It’s 11:55 on a Saturday night. In just about 5 minutes, my husband will turn 42. For the last 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of sharing those birthdays with him. But not tomorrow. Tomorrow he will be winging his way to sunny Florida on business, while I keep the home fires burning. As I […]
Unschooling Dads
Might is Spite
It seems to me that children are routinely treated with a lack of respect. Many of us afford more respect to complete strangers than we do to our children. We speak to them rudely, handle them forcefully, and override their needs and wants in order to better meet our own. A few weeks back, Ted […]
Unschooling: What I Learned in the Men’s Room
Listening to our children. We all know how important it is. But it’s not always easy. We have our own agendas and viewpoints. It takes intentionality to quiet our own inner voices so that we can truly hear what our children are trying to say. My husband, Ted, experienced this first hand a few weeks […]
Discipline, Respect and Obedience: An Unschooling Dad’s Perspective
A young boy once got into an argument with his mother. Insults flew, and in the heat of the moment, he gave her a shove, at which point his father stepped in – and flattened him. “Never treat your mother that way again!” he bellowed, “Or you’ll be answering to me!” Sadly, this “do as […]
Unschooling: Redefining Success
Like lots of dads, Ted struggles to maintain a calm center when the kids’ emotions begin to get blustery. In this post, he explores how we gauge “success” as parents – and whether that term needs redefining. It’s Not Always Warm And Fuzzy by Ted Olson My wife and I decided to take our four […]
I Don’t Like Adults
A while back, my son made an interesting remark to my husband, Ted, which inspired him to write this article… Why I Don’t Like Adults by Ted Olson “Hey Daddy,” he said, “you know why I don’t like adults? Well, some adults anyway?” “No, why?” I asked. “Because they think they’re better than me. They […]
I Don’t Speak Kid
One of my husband’s biggest struggles has been how dramatically different the unschooling philosophy is from the way he was raised. The parenting style he grew up with was very much the authoritarian model. In his early adulthood, Ted fully embraced this all-too-common style of parenting. It was all he knew. As we discovered radical […]
Unschooling: A Man of Few Words
My husband Ted did not come to the unschooling life as quickly or as easily as I did. It was kind of a long road for him, with some serious doubts and struggles along the way. So it’s been very cool to watch as he has become increasingly confident in the unschooling philosophy and his […]
Radical Unschooling: Works in Progress
My daughter Katy has been the subject of many of my radical unschooling posts. That’s because she’s given me plenty of much-needed opportunities to practice my peaceful parenting approach! But make no mistake – by no means is she the only highly spirited child in this family. So today’s post is about a recent struggle […]