Latest / The BIG Home Ed Conversations | Home Education / Rituals, Traditions & Social Conditioning: Letting Go of Back-to-School Pressure in Home Ed

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Rituals, Traditions & Social Conditioning: Letting Go of Back-to-School Pressure in Home Ed · The BIG Home Ed Conversations | Home Education

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I definitely have an underhand of of fear and anxiety that goes
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with this and definitely like a performance thing, like you're
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the expectations of you as you're going into a new
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classroom with a new teacher that like newness felt very like
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built up, like there was a big deal to it.
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Definitely, I think. Going into like when you've kind
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of like extrapolate that into adulthood.
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And This is why it's so important to look for these
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things in our childhood and our experiences in childhood and see
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how they have affected us as adults.
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Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of
1:00
the Big Home Ed Conversations. My name is Kelly Rigg.
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I'm a home Ed mom of two and founder of Operating Motherhood.
1:06
I'm a qualified mindset coach and I'm passionate about
1:08
supporting parents and neurodivergent families as they
1:10
navigate the transition from mainstream schooling into home
1:13
education. I'm joined with my Co host
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Ashley Venerio, who's also a fellow home Med mum of three and
1:20
a former primary teacher. So we created the big Home Med
1:22
Conversations podcast with kind of what began as honest,
1:26
heartfelt talks around the coffee table that have grown now
1:29
into a space for hundreds of listeners.
1:30
Now tune in for real, unfiltered conversations about mindset,
1:34
behaviour, challenges, educational philosophies and the
1:37
often very emotional journey of alternative education.
1:40
So we cut through the noise and we focus on what really matters
1:43
to home educating families. So hopefully offering you some
1:46
clarity, confidence and hopefully some community too.
1:49
In every episode that we do. We this summer have been given
1:53
an incredible opportunity sponsored by Out School to
1:58
review their platform and to go and play with it and use it and
2:00
enjoy the different classes and things on there.
2:03
And then to come and tell you guys about it and essentially
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we've been doing that for the past couple of weeks and let you
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know a bit about it. I hope you've had a chance to go
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on there and have a look. What I did find out this week
2:12
actually about it, which is really awesome, which is that
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about two and a half thousand of the out school educators on
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there have advanced degrees. So when you think like the
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average kid is not going to have the opportunity to be taught by
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somebody with an an advanced aeronautics degree, like also
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like incredible game that there are people on there with these
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incredible bits of knowledge in their heads that they would
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never normally get to interact with on a regular basis.
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But actually they will get to and they will get to learn from
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them, which is just awesome. So I think that's something
2:41
which is really a massive plus for this.
2:43
Like you're, yes, you're paying for classes on there, you're
2:45
going on and you're getting some great kind of feedback from
2:47
them, but you're getting some people here who are really very
2:50
intelligent and know a lot about their field.
2:52
And I think that is just so valuable.
2:55
Yeah, my girls are taking a veterinary parasite course and
3:01
they are loving the real life stories that the woman who's
3:08
teaching the course can share because she also works in a
3:12
vet's office. Like she is a veterinary
3:14
technician. And so she's showing pictures of
3:18
things that she actually looked at under a microscope while at
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work. So there's just this very real
3:24
experience that she's sharing. And I think it brings a lot of
3:28
authenticity to the course. And just share as the girls, OK,
3:32
this is this is actually real life.
3:34
Like this is what you would do if you were a veterinary
3:36
technician. And obviously, we all know if
3:39
you listen to this podcast for more than a second that my girls
3:42
are hoarse obsessed. So this is right up their alley
3:45
and something I certainly had not provide.
3:49
And I know you've had a similar situation with your son.
3:53
This week, actually, it's been quite funny.
3:56
My son is massively into Percy Jackson right now, and I was
3:59
really delighted when I looked in and typed in Percy Jackson.
4:02
There was loads of great classes that came up.
4:05
They're all kind of around the things I think he'd be really
4:07
into. And he seems to have reached a
4:09
kind of milestone recently where he's starting to want to get
4:12
more creative. He's coming up with stories and
4:14
characters himself and he really loves using AI for that as well.
4:18
Actually at the minute, like coming up with ideas through
4:19
that and having conversations with it.
4:21
And essentially, I found a a really lovely creative writing
4:24
class with a teacher based over in the US and she's so engaging.
4:29
She's got such a lovely manner to her, so smiley.
4:32
And bless her, she tried very hard to get my very, very kind
4:36
of like, nervous, shy son to be like, talk, talk to me, come and
4:41
chat to me, share me, share your ideas with me and all the rest
4:43
of it. And so I know she'll win him
4:45
over. It's only a matter of time.
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But the first session was adorable, to be honest.
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He was just like, you speak for me.
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Poor kid. But it was really lovely doing
4:54
one of the live ones because you've done some of the
4:56
self-paced stuff and actually having a teacher there to talk
4:59
to him is just really, really nice.
5:01
It gives him somebody else to listen to and to get ideas from
5:05
choosing her brain space for once, right?
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Like I, I use mine 99% of the time for their education.
5:10
It's so nice to let somebody else have come up with prompts
5:12
and the ideas. And actually she obviously knows
5:15
Percy Jackson way more than I do too.
5:17
So she's got loads more thoughts to kind of lead them.
5:21
But the class was really great. And I, I honestly, genuinely,
5:23
really, I think he really enjoyed it and he's looking
5:25
forward to doing another one tonight.
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So clearly, like when I mentioned it's coming again, he
5:30
was like, yes, so that's really, really great.
5:32
So all you need really is for them to be looking forward to it
5:34
again. So obviously we'll stop
5:37
whispering on about it for now. We'll tell you a bit more about
5:39
it next week, but ultimately if you want to try out school at
5:43
the moment, you can get $35 off your family's first month for a
5:47
limited time when you use our links.
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So we've got outschool.com/home Ed as the Home Ed is all in
5:53
capitals, and then they've also given us the discount of Home Ed
5:58
35. So you'll go through that link
6:00
and you use that code and it will grant you $35 off your
6:03
first month. All right, guys.
6:05
So this week we are talking about rituals, the the weird,
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like whether it's social conditioning or whether they're
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traditions. We, we can look at it, we're
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going to look at it from both sides.
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We are going to consider both perspectives.
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So we have found that actually as we're kind of coming into
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September and we're starting to think about the, the next school
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year and all the rest. We, we talked a lot obviously
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over the summer about planning and kind of people who are
6:30
getting started with home education this September.
