Ever have one of those days that begins with the  baby painting herself and the walls with Vaseline? That’s how my day started. Vaseline. Everywhere. The thing about petroleum jelly is that it isn’t water soluble. It also isn’t soap soluble. That makes it kinda hard to get off of stuff. In case you’re wondering, it’s vinegar and water, bleach, and a lot of scrubbing. That was my day. Although it didn’t honestly begin that way. It really started at... Read more

My 12 year old son’s vision is bad. While the prescription on his glasses is mild, the double and sometimes triple vision makes everything he does into an incredible challenge. This is what his vision looks like: Now imagine a whole world that looks like this. Could you do math if the numbers looked like that? How long would it take for you to read a book? This is the battle we fight every day. It tries our patience and... Read more

I have to admit that I knew it was coming. He told me a few months ago that he was thinking of walking away and leaving it all behind, and I (along with a few others) convinced him to stay. “I’ll miss you.” I told him. “You’re my daily laugh and my writing friend. How can you leave?” He said something about family and spending time with them and a bunch of other stuff I worked really hard to not... Read more

Self control is walking into the house at 5:00 am after going on a run (after getting up at 4:00 so you didn’t mess up anyone’s schedule by running), having a huge gecko fall off the door frame onto your head, turning calmly to walk back outside and shake him off in the grass because a) you don’t want a gecko in the house and b) if you screamed you’d wake up the whole house hold. You’re welcome, family. Sleep... Read more

“How do you fail homeschool kindergarten?” One of my neighbors asked me that the other day after I told her that our 6-year-old was repeating it again this year. It’s one of those things I’ve been worried about hearing ever since we made the decision to stop pushing him so hard last December. He just wasn’t ready for it. He would have rather danced in circles and flapped his arms like a bird than do anything that even began to... Read more

I love math. I know that’s a weird thing to say, but I do. It’s order out of chaos, and a definitive and provable right and wrong. Math is a language I learned to speak, and then to master. I love it. Where am I going with this? Common Core. Have you heard about it? It’s the federal government’s attempt to take over education from the states and the local authorities. It’s a setting of national standards and methods and... Read more

Tomorrow morning (11AM Eastern), I’ll be a guest of the ladies of The Gist! We’re talking homeschooling and my book. Do you have one yet? If not, go here to get your copy now! Check your local listings for Catholic TV, or stream it live at CatholicTV.com Thanks for all the support. Happy watching!   Read more

I can still remember the first day of fourth grade when I locked eyes on K. I was new in town and knew no one in our class, but the moment I saw her I knew she was my friend. That wonderful magic of finding a kindred spirit was at work and I knew her instantly. To look at us, you couldn’t have found a more unlikely duo. I was tiny, in those days, the size of most first graders.... Read more

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We started back to school today. My eldest two boys are taking science classes at the local co-op. They were so excited this morning as they left with their dad. #2 was firmly convinced that this would be the greatest adventure of his life, and #3 was just happy to have something new going on. I wonder sometimes about my eldest boy. I wonder if he might really do well in a more traditional school setting. He thrives among people... Read more