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Not one happy marriage... but it ends here

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I have written before about my own  family history  but I had this epiphany the other day - it's not just my family, it's my in-laws too.  There are no happy marriages. Not one. Misery comes in many shapes and sizes, they are not all the same, but what all the marriages I know of in this family have in common is that not one of them was happy. My parents on their wedding day, August 1980. I was born in October 1980. Looking through, here's a brief summary of the marriages that led up to our family... My parents My father was married before my mother, his wife left him. I never met her. His version of events was (of course) that he was the completely innocent victim of a wicked woman, but I think she got out while she could - and good for her. My mother had known my father from their late teens, had seen his marriage end, and in the words of an old family friend, 'took pity on him'. He was drinking heavily, got her pregnant, and she refused to abort me; at that time,...
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Advent 2025: Part 1

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We're halfway through Advent. What a season - we are so busy, it's hard to catch a breath! Advent of course is meant to be a slow, meditative, heart-searching season... and to be honest, that's not really what it looks like in this house.  A few things we have done and are doing to mark the season... We listen daily to the Hallow kids' drama about advent, which is very good - over breakfast Our bedtime story is one of Ytreeide's stories, this year Bartholomew. Those are perfect for the kids' age. Candles everywhere in the house, including the Advent wreath that’s on during meals at the table The advent calendar of activities - from writing Christmas cards to taking chocolate to those who look after us such as police / fire / doctors etc. - continues as it does each year Chocolate advent calendars are a must of course, plus 25 jigsaw pieces each day to put together a Christmassy 500-piece puzzle by Christmas  We're not watching TV during the week, and that do...
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Out & About

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When we started the new 'school year' in September, one of my plans was to try and use Wednesdays for full day's outings. It hasn't worked out for every Wednesday, and I think that would be a bit much anyway, but we've enjoyed a number of fun days out this autumn so far. Time to dump some photos! Went went to the zoo near us... If you couldn't tell, D(9) is a fierce wolf here The technical museum... As well as to some historical sites in Wales - Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey so far, but we're definitely going back for more in the new year! Castle in the background! Cattle Country was OK, it was our first time there and we found it's really geared to littler kids than these two. But it still made for an enjoyable day out - just not one we'll repeat, probably. One Wednesday we just went into town and explored - randomly coming across the 'church in the wall', built into the city wall, and finding that it was staffed with a volunteer who had...
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Home Ed Questions: do you ever doubt your choice?

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This is the third part (of many, I expect, but far apart and slowly accumulating) in my Home Ed Questions series - here's Part 1: What about socialisation ? and Part 2: How will they ever learn to read and write? N(then 9) reads to D(then 8) This entire blog is about thinking out loud, giving the reader a bit of an insight on what's going on in my mind. So this is going to be an open, vulnerable post as I think through my doubts and fears. Do I ever doubt my choices? You bet I do. Going against what the vast majority of people are doing, and are deeming necessary, is not easy and I'm not a Lone Ranger by nature. I have always craved community, people to walk alongside me. And luckily, there is a great community of home educators where I live - many of whom I have little in common with besides our choice of education, but because it's a large enough community, I do find there are a few that I can walk with closely. Of course there's online as well, the 'global vi...
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Living from Rest

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Rest has been on my mind a lot lately - for several years now, I have been having occasional episodes of being simply unable to sleep; not to fall asleep initially, but I find myself waking up in the middle of the night and then unable to drop off again, for many hours. This has been occasional and manageable, but it feels like it's happening more often.  The cause for my waking isn't always internal - often it's the dog, or a noise, someone going to the toilet during the night - but once I'm awake on those occasions, I'm awake. I purposely don't look at my phone at those times, and I have a bedside clock with a red display (which is supposed to not interfere with the sleep hormones) so that's all I check, and I'll try to drop off again. I think, I pray, I try to empty my mind... but the dropping off just doesn't happen. I've looked into reasons for this, and what keeps coming up is chronic stress - cortisol. But the thing is, I'm not stresse...
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Re-Entry (or, Not-Back-To-School) 2025

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I think in some parts of the UK, school has already started at the end of last week. On my radar was that it starts this coming week, but I think the timings are different in different places... but anyhow, we feel like we've only just really 'landed' back home. After Vienna, we were back home for just under a week before we went away again, camping in Wales with a national Christian home education group. 140 families! It was busy, it was wet (Wales...), we barely saw the kids the entire time as they were having a fantastic time with fellow home ed kids.  Mr. did manage to take D(9) up a 'mountain' nearby, as that had been an ambition of D's for a while. And I was so blessed to watch N(10) take part in an acoustic worship session with her guitar, the first time she played in front of others. River Wye Lego in the tent with a friend In worship  The issue of trying new things  One of the great things about home education is that each child can really explore their...
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