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So like we are kind of banging on again a little bit, but there
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is some really interesting rituals that start to kind of
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come up about this time. And I was laughing with Ashley
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yesterday about how I keep getting the urge to buy the kids
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a new lunch box. I don't even, I'm like, I looked
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at the pens yesterday and it's like, oh, they could do with
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some new colouring pens. I'm just like, right, they've
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got so many colouring pens, what is wrong with you?
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And it's like these weird urges I seem to keep getting like
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these little, like just little flickers.
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I'm like, oh, where are these coming from?
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And I it's like obvious, really obvious when you start to think
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about it, that obviously September back to school was the
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back to school shopping. It was new stationary, new
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pencil case, new stuff like new books, like the putting the
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plastic on your workbooks. It was the like, all of it,
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right? Like there's always like prep
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that goes into like going back to school that like new
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uniforms, except like, I genuinely like keep getting the
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urge to buy the kids and new clothes.
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And I was like, what is going on?
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Like I'm literally just getting that this massive drive and it
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yeah, we were both just like, Oh dear, like this is just back to
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school, isn't it? Like this is the vibe.
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But they were just so conditioned to think that that's
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what you do at this time of year that ultimately it just keeps
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weaving its way back into your mental headspace.
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That combined with obviously marketing, which we know is the
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the work of the devil, which is basically just any company out
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there. Yeah, any company who's got a
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product that wants to sell it is going to be marketing it to you
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one way or the other. And don't get me wrong, I have a
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business I market, so I understand it's not a sin, but
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it is at the end of the day, it plays on your fears and your
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worries, and it encourages you to spend money when you don't
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really need to. And like to buy all the things
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like I'm looking through the camping sales, looking for
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gadgets to add to my camping kit.
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And I'm just like, there is no room in this car.
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Do children have stuff on their laps now?
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Like stop it. You don't need this special
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little like hot dog thing to go on the BBQ that turns the
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sausages all at once for you. Like, no, we don't need this.
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It looks fun and cute, but you don't need it.
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And I get it. It's just normal.
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We, we, we get caught up and obviously if you go into a
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supermarket right now, there's a whole back to school aisle.
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There are all the things, right? So it's everywhere.
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And I think as home educators, obviously our kids are not going
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back to school. So really you're thinking to
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yourself, why is this relevant? Why are you talking about it?
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But the truth is that it does still eat into our brains.
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Like the thoughts are still there.
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And I mean, what, when did schools typically go back
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actually in America? Was it because I think it's
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August, isn't it? They go back a bit earlier than
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they do here. It has massively shifted since I
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was in school and like it. It feels very uncomfortable to
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me, honestly. But we always went back
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typically after Labor Day or like that first week of
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September. So that that was kind of your
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earmark. And I vividly remember this
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because there was like MTV Music Awards or like the Video Music
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Awards, whatever it was, was always like in September, the
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1st like week that you were back at school.
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And so it was something we always talked about like, so
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just this very like vivid memory for me of like having to watch
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these Music Awards. But anyway, we had typically
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ended school the first week of June and then went back to
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school the first week of September.
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So you had like a really solid summer break.
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Yeah, it was amazing. And schools obviously varied.
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So some schools were like mid to late June or you know, the first
10:08
or second week of September. But now, like all my nieces,
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nephews and and friends who have kids in school, obviously back
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in the States, they're all typically going back like that
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second week of August, but they're getting out in May.
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Right, so it is. It's all shifted a bit earlier.
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And I the thing about the states, which is very different
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than here obviously and and somewhat different from Italy as
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well, is that it is very much dependent on your district.
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So not even your state, but your like very specific school
10:42
system. So you see a lot of variation in
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like winter breaks, fall breaks, spring breaks, like it, it
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varies. It is not the same week across
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the country, and it is not like all the kids get out of school
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on this day. Whereas I feel like in England,
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it's very driven by the term schedule and like, you know,
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when school's out because suddenly there's a million kids
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at the playground in some random month in or week in October,
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right? And you're like, oh, OK, term
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break. Or, you know, you're shopping at
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Costco and you're not the only one with kids.
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So it's like, oh, OK, it must be the break.
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But in the States, like it could just be at like it's, it's still
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around, it's around the same time, but it's never the same
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week. And so yeah, like it just, it
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just very much depends on on what your school system has
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decided. And so like I have nephews that
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go back the second week in August and I have some that go
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back still that first week in September.
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Yeah. And, and make it out at
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different times. Yeah.
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Totally random. Yeah.
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That's interesting. Yeah.
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But did you find that like when you were kind of heading back to
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school that you had all the same prizes?
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And I know you were kind of like nodding along and I was
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speaking, but like, did you have all the same sort of stuff going
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on? So I know that it seems to just
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be like fresh uniforms, fresh haircut, this massive kind of
12:03
almost expectation to put your best foot forward.
12:06
You're going into a new year, you've got new teachers like
12:09
that. You've got to just go in there
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with all ready to go. Like you've got to be committed.
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Like there's like an energy to it.
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There's kind of almost a bit performance anxiety that that
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gets that makes me a little bit kind of like fluttering
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nervously anxious just thinking about it that kind of, I mean, I
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don't think that those that kind of ritual necessarily.
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I don't know. Does it make you feel calmer?
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I mean, maybe you feel more prepared, Like, I don't know,
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there's this kind of like element of I guess you've got
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everything in your bag. Yeah.
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I think it also like helped to like get the kids excited about
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going back to school because, you know, you go back to school
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shopping usually you've grown a lot over the summer.
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You need to get new clothes. If you, I mean here again,
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different because you wear uniforms, but in the states only
12:51
private schools wore uniforms. So the majority of of just
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public school that that children go to the free school, the free
12:58
education, you wear whatever you want.
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And so obviously back to school shopping was a big deal.
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You're you're kind of choosing your outfits and everything and
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you know, getting a few few of those like newer stylish pieces
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and definitely getting in a back to school haircut, a new
13:12
backpack. Like I remember it was very, I
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don't think it was until I was in high school that I stopped
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getting a new backpack every year.
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Like, which is so silly because it's not like they stopped
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working suddenly at the end of the school year.
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But, you know, maybe that I remember one year I had my
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backpack had a clock on it and then I think it was just super
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unstylish to go into the next grade with that childish back.
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Yeah, right. And so so yes, you'd get a new
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backpack, you get a new pencil case.
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You would, you know, certainly look at new lunch boxes like you
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mentioned. Yeah.
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It was just sort of part of the whole preparing for back to
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school shopping. And usually there was also a
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list that the school gave you, like, you would need so many
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binders and so many notebooks and that kind of stuff.
