Twins Tenders and Teaching

Category: Homeschooling & Parenting Stories

  • The Biggest Misconceptions about homeschooling (from a mom who’s actually doing it)

    Let me clear something up real quick. Homeschooling is not sitting at the kitchen table from 8-3 recreating public school… just with pajamas and snacks. (although those are a plus) I know that’s the image that most people have. I sort of had it too – before I actually started homeschooling. And since then? I’ve…

  • We came to church anyways

    We came to church anyways

    We were late. Again. Someone couldn’t finding their shoes. Someone else suddenly needed a snack. The boy’s church clothes technically fit… in the way that counts if you don’t look too closely. There was toothpaste on at least one face (maybe mine), and the hair situation was best described as “good enough”. And for a…

  • Boys and Backyard Shenanigans

    Boys and Backyard Shenanigans

    Send Help! I live on a farm. I am fully convinced my boys wake up already plotting (before coffee) Not plotting their school day. Not plotting chores. No- these kids wake up with a dirt-based master plan. They head straight outside to dig holes in the worst possible location in the yard. Not the clearly…

  • The Noise is the Point

    The Noise is the Point

    Our house is loud.  Not the “someone left the TV on” loud.Life-loud. Footsteps thundering through the kitchen like it’s a racetrack.Questions shouted from entirely different rooms (with zero intention of relocating).Kids narrating every move they make.The oven beeping.Animals chiming in, because obviously there’s baby goats in the house.Multiple conversations stacked on top of each other…

  • Throwing Spaghetti at the wall: Parenting Neurodivergent Twins

    Throwing Spaghetti at the wall: Parenting Neurodivergent Twins

    Let me just start by saying this: parenting is HARD.Like, soul-stretching, patience-testing, what-day-is-it-again hard. Being a mom might honestly be one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had—and I say that with a whole lot of life and work experience behind me. As most of you know, I’ve spent the last 15 years as an…

  • Building the Village (Even When It’s Hard)

    Building the Village (Even When It’s Hard)

    Everyone talks about “the village,” but not many people talk about how hard it is to build one. Especially as a mom. Because building a village means letting your walls down. It means opening your life to people beyond small talk and surface-level connection. It means inviting others into your home, your routines, your chaos-…

  • What I’d tell a mom new to homeschooling

    If I could sit across the table from a mom who is just starting out homeschooling – coffee in hand, kids half-working and half-wiggling – there are so many things I’d want to say. But more than anything I’d want her to hear this first…. Give yourself GRACE! Homeschooling doesn’t need to look perfect to…

  • A different Kind of Christmas

    A different Kind of Christmas

    This Christmas looked a little different for us – and honestly, it felt really right. We didn’t skip gifts altogether; there were still toys under the tree, just not all the toys! The ones we chose were intentional- educational, open-ended, and useful. Things that encourage learning, creativity, and imagination instead of just adding to the…

  • My Pain Journey: A year and a half I’ll never forget

    If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that this year has been one of the hardest of my life- physically, mentally, and emotionally. I’ve shared little pieces here and there, but I wanted to take a moment to put it all together. This is my story – my pain journey – and…

  • 💜 Parenting in the Parking Lot

    💜 Parenting in the Parking Lot

    Sometimes parenting a neurodivergent kid looks like this—sitting on the curb in the middle of a parking lot, offering quiet support while a storm of big feelings passes. This meltdown hit hard. We’d just left the restaurant, and my son didn’t get the dessert he wanted because he hadn’t eaten his meal. In his world,…