Book Review: Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe, by Todd Wilson

After a recommendation from my cousin and friend several months ago to read this humorous and encouraging book by Todd Wilson, I finally picked up the Kindle version on Amazon. It’s a bargain at just $4.99, and I was able to use some of the Amazon credit I’d earned on Swagbucks. I only wish I’d read it sooner!

This book is laced with cartoons that both new and seasoned homeschoolers will appreciate. Wilson’s main message spoke to me loud and clear–God gave YOU your kids. Don’t compare them or your family to Suzy Homeschooler and her clan down the street. Don’t fall into the “keeping up with the Joneses” trap when it comes to shepherding your children.

God doesn’t make mistakes. You know best about your children–their likes, bends, and abilities, as well as their struggles and weaknesses. Just because “little Alice” down the street is a master on the piano and violin (and six other instruments by the age of 10) doesn’t mean your children are failures because they can’t play one. Your children have bends and abilities that those children do not. The idea of “training up a child in the way he should go” can be interpreted as being a way to help your child enhance the inclinations he/she already possesses.

God’s timing really is perfect. After reading this book, my husband and I were discussing our kids, and he said to me, “God chose our kids for us.” I was moved to tears, because the night before, I had read this in Wilson’s book. Not only does Wilson dispel the lies that homeschool moms buy, he replaces them with truths that we can adopt.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Your children will become exactly what God has created them to be, NOT because of your efforts, but IN SPITE off your efforts."

"...teaching your own children is nothing like teaching someone else's children."

"You are God's 'Plan A' for your children."

"Sometimes the reason your children don't 'get it' is because they weren't created to get it...easily."

"God gave your children exactly the mother they needed."


While I am an advocate for doing your best and striving to do better, we must remember as loving parents to know what expectations are reasonable for our children. Wilson’s book embraces this idea. I highly recommend this read for all homeschool moms who feel stressed and overwhelmed.

Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe is available at Amazon right now for $4.99 for the Kindle version.  It's worth every penny!

If you read and enjoy this book, I also highly recommend another book: Nurture by Nature: Understand Your Child's Personality Type - And Become a Better Parent. (Watch my blog for a review of this book as well.

Here's a list of the books I recommend for any beginning homeschooler's bookshelf:




Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Techie Tuesday: 750words.com

I consider myself a low-maintenance gal.  I would say I am easy to please when it comes to demands that I make.  But there are a few things that make my day a lot better.  750words.com is one of those things.

A friend recommended Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way a few years ago to me.  Cameron suggests using morning pages, which involves writing 3 pages of stream-of-consciousness prose, so that your day can be more productive.  There are no rules to the type of writing it must include.  It can be as mundane as the details of everyday life, or it can be the most beautiful poem you’ve ever created.  You can use it for prayer.  There are really no rules for the morning pages.  You can read more about them here. 

I began writing my morning pages in a notebook, pouring out my thoughts onto 3 single-spaced college-ruled pages a day as quickly as possible. I thought my hand would fall off after those 3 pages.  Apparently, I should have bought a smaller notebook.  It took me nearly an hour the first day. I got a little faster through the first week, but my penmanship was sloppy, my hand wasn’t feeling any better, and the kids were impatient.  I jumped ship a little after 2 weeks, and my morning rendezvous with my morning pages came to an end.

Surfing around on Twitter several weeks ago, I read a tweet that mentioned morning pages and 750words.com.  I checked it out, and renewed my dedication to the ritual that same day. I’ve been hooked ever since.

The creator of the site, Buster Benson, created a tool to allow people to write their morning pages online in a secure manner, without too many bells and whistles to distract them from the task.  Three pages of typed prose is approximately 750 words, hence the name.

The best part about it is that I can type so much faster than I can write. I can reach my 3 pages usually in 15 minutes, depending on my thoughts and interruptions. 

The site features some customization, exporting and searching days, and motivational online “badges” to help keep you on the wagon.  The only missing piece right now is universal mobile access, but I believe that will come in the future.  (I wrecked all my streaks last month because I went on vacation and couldn’t save the pages I’d written on my pda to the site.)

The site is free, but accepts donations from “patrons” (those who want to help Buster cover the cost of maintaining the site fees he must pay monthly by donating $4 a month).

If I can accomplish writing my 750 words while drinking my vanilla coffee in the mornings, the rest of my day feels much better.  Apparently, countless other people feel the same way, as Benson had to switch servers today because of the increased traffic the site was receiving. 

Thanks, Buster Benson, for making my morning pages an enjoyable daily ritual.

Inbox Decluttering Update: Day 3

I have now reached my goal in less than 3 days of having less than 1000 total messages in my Gmail account. 

Those 874 emails take up a tiny fraction of my total space.


It is really nice to finally have that excessive data (I guess that is the appropriate word) out of the way.  Now, I take a couple of extra minutes to unsubscribe from any email I may have before signed up for, and I am hoping that eventually I won’t have to delete so many emails automatically.  I have also signed up with NutshellMail as recommended by Lifehacker.  It combines all your Twitter and Facebook feeds, replies, etc. into one neat email.  It makes it easier than getting everyone else's replies to someone's picture, comment, etc. on Facebook in separate emails for days on end. You can even choose how many times a day you want to get updates, and what types of updates you want to receive.

My next goal is to work on my local/hard drive program’s inbox.  It has a meager (*ahem) amount.


Now, the problem is that when I try to use my standalone email application, my computer’s memory is eaten up. I think it will improve as I eliminate some emails.  2000 emails are a lot for the hard drive to handle at once.  I don’t dread it, though. I think I can get it done pretty quickly.

Too bad I didn't know about this nifty little tool/game called 0Boxer before I went on my inbox declutter trek. I would have smoked some people's stats out there with the number of emails eliminated in a short time frame.  I don't need a game, but the program is a great motivator for those who dread the task.

Eventually I'll move to my external hard drive, which is now cluttered with things that aren't on my laptop. THAT will be a task, but as I am learning to let go of more and more physical items, I guess I am moving to becoming a digital hoarder.

An awesome program to use!

It's been a long time since my last post, but this latest find is one that I need to tell the world about. I have been filling out applications to various places, and unfortunately, using a pen to complete pages you have printed out from PDF files lends itself to one of three things with me - 1) smeared ink on my pinky finger (the plague of a lefty), 2) blots of White-Out throughout the page, or 3) numerous retries to get the document looking just right. Most of us don't have typewriters anymore (those old electric ones we used in high school). So, how do you fill out a pre-printed PDF that does not allow you to type in the information? I have found the perfect solution!

It's called Infix. It works like a word processor for your PDF file. Now I can fill it out my PDF like a typewriter on my computer, and simply print out the flawless product.

Take a look at the features:
Works like a Word Processor
Make seamless changes to paragraphs
Copy and paste graphics, text and artwork between PDFs
Spell-check in five languages
Search & replace text in long documents
Familiar tab, margin and indent controls

Now I can do all that I need to do for filling out forms and applications. And it's green to boot, because you only have to print your completed work one time.

If you are interested in checking out the product, go to http://www.iceni.com/infix.htm They offer 3 versions: a trial version, a pay per use, and a full license version. I HIGHLY recommend it.