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So you were just making sure, like, do I need a specific
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graphing calculator for this math course or, you know, and
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making sure you had everything that was required.
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So yeah, that was definitely a thing.
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I didn't actually have like, memories of doing those things.
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Like I don't have fond memories of of shopping with my mom for a
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protractor, but like, I remember that we did those things.
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Yeah, I've got an under hum of stress attached to those
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memories. I think I can remember my mom
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always feeling quite like frantic, I think probably
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because we would probably left it until like the last week
14:29
before we went back to school, which I think so many families
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do, actually. Yeah, like under hum of stress
14:34
of just like, oh, no, we need to get and get everything and to
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get all the uniform. We need to get all of this and
14:38
to get all of that and the cost associated with it and the
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anxiety that then built about getting back to school again.
14:45
It's going to be so different for every individual, whether
14:47
they found it exciting, whether they found it nerve wracking.
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But I definitely have an underhub of of fear that an
14:55
anxiety that goes with this and definitely like a performance
14:58
thing, like you're the expectations of you as you're
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going into a a new classroom with a new teacher that like
15:04
newness felt very like built up like there was a big deal to it.
15:09
Definitely, I think. Going into like when you kind of
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like extrapolate out into adulthood.
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And This is why it's so important to look for these
15:16
things in our childhood and our experiences in childhood and see
15:18
how they have affected us as adults.
15:20
Like starting a new job, working with a new client, going to
15:24
somewhere completely brand new, like finding parking and making
15:27
sure you're organized to know that you're going to be able to
15:29
park somewhere near where you need to go and what time you're
15:31
going to get there. And as the likely to be any
15:33
traffic and all these things like it adds such a lot of
15:36
stress to every new situation because you feel like every time
15:41
you meet someone new that you've got to be on your best
15:43
behaviour. You've got to look at the
15:44
entirety that you've got to be wearing the right things that
15:47
like I, I got to find myself because I don't live in that
15:50
world very much anymore. And I'm very conscious of being
15:54
kind to myself and allowing myself to just be that actually,
15:58
when I do have moments like I've got to go and do some neuro
16:02
divergent training, consultancy stuff in a business in the near
16:05
future. It's a very big business, a very
16:07
nice business, a very expensive business.
16:10
And it's making me feel very, very scared that I am not, I am
16:14
not that person. So I am feeling like the urge to
16:17
go and get myself a really smart dress and to make sure I've had
16:20
a haircut and to make sure that I'm this, that and the other
16:22
like. And it's so interesting how like
16:25
it then creates that performance anxiety around like, I'm going
16:28
into a new situation. This is what's going to be
16:30
expected of me. And, and to some degree, I guess
16:34
it isn't all bad that we teach our kids that there are going to
16:38
be situations in life where they are going to have to be smart
16:41
and professional and be able to go into there and be like ready
16:45
to be that person. However, the the fear that I
16:50
think that gets attached to the expectations on you in those
16:53
scenarios surely is not good for anybody's mental health.
16:56
Like I feel like if more places were just accepting and open and
17:00
allow people to just be who they who they are and didn't expect
17:03
them to turn up in a suit and tie because why you just sat at
17:06
a desk and everyone's going to see you.
17:07
It's not a big deal. Like the more we kind of are
17:10
being relaxed and a lot of workplaces are relaxing these
17:12
things now and allowing people to be a bit more themselves.
17:15
And actually all that can do is create safety and calm for
17:18
someone. And I think that a lot of kids
17:20
like as home educated kids and I guess again, like, and making
17:24
sure we're kind of making sure we understand why we're talking
17:25
about this as a home educated child, my children don't really
17:31
have this. Like they don't really have an
17:34
awful lot of this. We have the odd moment that
17:36
maybe we got to a wedding or even like going to other
17:40
people's birthday parties. Like I said, someone might come
17:42
and you try and find a nice, nice neat pair of trousers and a
17:45
nice T-shirt. They're like, why going to a
17:49
party? It's like just need to be just a
17:51
little bit need to No, actually why?
17:54
I guess it doesn't really matter.
17:55
OK, all right, well, just maybe just not that one because it's
17:57
got like two holes in it, but like, let's just try and go a
17:59
little better than that. And it's like, it's interesting
18:02
how we kind of attach these like rituals.
18:06
And like I say, this is where it comes like rituals, social
18:09
conditioning, traditions. What are they?
18:11
And I think the the point here is authenticity.
18:16
If you as a family really enjoy dressing up to go out to the pub
18:22
to have a nice Sunday lunch together every Sunday and that
18:25
is something that you will really enjoy doing, where you
18:27
put on your smart clothes and you go out and you do something
18:29
really lovely. Or maybe it's that you do really
18:32
value when you go to a doctor's appointment that you want your
18:38
kids to have all brushed their hair and be looking somewhat
18:40
presentable. I feel like that's the biggest
18:43
one for us. Like if we're going to the
18:45
doctor, I'm like, listen, everyone's getting a French
18:47
braid. Like we can't be judged here.
18:51
And I think this is, like I've said to mine before, that like,
18:55
look, we're camping. So we're scruffy, we're a little
18:59
dirty. We haven't brushed our hair
19:01
today. That's OK.
19:03
Like, you're filthy, you're climbing trees, you're rolling
19:04
in the dirt. That's all right.
19:06
But we are about to go out into the real world.
19:08
And not everybody else knows that we've been camping.
19:11
So right, they are going to take one look at us and think, holy
19:15
moly, these children are abused. So please, please can we just
19:19
like wash your hands and faces, brush your teeth and brush your
19:23
hair. Yeah and just put a put a non
19:26
mud stained dress on. Can we just like just try and
19:29
show you the world that you're actually safe and cared for?
19:33
But but these are moments that are funny, but also like it
19:37
makes you realize how deep this conditioning runs and how it's,
19:40
it's not necessarily that I care about it or that I worry about
19:43
it. And I don't like the kids.
19:44
They're supposed to be a bit scruffy and, and having a great
19:46
time and they are well fed and healthy and all the things that
19:48
they're very, very happy kids. But you do find yourself
19:51
thinking like, I need to relax because I'm giving them at a
19:55
complex here about what other people are thinking of them.
19:59
And actually, I don't want them thinking about that almost at
20:01
all actually. Like, I really want them growing
20:03
up thinking that they are choosing to wear that pretty
20:06
dress because they love wearing pretty dresses.
20:08
Or they are brushing their hair because it feels nicer to them
20:12
to be able to run their fingers through it without it catching.
