Okay, so it won’t really be a secret now – but for the past six months it has been. Given that my daughter Katy has barely been able to keep our soon-to-arrive guinea pig a secret for 2 days, I think six months is pretty impressive! Of course, I do have 33 years on her, so perhaps it’s not a fair comparison. But I digress.

I’ve been keeping a secret that I’m so excited about – and finally, I get to share it with you! In just a few weeks, my book, A Pair of Sparkly Sneakers: A Mother’s Journey to Inner Wisdom, will be published. It’s the story of how my son, Thomas, taught me the value of trusting the instinctual knowledge shared by mother and child, and how our lives were transformed as a result.

Here’s a little snippet from the book description:

Riddled with the insecurities of new motherhood, Nicole Olson believes far more deeply in the advice of authorities than in her own instincts.  Expert opinion dictates her every move. But as her son’s world begins to fall apart, that unswerving allegiance ultimately leaves her with more questions than answers. With each new expert – and expertly designed program – her little boy seems to be slipping further away. Near the breaking point and verging on desperate, can Nicole finally find the courage to listen to the two voices that have mattered most all along?

Poignant, honest, and heart-breakingly humorous, A Pair of Sparkly Sneakers calls into question the widespread cultural practices that methodically disconnect parents from their children, and explores the dangers of abandoning our own inner wisdom in favor of child experts and authorities.

While you may recognize a story or two from previous posts, the bulk of the book is the backstory to how we came to this unschooling way of life, which – until now – has remained largely untold.

I hope you’ll stay tuned and consider checking it out. It comes straight from my own heart to yours.