a priority if it feels important

Look at your calendar/schedule. What’s looking like it might work better—everyone going off on their own at the same time or separate times? Is it looking like there is room for daily Alone Time or not? Are there small holes of time that could work? Would it be easier to start with once a week? Are you going to need to set that alarm in order to get it? Is there a time you could set aside as family alone time/quiet time?

Not a scheduler? Simply try to keep it in mind as the day unfolds.

Go outside… and observe!

Mommy steps. Today is about inside vs. outside. Do you go outside during the day? Do your kids spend time outside during the day? Do you make it a point to go outside at least once? Twice? Go outside today and watch your kids. Try to go to a safe space where your child can explore while you watch from a distance or quietly walk beside them. What are they looking at? What are they doing? Are they wild? Quiet? Do they need to get energy out by themselves? Does it seem like they need a big space? Do you think their quiet time would be better spent in a cozy space or a big space?

While you’re outside, try taking some deep breaths for yourself. Let your kids in on what you’re doing…we can model deep breaths and point it out to be clear. It may seem odd to say what we’re doing out loud, but that verbal cue draws your child’s attention to what you’re doing. Model the behavior you want to see. What person, big or little, couldn’t benefit from a few deep breaths?

Observe yourself in relation to your children

Do you encourage separate time for your child(ren)? Do you encourage siblings to spend time apart? What is your expectation for siblings during the day? That they are to be all together all the time and get along? Do you set up stations for your children? Are there clear areas in your home where they are welcome to start playing at/in at any time? Do you put out activities for them? Coloring? Playdough? Slime?

Take action: Research quiet activities for your kids. Check out our Pinterest board. Share your ideas on our Facebook page or comment on our Instagram feed.

Observe again

Did your kids go off by themselves? Was it at the same time of day? The same activities? Did they seem to need to decompress? Were they tired? Or was it after sibling tension? Did they ask to be alone? Did they just take it?

Do your kids naturally go off on their own?

When? What are they doing? Reading? Screens? Toys? Reading? Don’t ask or guide them, just watch.

If you have an infant, what are they doing when they are awake and by themselves? Playing happily? Cooing? Reaching for toys? Trying a new skill? Do you place them in front of toys/objects of interest or do they find them themselves? (Answers will vary greatly month to month and even day to day with babies because they grow so, so fast). Do they enjoy being by themselves? Don’t guide them, just watch.

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Oh, don’t you worry…we’re having FUN over he Oh, don’t you worry…we’re having FUN over here! 😻 

Welcome, Charlie cat! 🥰

Mahalo, @shinewildfamilyfarm 😻 We’re in love!
✨ We had THE BEST day! ✨😻 @shinewildfamily ✨ We had THE BEST day! ✨😻

@shinewildfamilyfarm let us have a raggamuffin kitten playdate with her 3 available kittens. 😍 OMGoodness. This is how to choose a kitten! After hanging out with them for a few magical hours, we’ve decided to add the black kitty to our ohana. At the moment, his name is Charlie. 😍

I had a girl kitten named Charlie before I had babies. It feels full circle. I hope they stick with the name 🥰 My girl Charlie was hit by a car the week before my first baby was born and it’s always bummed me out that none of my kids got to know her. It would be nice to have a Charlie cat around once more 🥰

Thank you so much, Jess!!!!!! We’re so grateful!
We can see the grass again in North Idaho. We see We can see the grass again in North Idaho. We see a lot of snow and ice, too, but there is grass. ❄️🌾

Makes me think of last summer and hope for next summer. 🙂

I’m liking seasons. They feel very purposeful. Makes me sad when folks don’t see it and simply complain about the weather. But what good does that do? The sun will shine when it shines. The weather is what it is. And there’s beauty to be found in it—rain, snow, ice, sleet, mud—all of it. 💜

For me, today’s beauty is in the memory and in the hope. It’s also in the laughter of my children and their neighbor friends as they play. 🥰

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that “we’re not here for the weather.” 😉 

Photo: @daniwalkerphoto_
Our hearts are forever full & forever broken. Our Our hearts are forever full & forever broken. Our beloved Grandma Huck went home to heaven this week. We’re in Ohio to celebrate her & lay her to rest. I’ll share more about this incredible woman at some point. For now, please pray for our family as we navigate the grief of losing her while rejoicing she is with Jesus.

Many of you knew her in some way…through stories I’ve shared over the years or from a trip to her house for food and cards. Her light shown bright and far. 

The transition of loss is complicated & all your prayers are appreciated. Mahalo nui loa 🌺

Photo from her 91st birthday, May 2022
Books are incredibly powerful. We know this and ye Books are incredibly powerful. We know this and yet as moms we don’t always make time to read. The world tells us that there is no time for anything, ever. And in the same breath often tells us what to do, what to read, how to think, how to mother…and a lot of that messaging leaves us feeling fearful, unworthy, and like we aren’t doing enough. 

What if there was a way to step off the hamster wheel of modern motherhood and find ourselves feeling more whole, more worthy, and like we’re getting it right? And what if the secret to that was found in reading more books? 