20:13
Or, you know, like, I want them to do it because they want to do
20:16
it. And so much of our habits and
20:19
conditioning are that we do it for other people.
20:23
That's very true. But it's it's true though.
20:26
But it, it doesn't matter because think, I mean, I know if
20:29
I was when I was teaching, if I had a kid come in that was like
20:32
a hot mess, I would be like, what is going on at home?
20:36
Like no one's looking after this kid.
20:37
No one cares if they're put together before they come to
20:39
class. And I don't know what happened
20:41
at home. Maybe that kid 100% refused.
20:44
And the mom was like, fine, we just got to go get to school.
20:46
Like we've all been there. Like, if you don't want to get
20:48
dressed, you're going in your pajamas, like we got to go.
20:51
And so I think that the stress for parents, you have to get
20:54
them first to school and then get themselves typically off to
20:57
work. That is a busy morning.
21:00
And sometimes you just don't have you just run out of time
21:02
and that's the end of it. So like there could have been a
21:04
whole thing that happened, but you as like the, the teacher or
21:08
the random person in the grocery store are only seeing what's
21:11
visually in front of you. And so you start to form that
21:14
opinion, right? We all do it.
21:15
And so it's so funny because I've had this conversation with
21:17
my girls, which is like this in society, in this world that we
21:22
live in, because they'll say, why does it matter?
21:24
You know, And it's like you think about when you see someone
21:28
and how you will immediately form your impression of them
21:31
within a few seconds strictly based off of what they look
21:34
like, what you see. And this is something that will
21:37
carry on into the rest of your life.
21:40
So when you are in the business world, when you are, you know,
21:43
finding a potential partner or making friends or any of that,
21:46
that first impression is visual. It has nothing to do with their
21:50
personality, who they are as a person, their values doesn't
21:54
nothing. It is simply their appearance.
21:56
And once that impression is formed, you're working against
22:00
it. So it's nicer to have a good
22:05
first impression and so that their mind says, oh, look, this
22:09
person, even if it's not true, this person is put together.
22:13
They you know, they have they're, they're clean, they're
22:17
they're well kept. Their hair is brushed like you,
22:19
you say, OK, this person's got it together, right?
22:21
They they probably we also have it together in other aspects of
22:24
their life, right? That's that's sort of how we
22:26
extrapolate many. Assumptions, don't we?
22:28
Yeah, 100%. But then let's say you show up
22:33
because you had a rough morning and whatever and you're still in
22:35
your robe and you've got like, coffee stains down your pajama
22:39
top and you've got mismatched shoes or your hair is in it, mom
22:42
bun, whatever. Then that person is like, man,
22:44
this woman is really like stretched to her limit, even if
22:49
that just happens to be a bad morning because your alarm
22:51
didn't go off or something, or you know, your spouse was
22:54
supposed to take care of it, but instead they're really sick.
22:57
So suddenly you got called in and like weren't prepared,
23:00
right? You're working against that
23:02
first impression going forward. That's much harder.
23:04
It's much harder to overcome those negative opinions.
23:07
And so it's this is the conversation I have.
23:10
I'm like, well, it's because so many people, right or wrong,
23:14
your brain, not because they're judgy, but just your brain is
23:18
going to make that that opinion of that person.
23:21
And we always want it to be as positive as possible so that it
23:25
just sets you in a good light going forward.
23:28
And it's one of those things where you are constantly,
23:31
especially, I don't know if this is just a home Ed thing or if
23:34
it, if it is other parents as well.
23:36
But so we were recently camping and I said to my girls, you need
23:39
to put out seven outfits. They need to be a mix of short
23:45
and long sleeves and they need to have, you know, socks and
23:49
underwear. And then you need to have a
23:51
riding outfit because we were going riding one day.
23:53
And that's the advice I gave them.
23:56
And 11 sweatshirt, which I learned the hard way is not
23:59
enough. We always need 2 sweatshirts.
24:03
But yes, so we, I had some very interesting outfits this week.
24:09
Very interesting. I was not going to make any
24:14
changes. I just said, hey, let them do
24:16
it. And you know, we're going
24:18
places. We're on vacations this summer.
24:20
Like they know these kids aren't.
24:22
About outside really, but I think it's interesting, isn't
24:25
it? Because you kind of have both
24:26
sides to this. You've got the the concept of
24:28
trying to teach them that. For the most part we don't.
24:33
If someone is judging you based on what you look like, say a
24:36
random person like you meet at a shop somewhere like couldn't
24:39
careless, like that person must have not.
24:42
They are not in any way important to me.
24:44
So like day-to-day life. For the most part I don't worry
24:48
about it too much. My kids are both healthy,
24:50
they're both well fed, they're both like reasonably ish, neat
24:54
and tidy. Getting my youngest to brush
24:55
their hair is an impossibility. We do it as often as I can
24:57
manage. But for the most part, they are
25:01
happy, healthy, reasonably clean.
25:04
We'll go with it. But for the most part, it's in
25:08
these pinch point moments, these moments where we feel like
25:11
there's a higher risk of judgement or a higher risk of
25:14
somebody that there being an authority there.
25:16
I think it's it's linked to authority.
25:19
It's that like a person's judgement of us has an impact on
25:23
our life. So going to an interview or
25:25
meeting a teacher or going and doing something like going to
25:29
the doctors or whatever. Like these are moments where we
25:32
feel like that person is in a level of authority that we've
25:35
maybe placed on them that maybe they have, maybe they haven't.
25:37
But ultimately we want to impress them and we want them to
25:41
actually see us in a certain light.
25:43
And it's in those moments that you want them to have the skills
25:46
to be able to put their best foot forward If they feel like
25:49
that person matters and they want that person to care a lot
25:52
about what they have to offer. And you certainly don't want to
25:56
be showing up to, like, at a business meeting where you're
25:58
hoping to get 20,000 lbs in consultancy, stinky.
26:03
And like, like, clearly have food on your face and you
26:07
haven't washed for three days and your clothes are a mess.
26:09
And you're going to go and be like, yeah, I want 20 grand from
26:11
you. I mean, yeah, sure.
26:12
I mean, there's some massive CEO CEOs out there who do mess
26:15
around in jeans and probably could get away with it because
26:17
they've already got billions of pounds in the bank.
26:19
But for the most part, most of us know that if we want someone
26:22
to be impressed by us, that we have to impress them with those
26:24
initial instinctual kind of moments.
26:27
And yeah, the hope is that for sure, you're like that.
