Welcome to the Wild and Free Podcast, episode 67.

I'm Ainsley Arment, and this week we're talking with author and podcaster Tish Oxenrider about hybrid homeschooling and her new book, Shadow and Light, on how to slow down and enjoy the holiday season.

I've had many Christmases in the past where I want my tree

down by like, you know, December 27th or 8th, and I want the decor put up because I'm ready for a clean

slate. Well, when we do it like this, we purposely keep our tree out until January 6th. So that's

when we watch a lot of the movies, bake a lot of the cookies, have a lot of

the gatherings, and it makes it feel much more Christmassy and drawn out instead of like one day

that we're trying to make as magical as possible and then we're exhausted. We also have an

exciting offer for the wild and free content bundles happening this week only. So grab a cup of coffee and join us on the front porch.

Let's get started.

2020 isn't exactly what we thought it would be. We never could have foreseen a global pandemic,

a bitterly divided country in an election year, and so much heartache in the midst of it all. But if there's anyone who can

handle foiled plans, it's a wild and free mama. The famous boxer Mike Tyson once said,

everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

It could also be said that everyone has a plan until they're forced to shelter in place.

If there's anything that 2020 has taught us,

it's that living is not for the faint of heart.

But that's what we do is homeschool mothers. We start out with a

plan for what we'll do each day, morning time, math lessons, read alouds, science. But whether

those things actually happen is dictated by a number of factors outside of our control. Bad moods, inclement weather,

sickness, a belligerent babe on the hip. Our great challenge is not what we accomplish each day,

but how we respond when our plans go awry. Most often, the first thing that comes to our mind is that we're failures. We assume

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