Talk about homeschooling and unschooling today!

Talking to Lillian Brummet today (at 10am PDT/ 1pm EDT) on Conscious Discussions about the choice to homeschool or unschool.

I hope you can join us!

Click the link to listen in:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ConsciousDiscussions/2009/07/16/Un-Schooling-Homeschooling

Come and See me at Life Is Good... and have some fun!

Our family is so excited! We are going to be at the Life is Good Unschooling Conference in Vancouver, Washington on Thursday! You can still buy tickets to come here:


Besides all the merriment and fun, I will be talking about Empowering Your Adult with the Peace Treaty and signing my book, I Am Learning All the Time.

The boys are so excited! They love taking over the hotel and being free to roam with a hundred other kids being creative, playing games and good ol' plain having fun!

If you have never been to a conference filled with unschoolers, you are in for a big surprise! So many amazing parents and caring kids. A community that fills my heart with joy. So think about coming if you can and I will see you there!

Would you like to hear me read my book?

Listen in (or read along) as I read I Am Learning All The Time on Author's Read with Lillian Brummet. Enjoy!

If you would like your own copy, just go to Homeschool Adventure Books.

Authentic Family Living Radio

Listen in to Christine Hiebel's show as we talk about the inspiration for this new site and soon-to-be weekly radio show! Call in guests include Marianne and daughter Danielle Herb and John from the Liberated Parent... beautiful thoughts and community on this inspiring show!

Fertility Holidays and Just Welcoming Spring

My husband and I laugh as we think about Easter. We love watching the boys have so much fun on the treasure hunt, but the truth is there is something strange about the bunny and egg thing.

Let's face it, we all know a bunny delivering eggs is about fertility symbols and fertility happens in the spring with our gardens beginning to take seed and grow.

But bunnies and eggs are so much more literal with such a adult theme, it feels strange to have your children get so excited to gather them filled with toys, money and candy... What are we really telling our children?

We celebrated the Spring Equinox by building and planting a garden at our still somewhat new home. That felt good and the boys were so excited to help create the space. We built two raised beds, 2'x 12' long, with 2' in between to walk and a deer fence around them both. Then we went to a farm to buy 2 yards of "Magic Soil" that is pretty famous around here and filled our beds to the top.

We planted tons of lettuce, kale, beets, spinach and carrots and later will grow cucumbers, watermelon (though the melon may not grow much!)

This was so much fun for all of us and it was beautiful to have the children be excited about the whole process of spring, rebirth and real food.

Some how candy, bunnies and eggs is so far from any reality that makes sense to our family, however we did the treasure hunt (eggs filled with money), made homemade treats and joined a neighbor for another hunt and a beautiful get-together later in the day.

So many times we act out on tradition without really thinking about what it means to us personally. Unless you are excited about the real meaning of bunnies and eggs for your children, isn't it time we let the fertility tradition go (that was sooo Paleolithic times!) and allow spring to shine as we plant our yearly garden joyously with our children?

If Easter means more to you because of your Christian beliefs, how can you celebrate and honor those beliefs without the pagan symbols? Getting closer to what you truly embrace creates an opportunity for sacred times instead of sugar-induced, meaningless commercial events.

It's a journey, but something worth thinking about.

smiles and joy,
Rain

Authentic Living Mom Without Excuses

I wanted to share how my awesome friend turned challenge into an authentic moment!
She was putting on a radio show and the short story was that she forgot.
This is what she posted to the Authentic Family Living site.
She shows her courage, her kindness and how she blazes her authentic trail!

A beautiful lesson for us all.
Thank you Christine!
smiles,
Rain
*******************************************************************

How to be authentic in front of 120 people in a half an hour or less!


I did it, I set my intention and excitement, put forth a plan to connect with as many of you as possible~ really connect, voice to voice! And then…..

At 5:05pmEST when my friend said, “I have been looking into homeschooling” it was like I had been hooked up to jumper cables. Seriously, I FELT a shock that pulsated through my stomach… not a nice feeling! I realized I had just blown an event I was totally looking forward to, excited about and really meant something to me- the Authentic Family Living Radio Show.

The shock on my face and the apparent jolt through my body kinda scared my friend. She kept asking, “What? Are you OK?” I could not talk for minutes. I was in shock that I had just totally blown this.


Sure, there were reasons I was absentminded….. from the brain dead mush experience of my three year old fighting sleep for no apparent reason for the last three days… three hours each night! To the broken tooth and dentist issues, to my schedule being TOTALLY changed first thing this morning when my friend said she could not drop my daughter off at dance at 4:30pm…. Not an excuse, just another day in the life of MOM!

When my friend called and said she could not take McKenna to dance this afternoon, I did not even think about the show, I just changed what I was doing and headed out the door... gone without a thought of what else was supposed to happen.

Funny thing is, OK, not so funny today… but the past few days, I had been feeling like I was stretched a little too much. Like something has got to give. Ever feel that way?

I am so sorry the snap happened today at 4:30pm EST, when I had the opportunity to meet and chat with you all. I truly was looking forward to it.


They say there are no accidents- do you believe that? Perhaps there is Divine wisdom and today was just not the day. I do apologize for the time people who showed up lost and for any anxiety people may have felt wondering if they were the one that had the wrong day, time or call in number.

Recently, I interviewed teen advocate, Josh Shipp. His advice to parents was to become vulnerable to their children, let them know you make mistakes and are willing to admit it... to be authentic...

Will you accept my apology and give it another shot!? I would love that!
Christine Hiebel

(You can connect with this awesome Authentic Mom on Authentic Family Living!)

Join Us for a talk about Authentic Family Living!

I would love for you to join us as we discuss a new site, Authentic Family Living, where the most important thing is learning to trust yourself.

If you have had guilt, embarrassment or secrets from your unschooling or homeschooling community because your family doesn't do things like the standards for those labels, please join us as we talk about each family's journey as honest, original and living only in the present moment without labels or apologies!

Click below to join us:
Just Parenting About: Authentic Family Living
or
call in at (646) 595-2418

Today (Tuesday) at 1:30pm PDT/ 3:30pm EDT

Hope you will join us!