26:33
You're only really going to work to impress people who actually
26:35
you care about impressing. But ultimately, most of us spend
26:39
most of our lives fearful of impressing everybody.
26:43
And I know that I've managed to work very hard to get away from
26:46
this feeling. But for the most part, most of
26:48
us walk through our days conscious that people could be
26:51
judging us all the time and worried about that.
26:55
Even strangers, even people who don't matter, we are going to be
26:58
thinking, Oh my goodness, they're going to be thinking
27:00
this about us. I even had a moment, actually,
27:02
last year, we went on a trip with a bunch of us to Stonehenge
27:07
and we got on the bus and the kids were chatting and they were
27:10
noisy. And as we kind of got up to the
27:14
bus stop at the top, obviously there was no reason for them to
27:16
Ding the bells, but a couple of them dinged the bell.
27:19
And my son included, was desperate the whole way to press
27:22
the button. And I actually said, no, no, we
27:25
don't press the button. It's annoying for the driver.
27:27
No, no, it's not OK. We don't do that.
27:29
Like you can Ding it as we come to the stop once, that's it.
27:33
No more dinging. It's rude.
27:35
And as you got off the bus, I was like, sorry, I felt like a
27:38
chaos this morning. And he goes, no, I was just sat
27:41
here thinking, you guys are the best behaved group of kids that
27:44
I've come across in a very long time.
27:46
And I got laughed when really. And he goes, stick a bunch of
27:50
kids on this bus and they Ding those bells like nothing else.
27:52
Like it does my nut in like I literally get up to the end and
27:56
I'm just like, Get Me Out of this bus.
27:57
I can't do this job anymore. And I was like, can I just have
28:01
this in writing just for my own like sanity down the line?
28:03
I really have worked hard to commit it to memory because it
28:06
was a moment where the whole time, the whole 5-10 minutes
28:10
that were on that bus, I was cringing at how loud they were
28:13
and how chatty they were and how annoying it must be and how we
28:17
need to be behaving nicely for him.
28:18
Because being on the bus, you have to behave and you have to
28:20
do this and you have to do that and you can't press the buttons.
28:22
And actually he sat here going Blimey, they're so well behaved.
28:26
What lovely kids, they're so polite.
28:28
They've all said thank you. They haven't done the bell 20
28:30
times. And I was like, isn't it
28:31
fascinating how so often we are sat in these situations thinking
28:35
we are not giving a good impression and actually we are
28:37
doing the opposite? It's.
28:38
Just fine and. I think this this happens so
28:41
often and it's and what's sad about that is the reason why
28:44
we're sat there going we're not giving a good impression.
28:47
We're not doing the right things, we're not impressing
28:49
them. We're not neat enough, we're not
28:51
smart enough. We're not tidy enough.
28:52
We're not saying the right things is because we spent most
28:56
of our childhood being told that we're too big, be smaller,
29:00
you're too loud. Be quieter.
29:02
You're whatever, right? You're asking too much, ask for
29:05
less. And so we spend an awful lot of
29:07
our adulthood trying. I mean, I'm definitely trying to
29:11
undo that and to be bigger and to be louder and to talk more
29:15
and to put myself out there and to not be ashamed of it and to
29:19
not feel guilty about it. And it's still hard even with an
29:23
awful lot of conscious effort. And so I think one of the things
29:26
that about these kind of like, again, call them traditions,
29:30
call them social conditioning, whatever it is, is to be really
29:33
mindful that as home educators, we are going to come up against
29:37
our conditioning and the things that we experienced as children
29:40
and the fears and hang ups and the worries.
29:42
And like you're going to be taking your kids out there,
29:45
presenting them to the world. They are going to be interacting
29:47
with random people going out there and trying to get jobs
29:50
when they go to college or go to uni or whatever one day.
29:52
And ultimately they they will be OK.
29:56
And I guess this is what I want to kind of get across to you is
29:58
that we are all working really hard to undo this, to make
30:03
people feel a little bit less like they have to be on it all
30:06
the time in order to be seen as something impressive just
30:08
because of how they look. But ultimately we are, it's a
30:11
constant effort, isn't it? It's such a lot of effort to
30:14
achieve that. And hopefully I say it's like
30:17
the generational trauma like you undo a little bit every time.
30:20
But as home educators, we are typically undoing a massive
30:23
boatload of that by not having this like big push this big like
30:28
right, come on, new year, new you got to focus.
30:30
Can't like let go of last year. I know that you're a bit pants
30:33
at this or you couldn't focus or you weren't doing great at this
30:35
subject. We're going to do better this
30:36
year. They're going to get tutor.
30:37
We're going to have a smarter uniform.
30:39
We're going to do better. Like we don't have to have those
30:43
thoughts in our heads. We can.
30:45
I definitely experienced my life as a gentle progression.
30:48
It is a constant progress and ultimately it's not a new school
30:53
year. It's just another month.
30:54
It's just another day. Like it's just another subject
30:57
to choose and to talk about and to do a little bit more in One
31:00
Direction. It's another step in the
31:01
direction of understanding a mass concept or whatever.
31:03
It isn't a whole new massive thing and we don't have to have
31:06
our kids seeing it as that. And that's a real gift.
31:09
And I think if we can take one thing from that is that just
31:12
simply by choosing to home meds, we're giving them that gift.
31:15
Is that that less pressure at this time?
31:19
We don't have to have it. It doesn't need to exist.
31:23
And so all the marketing and the shouting at you to to get the
31:26
new resources or to sign up to a new curriculum or to get them
31:29
into new classes or whatever. Do what feels good.
31:33
And I think this is the crux of this, isn't it?
31:34
Right. Like the concept of how do you
31:37
actually dig in and almost like recreate like so if there's a
31:43
ritual there that you love, then how do you recreate it home Ed
31:47
style or just taking away some of the pressure or the
31:51
expectations or the doing it for somebody else.
31:53
Like back to school photos is a great example here.
31:56
We're both saying before we got started that we have both taken
32:00
not back to school photos as well.
32:03
Like we've had you had some in school for a little while as
32:05
well. So I suppose you might have had
32:06
some from that and early stages as well, but mine have never
32:10
been to. School.
32:11
And I, I literally started from the outset with, with my son
32:16
taking a photo of him in the wild.
32:19
So at his best, climbing a tree, laughing and joking with his
32:26
friends, like something that was like a really authentic smiley.
32:31
Like this is what home Ed is all about for us.
32:33
It's just freedom. Like we are not going back to
32:36
school. We are carrying on with our home
32:38
Ed journey. There is nothing really
32:39
happening right now. But this is just, we're just
32:41
carrying on. But we're just going to take a
32:42
little photo to just mark at the moment.
