| I like the way my hair conditioner smells. I don't know what scent it is, but I try to remember to take a deep breath with it in my hands. Sometimes realtors recommend baking cookies before a prospective buyer is coming to view the house. I don't know what bluebells smell like, but I do have lilacs blooming in my yard this week. |  |
 | Robyn C. wrote about some things you might consider doing if a child is having more emotions than she can handle, and shared this discovery: "Choosing these loving actions helps my anger (at whatever level) to melt away also. The immediate result is a mother who is thinking clearly and logically, and so able to make better decisions." —Robyn Coburn |
 | I'm posting a photo of blueberries. You may or may not live where blueberries grow. It may or may not be time to pick blueberries where you live. Some people don't even like blueberries. Others might be gathering them to dye yarn, or cloth, or their hair. Try to live so that you can be calm and happy with all of that. |
 | About "un," the term came out in the season of 7-Up, the Uncola. Commercials, billboards, cute campaign, not a big deal. So as 7-Up wasn't a cola, unschooling was something other than schooling. |
 | Perspectives do change, if people want to learn. Different perspectives will affect what you respect, too. What is admirable, that you want to head toward? What is attractive, and pulls you nearer? What is disturbing or embarrassing, that you want to step away from? |
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 | What SHOULD I be doing as an unschooling parent?
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| I have made the greatest strides in my own deschooling by learning to notice when I feel myself "struggling," and to Stop! Then I can choose to let go, to relax about the disparity between what I want and what is. And what I have discovered is that that conscious mental shift releases the energy I need to step forward mindfully into the moment...and then that moment becomes, itself, a step towards what I want, away from what I don't want. —Leah Rose |  |
 | That flower is unfamiliar to me. Caroline, in Queensland, sent the photo. I hope if you click it, you'll see a larger image. There's a sort of bloom coming out of the flower. There's a bug. But look up and to the right, behind it. A windmill. There will be unexpected things, in life. Some are sweet and good. Be open to seeing them! |
| Stop thinking about changing "for good and not just for days or moments." That is just another thing to overwhelm you and you don't need that! Just change the next interaction you have with the kids. —Pam Sorooshian |  |
| If you're sure someone else taught you to read, you'll be waiting for someone else to teach you to do other things. If you KNOW you learned to read on your own, you'll know deep down and wide and high that you can learn other things too. |  |
| "Unschooling is a way of viewing life as filled with choices, not 'have to's'." —Pam Sorooshian |  |
 | In unschooling families it's simple: we help our kids explore what interests them in ways that are safe. —Joyce Fetteroll |
If you're not really generous with them, they won't be likely to be really generous with you.That mom responded:
I know this is true, but a lot of times it feels like I'm expected to have an unending supply of generosity, goodwill and good humor.Me/Sandra:
I think that should be your goal. If you're willing to not have help, then any help you have is more likely to be seen as a gift instead of not enough.Joyce Fetteroll:
If our children help, we should treat it as a generous gift. (And the more we treat it as a generous gift, the more often they're likely to give.)
 | I like the set of parental gifts that mom came up with. If you are a parent, try to generate and maintain a generous supply of good will and good humor. |
 | Trust is a more useful word. Over time, kids develop a sense of whether or not parents are trustworthy sources of information and assistance." —Meredith Meredith "Good point. And very often, parents 'demand respect' without any idea that they need to earn it. For a child to trust a parent, the parent needs to be worthy of trust—trustworthy. Trustable. Then after many years of being honest and attentive and reliable, the children will respect them. Because they're respectable." —Sandra Dodd |
 | If something makes you feel safer, that's fair. It might be a song, a joke, a thought, a special t-shirt, comfort food, or a nightlight. Even imagined safety or magical safety is better than fear, on an emotional level. Help children smile. |
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 | Parents should not think that unschoolers are exempt from any expectations of courtesy or etiquette. |
| Be dignified, if you want your children to respect you and to grow up to be dignified themselves. You cannot maintain your dignity and also embrace INdignity. Breathe and think of your children's need for peace so that unschooling can thrive in your home. |  |
| Without leaving your house, you can change the way you look at the world. You can change your relationship with your child and it will make both of your lives new. Sounds fruity, I'm guessing, but it's true. |  |
 | "Don't borrow trouble," my granny used to say. Lately that comes to mind, in a good way. There are things we can't control. There are things that are none of our business! About some things, sometimes, it's okay not to care. Let there be mysteries. Parents with the ability to smile and to see the sky and to be grateful for local, familiar water and air are better for children than parents who are angry and complaining. Be a peaceful place for your children. |
 | Light makes art, by projections, reflections, animated shades, and shadows! It's beautiful, temporary and only costs the time it takes to remember to look for it. |
 | Whatever it is we're learning—crochet patterns, musical notation, using crutches, building a fire, making cookies—hearing instructions (or reading them) makes VERY little sense at first. Later it makes more sense. But after trying it and figuring out some things for ourselves, and then going back and looking at the directions, they come to life, in color, and they make 3-D sense. |
| I've decided it's not so much the "what" that we do, but the attitude in which we do it. The whole wide world is open, just play and enjoy it. |  |
| If you can't go outside, look at the beauty inside. There are things you might have missed, if you didn't have time to sit and see. |  |