Today’s conversation with @jenniferpepito is so enlightening. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am a changed person, a changed mother, and I believe a better mother because I read books. Namely the books of the authors I have interviewed here on the podcast, including Jennifer’s book Mothering by the Book: The Power of Reading Aloud to Overcome Fear and Recapture Joy. Jennifer is here to expand our book lists and shine a light on our motherhood journeys with deep, mature insights, ideas for battling comparison and other daily fears that arise in our mama hearts. 

Jennifer’s Bio: Jennifer Pepito is the author of Mothering by the Book and the founder of The Peaceful Press. Jennifer is on a mission to help moms overcome fear and love their life, and her homeschool curriculum empowers this through heroic stories, heartwarming poetry, and engaging life skills development. Her resources help create joyful memories among families, which leads to deeper connections and lasting relationships. Jennifer’s writing has been featured in several online and print journals, including Wild and Free, Commonplace Quarterly, and Home Educating Family. She’s a Wild and Free podcast host and has made guest appearances on popular podcasts such as 1000 Hours Outside, At Home with Sally, and Charlotte Mason Poetry. Jennifer lives in the mountains with her beloved family, where she enjoys reading aloud, working in her garden, and watching the sunset.

Tune in, be encouraged, give @jenniferpepito and @thepeacefulpress a follow + share your favorite takeaways from the episode! 💕😘
Mele Kalikimaka from our new Idahome! 🎄☃️😘

A cozy white Christmas in our new house with old traditions felt just right. Going to bed with happy hearts. 

Also…great job, mamas. 🥰 Another year in the books. Months of planning, weeks of pouring over the details, & countless hours of putting this day together…you nailed it. I’m sure of it. 😘 I don’t have to see what your Christmas day was like to know that YOU 👏🏼 ROCKED 👏🏼 IT. 👏🏼 Well done, mama!!! Thanks for all you do for your family 😘 You are seen and so, so appreciated 💕

Cool backdrops: @reallife_postfalls 
Photo cred: @angela.k.correa 😉

#melekalikimaka #firstchristmasinournewhome #idahochristmas #idahome #christmasinidaho #whitechristmas
I’m prepping all the doughs for Christmas week w I’m prepping all the doughs for Christmas week while the snow falls (& falls & falls…) outside. 🎄 

This morning we ate homemade sourdough bagels for breakfast…then ate them with soup for lunch (they really are that good!) 🤤

I love the anticipation during Christmas week. The purposeful preparation. The rush of extra tasks. They could be “added stress” if I put on those glasses, but why? We are blessed with one more magical Christmas with littles gathered around the tree, wide eyed and excited. I’m not gonna let any messages about gift giving, buying, traditions, or expectations cloud this special Christmas. 

It takes a lot of internal work on my part to drown out the constant messaging and doubt that creeps in. But if it does, there’s always a bright eyed child in front of me to snap me out of it. There’s always prayer to center me. And the beautiful mundane tasks that make up our everyday life.
In case you were wondering, they really do grow so In case you were wondering, they really do grow so so so so so so fast. 💕 

This was this past summer. We’re only a few months past when this photo was taken and he’s already one. 🤯 ONE! How? When? I was there the whole time! …but he grew anyway. He’s walking around and even dancing. Sigh. 

I know as moms we’re “supposed to” be glad they are growing strong. And I am. I totally am. I’m also sitting here shaking my head in disbelief that he is as big and strong as he is. Double sigh. 

Time flies. Time is a thief. I’ll say it again and again…hold them close. Love them. Grow with them. Because time really is all the cliches they say it is. #babiesdontkeep 

Photo: @daniwalkerphoto_
As homeschool parents we need to be aware of homes As homeschool parents we need to be aware of homeschool laws, policy suggestions, and voices that are speaking out against homeschooling. 

Here are some action steps on how to get started: 

1. Become more aware of homeschool laws: join HSLDA or at the very least use their free resources online. See if your state has homeschool organizations (i.e. Homeschool Idaho) that offers support and insight specific to you 

2. Learn about policy suggestions (at the state and national level): this starts with understanding current homeschool laws and policies. What are some local policies affecting you? Does your state have a “pay you to homeschool” program? (i.e. Tech Trep in Idaho) If so, what are their restrictions (i.e. you’ll get $1800 a year but you have to have your kid tested and use only approved by them secular curriculum) 🤔 

3. Become aware of who is speaking out about homeschool: the easy place to start is a quick online search for Elizabeth Bartholet from Harvard. 

Homeschool might feel like the free and easy choice (or not somedays), but a lot of us take that ease and freedom for granted. The cluster of the last two years has left a lot of folks calling hybrid and/or crisis schooling “homeschool” but neither truly is. This confusion has raised some red flags with “experts” who know nothing about what TRUE homeschooling looks like. And it has many of us who have been homeschooling for a long time a little on edge. But we’re not going to stay on edge. We’re going to be proactive in our fight to keep homeschool from becoming another failed gov’t program. Get started. Take action steps now to protect your homeschool freedoms.

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