32:44
And I did have that kind of like, I want to have a photo,
32:47
like I want to see them growing up.
32:49
I want to have that like intentional like photo every
32:51
year. But it's never like they're not
32:53
standing in the same place against the same door, wearing a
32:57
cute little uniform. No.
32:58
And there's a tiny part of me that would love to see how cute
33:01
they would look because it's nostalgic.
33:05
It's lovely, isn't it? That kind of.
33:07
Yeah, it is. And you know, here's the thing,
33:10
like I think like you were saying, finding a way to
33:12
recreate it for like for our lifestyle is, is the way to do
33:17
it if it makes sense for you at this time of year when it is all
33:20
the back to school stuff. And likewise for home educators,
33:25
if you're on Instagram right now, it is all planning,
33:27
curriculum reviews. What are you doing for
33:29
September? Even for people who school year
33:31
round, right. I mean, I follow one woman who
33:34
homeschools all year round, but this is just the natural cycle
33:37
of last year's curriculum has ended and you're starting new
33:40
ones. I am bombarded with it.
33:44
And it definitely is one of the things where it sort of
33:48
reinvigorates me to look at our schedule and to say like, OK,
33:53
you know, we've, we've sort of laid back this summer quite a
33:55
bit, but now we need to re re engage and get a little bit more
34:00
serious and a little bit more intentional.
34:03
And how is that going to look for us?
34:05
And also, I have found that while we didn't need a lot of
34:09
planning in the beginning of our home, a journey, we, we do need
34:13
a little bit more now because we're, you know, 3 kids kind of
34:16
actively learning. And I do have some goals like
34:20
things that I'm working us towards.
34:22
And we all know that the weeks get busy.
34:24
And so if, if I don't plan this a little bit better, I am going
34:27
to find myself being like, where did the days go?
34:30
So this is one of the things that I'm personally trying to be
34:35
more intentional about. And I'm sort of riding the wave
34:37
of this momentum around back to school, planning to say like,
34:41
OK, it it helps me to, to keep it top of mind, I guess every
34:47
time I'm I'm looking at what people are doing.
34:49
So I think if you can find ways to like apply it in a positive
34:52
way, maybe this is the time where you say, yeah, hey, while
34:55
everything's on sale, do we need new pens?
34:58
Maybe we do buy them now. That's great.
35:00
So yeah, I, I think you can, like you were saying, make it
35:03
work for you. But also like, if this stuff
35:06
just gives you the ick and it gives you anxiety, just let it
35:09
go. Like, like there are years where
35:12
we did even when we were home schooling in Italy where I did
35:17
take like a back to school photo and it is super cute to look
35:20
back on. But then I just forget.
35:22
And then I have also the outside thing where, you know, my, my
35:26
mom or someone will be like, send me their back to school
35:28
photo And I'm like, oh, crap. I'm just like, OK, here's them
35:32
at the park. Like back to school.
35:34
I don't know who do. You want from me?
35:37
It's so funny, isn't it? And I think you're right, I
35:39
think there's a natural kind of ebb and flow to the year too,
35:42
right? And if there's something else
35:43
that we wanted to talk about today, this is the kind of the
35:45
cycling. So obviously we have a seasonal
35:47
cycling, if you are a mum listening, obviously dads, I
35:51
know it's slightly different, but for women we do obviously
35:53
have a monthly cycle. We also have a life cycle where
35:56
we have obviously go through poverty and then we have
35:58
children and then we go through the menopause.
36:00
And so all these things do create a different kind of pace
36:05
and hormonal experience of life. And so as much as it seems
36:09
really complicated to factor all these things in, it is important
36:14
to recognize that we have as human beings, we are an animal.
36:18
Like if we just want to get like really down to basics here, we
36:20
are an animal. And like you would expect any
36:22
other animal to just follow its natural rhythms to like, you
36:26
would expect a rabbit to hibernate more in the winter.
36:28
You would expect a rabbit to make babies in the spring.
36:31
Like you would expect a rabbit to eat grass.
36:33
And then like, you know what I mean?
36:34
Like you wouldn't expect a rabbit to go and start climbing
36:38
a tree. You wouldn't expect a rabbit to
36:40
start running a corporate business.
36:41
Like, at the end of the day, as human beings, we have been asked
36:45
to suddenly be an awful lot of things that is not particularly
36:48
natural to being a human being. And we experience the seasons
36:54
and we experience that cycling. And like, we will feel energized
36:59
in the spring typically, and we will feel like we want to
37:03
snuggle and go inwards and read more books and watch more movies
37:06
and eat great, lovely, comforting, warm foods.
37:10
About now I am so ready for autumn.
37:13
My body is feeling already like I'm excited.
37:16
I'm like, I'm feeling so like it's going to be so nice.
37:19
Like I love this time of year and I think it's, it feels so
37:23
lovely. And I think obviously not
37:24
everybody lives in the seasonal kind of like I realise we're
37:27
talking here to literally the people who live along a specific
37:29
part of the earth and not everybody experiences seasons
37:31
like we do. But ultimately, wherever you are
37:35
in the world, your body will have some sort of natural rhythm
37:37
that will match with whatever kind of environment you're in.
37:40
And if we need to honour it to some degree, we need to
37:44
recognise that as humans, we are mammals.
37:46
We would have hibernated a bit more in the winter and we would
37:49
have come out in the spring and worked hard to toil the land and
37:51
to hunt and to forage and to get things ready.
37:54
Right. So like, yeah, you've just got
37:56
to try and remember these things when we actually sit there
37:58
thinking, oh, great September, I need to do loads of planning.
38:01
I need to do this. This is what everybody else is
38:03
doing. No, not everybody else is like
38:05
if as you say, if it's making you feel like actually I'm in
38:08
the mood or I'm going to do it because I'm really excited about
38:10
this project we want to do or whatever, then great, do it.
38:13
But if it's not and actually like what it's doing for you is,
38:18
as you say, making that anxiety is, is actually to remember that
38:21
that you don't need to be doing this right now.
38:24
Like if you are getting the going inwards and reading some
38:27
books, then for goodness sake, get online and buy some nice new
38:30
books. Like do something nice for
38:32
yourself. Like go and pick a few books up
38:34
to read with the kids of an evening.
