Welcome to the Wild and Free Podcast, episode 59.

I'm Ainsley Arment, and this week, Elsie Udicello shares three ways we can manage motherhood on the hard days of homeschooling.

Friends, we can take a break and get back in the fight.

We can wobble and still be in the fight.

We can have days that leave us broken and still be in the fight. We can have days that leave us broken and still be in the fight.

We can have week after week of bad days and still be in the fight.

If it feels like everything is crashing down, stop and ask yourself to define what is really happening here?

Is it really and truly failure?

Or are you simply in the midst of battling a hard season?

Plus, there are two opportunities for you to experience the beauty and joy of the wild and

free farm village, and we'll share those with you today.

So grab a cup of coffee and join us on the front porch.

Let's get started.

Music porch. Let's get started. When I was five years old, I lived on the campus of the U.S.

Military Academy at West Point, where my father was a lieutenant colonel and professor. I spent countless hours outdoors, and for some reason,

my mother trusted the place enough to let me roam unsupervised. Even as a five-year-old,

I would spend the afternoons exploring the woods behind my house, playing in the alley with friends,

or riding my bike around the neighborhood. One day, I was walking home from a friend's

house and must have looked a little lost. A young cadet saw me, the cadets often rode

needles around campus, and ended up giving me a ride back home. I pretended I was Saka Joia

returning to camp. Call me weird, but it was the highlight of my childhood.

There was a giant boulder situated on the hill behind my home,

...