38:35
Like great, do that. Like if you want to make sure
38:39
you're eating some more vegetables, you're worried about
38:40
health, you haven't necessarily taken care of things, whatever,
38:42
then great. Look up some lovely one pot Stew
38:45
recipes or soups and things to enjoy coming into the fall and
38:48
enjoy that. But please don't sit there
38:51
thinking like everybody else is doing it.
38:53
The marketing is telling me I must do it and then think that
38:55
you've got to do it like it's not real.
38:58
I kind of think we have to remember this.
38:59
It's not real. All it is is a company or dozens
39:04
out there who saw an opportunity to make a profit from something
39:09
that has happened, like everyone going back to school and
39:12
therefore puts a bunch of ideas into your head about what you
39:14
need to be doing right now. And it's OK.
39:17
It's OK to say you know what, like I know the sales are on
39:20
right now, but I have not got the spoons.
39:21
I cannot bring myself to even start.
39:23
I don't want to Fine, fine, leave it.
39:26
It's no big deal. Let it go.
39:29
And I think I'm talking to myself as much as I am to anyone
39:31
else right now because I am definitely feeling like loads of
39:34
these waves of are we doing enough?
39:37
My schedule's a bit flat. Maybe they could do with having
39:39
some more in there. Maybe we do need to get out a
39:41
bit more or. But I've I have got work to
39:43
factor in. I have got to work.
39:45
That is a reality. Yeah.
39:46
It's not a nice one. Sometimes it is.
39:50
I do lots of things I'm very passionate about, but there's a
39:51
lot of effort that goes into my week.
39:53
And so it is just really respecting that there's a lot
39:58
that we have going on and that all of these kind of external.
40:02
The expectations of the world around us to like, as you say,
40:06
like it might be that you're already starting to worry about
40:08
Christmas or worry about their birthdays or worry about
40:12
Halloween and all the things that you've got to do to make
40:15
those things happen. And again, these are just
40:16
another opportunity to recognize social conditioning traditions.
40:22
Which ones do we actually value? Like do they make you feel good?
40:26
Does it actually make your kids feel good?
40:28
Do they actually really enjoy it?
40:30
Is it something which you really want to be doing?
40:32
And we made a great comment about Christmas, and you were
40:34
talking about it before we got on Ashley, about the concept of
40:37
Christmas Day. If you really try and rack your
40:40
mind back to your childhood, how many gifts do you actually
40:43
remember, like actual presents that you got?
40:45
Like I can remember a handful, maybe like two or three, which
40:49
obviously big pivotal moments, like getting my first MP3
40:52
player. I mean, that was awesome.
40:54
But ultimately, I don't remember.
40:58
What I remember is pulling the crackers and having snacks and
41:03
getting in, sitting like 2 tubs worth of celebrations or like
41:06
Quality St. whatever it was around the Christmas table, like
41:09
sitting there playing card games and board games.
41:11
We didn't do that very often as kids.
41:12
And actually at Christmas we did do that a lot more.
41:14
So like, yeah, I remember the fact that it was family time.
41:18
I remember that. I remember the great food and
41:21
the fact that everyone got together and you'll have your
41:25
little moans at your auntie, your uncle, the people who you
41:27
don't necessarily parents don't necessarily like socializing
41:30
with or whatever. Like beautiful.
41:32
Like that's the bit I want. That's the bit that I want my
41:35
kids to remember. I don't they're never going to
41:37
remember the stuff. Like the stuff isn't important.
41:40
But if all you can manage is to simply just make sure that
41:44
Christmas Day is a Family Day and you just play some games and
41:47
watch a bit of movies together and eat plenty of snacks, then
41:51
you've won. There you go.
41:53
Christmas beautiful doesn't need to be anything else.
41:57
And I think we with home ads, I think that This is why we talk
42:01
about it being a lifestyle shift because we haven't really talked
42:03
about education at all today. It's not about the education,
42:07
it's about the experience of the lifestyle and it has to be
42:11
something very, very different to what we maybe envisioned when
42:17
we first thought about having kids, that we are literally
42:20
envisioning a life that is more family centric.
42:23
It is slower and it is in that way, I think beautiful.
42:29
The pace is good and the education fits in nicely with
42:34
the day-to-day life. It doesn't have to be a whole
42:37
separate thing. But yeah, I just think it's
42:41
you've got to think of it like a lifestyle.
42:42
This is why it's so important to think of it like a lifestyle.
42:46
Yeah, exactly. And I think that there's so many
42:49
opportunities to to wrap tradition in that does kind of
42:53
create these bonding or like key kind of core memory experiences.
43:00
And there's this book and I'm blanking on the title.
43:03
I'm going to have to, you know, have us link it in the show
43:06
notes. But it's all about I think, oh,
43:09
it's called the memory making mom.
43:11
I think it is. And it's all about like how to
43:14
wrap daily traditions, seasonal traditions, monthly traditions
43:18
into your life to build this like very lovely, like
43:23
foundational childhood. And it talks about like
43:27
something as simple as, you know, pancakes are always Sunday
43:32
and Saturday. We make muffins and then into
43:36
things like, you know, every year we drive around and have
43:40
hot chocolate and look at the Christmas lights.
43:42
And it's something that's so interesting because when you
43:46
look back at your own life, you can see that.
43:48
I remember being dragged out of bed every Sunday for what we
43:51
called our Big Breakfast. And my parents would always do
43:55
eggs and bacon. And obviously when you're a kid
43:57
it's fine, but then when you're a teenager, they're like, get
43:59
down here now and you just want to sleep in.
44:02
But it was something that we had to do every single Sunday.
44:08
And then we did certain things for every Thanksgiving the same.
44:11
We always played bingo. Like you were talking about
44:13
board games. We always played bingo.
44:14
And every once in a while my dad would have this big prize at the
44:17
end. It was 100 bucks and you'd be
44:19
like, Oh my God, you know, it's like such a very cutthroat.
44:24
So lots of lots of emotions after that if you didn't win.
44:28
But it was definitely really memorable.
44:31
And so I think there's opportunities for those to kind
44:35
of be the things you strive for versus hitting all of the, the
44:40
seasonal things that are thrown at you just by that.
44:44
Like we were saying, like the conditioning you have and going
44:46
into the, the marketing of a supermarket.
44:48
I mean, there are Christmas decorations out in Costco right
44:51
now. And I'm thinking, guys, I get
44:53
that you want to sell this stuff, but I have my kids with
44:55
me and I don't need them making their Christmas lists in August.
44:59
Thank you very much. Like, so it is beyond madding
45:04
because they're like, Oh my God. Oh yeah, Christmas.
45:06
OK, I want this, I want this and I've got to listen to this for
45:08
six months. You have your mind.
45:10
So it's like really frustrating that the stores have gotten to
45:15
really control so much of what we then do in our homes.
45:21
And so I'm trying to be very intentional about stuff and kind
45:27
of, it's hard for me. I think we've talked about this
45:29
before because I tend to fly by the seat of my pants.
45:32
I'm not really, I don't like to plan.
45:34
I don't like to say like every Monday we do this and every
45:37
Tuesday we do this. But I recognize that like, my
45:39
children really do thrive on that, sadly.
45:41
It's helpful, I think, to have some anchors.
45:44
Isn't that in your week? Yeah, it is.
45:47
Yeah. And I think I love that kind of
45:50
like the concept of those kind of lovely traditions and like
45:53
family traditions and stuff like that, that I think I love the
45:55
sound of that book. I think I'm going to have to
45:56
find out and have a listen because it's, it's such a lovely
45:59
kind of concept, isn't it? To just be mindful of building
46:02
these memories in. And even if you can't be
46:04
intentional, even if it isn't every Sunday or whatever, like
46:06
it's like my kids we have when we have a movie night, but they
46:10
love the idea of a movie night. It typically involves pizza.
46:15
Don't necessarily take away just just like we just make pizzas or
46:17
we cook pizzas or whatever. That just involves pizza
46:19
somehow. Always used to involve pizza.
46:21
And then we have some popcorn and we watch a movie and we
46:23
snuggle together down on the big sofa and we have a nice movie
46:26
night. It usually involves everyone
46:28
arguing over what movie it's going to be and all the things.
46:30
All of that becomes part of the tradition, right?
46:31
Like it's right, right. It usually involves my son
46:34
getting scared by things and running out of the room that are
46:37
really, really, like, you wouldn't expect him to get
46:38
scared by. But yeah.
46:41
So like, it's always like, really like these things become
46:43
lovely memories for us and lovely memories for them and
46:45
hopefully build it as something. I mean, they do look forward to
46:47
it. They ask for them all the time.
46:49
Yeah. And we asked Braddock with it.
46:51
It doesn't happen regularly. It's not an every week thing,
46:53
but it certainly is something which they know that it they
46:55
know it as a family tradition enough for it to be like, can we
46:57
have pizza and watch a movie? And it's like, yeah, right.
46:59
Then go on. Then we'll have tea tonight.
47:02
And it's lovely. And I think we have to just, we
47:04
do just have to be mindful that we are allowed to make them
47:09
whatever they are and that they will remember whatever we end up
47:14
creating at the end of the day. It might not might not be
47:17
anything particularly magical, but it'll be something which
47:19
will bring the memories of fondness for their childhood.
47:21
And I think, but we have to remember, I guess the whole
47:24
point of this conversation, I guess, is to recognize where a
47:26
ritual is happening because other people expect you to do
47:30
it. Or it's just part of the
47:33
marketing of life that we're experiencing and just trying to
47:36
remember that these things are not important to you unless they
47:40
are important to you. And whatever that is, whatever
47:45
that looks like, whether it is the panic or whether it's, as
47:48
you say, like whether it's the panic of like getting new
47:51
curriculum sorted and new pencil cases and neat haircuts, or
47:53
whether it's choosing to do something because it just makes
47:58
you feel joyful. You've just, you've just got to
48:00
work with with what works for you guys and build an
48:03
intentional life that is actually built around what
48:06
matters. And really work hard to
48:11
critically think and question about the routines and rituals
48:15
and the stuff that makes you anxious and really analyze it
48:19
and think, am I doing this because I want to do it, or am I
48:23
doing it because the world expects me to?
48:25
And actually, if I didn't do it, what would happen?
48:28
Would all the bridges in the world fall down?
48:30
No. So let's just relax and think
48:33
no. OK, so we aren't the kind of
48:35
people who want to dress up all the time.
48:37
So maybe we won't be doing that unless it's an absolute like a
48:40
wedding or something. Like maybe we are just trackies
48:43
and AT shirt family and that is cool.
48:45
Like we are happy that way and it doesn't matter.
48:48
It's not a big deal. And it's fine.
48:51
Like these are the things like you just just choose what makes
48:53
sense for you guys and just try and detach yourself from that
48:55
external judgement because it's most of it doesn't matter.
48:59
And and the people who do matter really shouldn't mind.
49:02
Like that whole, like they really shouldn't mind.
49:05
And it these are people who should be well aligned with who
49:09
you are. So for the most part, you would
49:11
just get to carry on being yourself regardless.
49:12
So yeah, we've waffled about this enough.
49:15
Now I'm trying to think of a great way to finish this
49:17
conversation off, and clearly I'm just waffling out as I
49:19
typically do. So I'll let you all go and enjoy
49:21
the rest of your day. I think we've reached our point,
49:24
yeah. But just avoid those shopping
49:26
aisles, yeah? Just stop thinking about it and
49:28
it sounds so easily said. I get that it's so easy to be
49:31
said and it isn't always easy to do because there's so much
49:34
wrapped up in the fear of judgement in our worlds.
49:36
And I think we just have to recognise where that's coming
49:38
from. And hopefully this will prompt
49:40
you to just have a think about it a little bit and to notice
49:43
some of the reasons why we think about these things and why we
49:46
worry about them and actually therefore how little we actually
49:50
should be. Hopefully that will help you to
49:53
just tweak things a little bit this year and just take a bit of
49:55
a deep breath and be like, actually, you're right.
49:57
I don't care if people see my kids looking neat and tidy.
50:01
They don't need a haircut right now.
50:02
Like they're both fine. Like good.
50:05
If even 1 little tiny thing that you're worried about gets out of
50:08
your head because of this, then great.
50:09
Let us know if it does. But anyway, we'll see you again
50:12
next week and we are going to be taking possibly a short break
50:17
for a few weeks, maybe in September.
50:20
We're hoping to army Ashley because we have been working
50:24
pretty much straight through from about February.
50:25
So we are definitely looking to have a few weeks off and then
50:28
we'll be back for another series before Christmas.
50:31
But we are probably going to do some little episodes or
50:33
something for you, just a little something to keep you going
50:37
whilst whilst you're waiting for us to get our mojo back.
50:41
Exactly. Take care guys, have a great
50:44
week. You've been listening to the Big
50:51
Home Ed Conversations podcast. Thanks for tuning in.
50:55
Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share with a
50:58
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51:05
We'll be back again next week for another episode, but don't
51:08
forget to check out the special summer episodes.
51:11
Get your head straight to Home Ed, See you soon.