Hello again, and welcome to part 2 of Emily and I's homeschooling conversation.
Her and I visited in her driveway while her kids played in the house and her husband worked on house projects on his day off - the birds were chirping, the coffee was delicious, and I was wrapped in a handmade/homemade quilt that Emily made for her son! It was a great day.
You can find Emily on Instagram at epetersen3_myrandf and remember to use our special code for 20% off of your first purchase of Rodan and Fields from her! That's a GREAT deal!
Links to the books we discussed in this episode can be found on amazon at:
A Charlotte Mason Companion : Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning
102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum
Blog from Singaporean Homeschool Mom of 8 - buildingupmoms.com
Thank you so much for coming - remember to please share our podcast with anyone out there that might be interested - and if you ever have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at nestingwiththeearleybirds@gmail.com
Music:
Happy Ukulele - Scott Holmes
Lobo Loco - Brain Instrumental Retro
Hello again, and welcome to part 2 of Emily and I's homeschooling conversation.
Her and I visited in her driveway while her kids played in the house and her husband worked on house projects on his day off - the birds were chirping, the coffee was delicious, and I was wrapped in a handmade/homemade quilt that Emily made for her son! It was a great day.
You can find Emily on Instagram at epetersen3_myrandf and remember to use our special code for 20% off of your first purchase of Rodan and Fields from her! That's a GREAT deal!
Links to the books we discussed in this episode can be found on amazon at:
A Charlotte Mason Companion : Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning
102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum
Blog from Singaporean Homeschool Mom of 8 - buildingupmoms.com
Thank you so much for coming - remember to please share our podcast with anyone out there that might be interested - and if you ever have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at nestingwiththeearleybirds@gmail.com
Music:
Happy Ukulele - Scott Holmes
Lobo Loco - Brain Instrumental Retro
All right. Hey friends. This is Shannon Earley hostess of the nesting with the early birds podcast. And you're about to listen to our baker's dozen episode, Episode Number 13, which is part two of my interview with Emily Peterson. Emily is a Chica, a woman of three darling children who has moved to a gajillion different homes, and was thrust into homeschooling, like so many of us during COVID. We had already talked about her move to Singapore, and what was really going on through her and her family, as she learned the different schooling styles, and the different families styles that they would need to be accustomed to in order to make this work. Thank you so much for coming back. And I hope you enjoy Episode 13 of nesting with the early birds. Oh, and before we get into it, have you shared this yet guys, share it come on just one person, just click that dingdong button. And by the way, remember, if you get in touch with Emily, and let her know that you heard about her and Rodin and fields from this podcast, and you use the promo code, early birds, you will receive 20% off your first purchase with her. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook and all that other jazz. Thank you so much for coming back. I
Emily Petersen:knew what my son had gone through, I knew what he had left behind in Kansas. I knew, you know what he was struggling with. I saw it firsthand, you know, and he was you know, dealing with transition just like any other kid. We didn't have any abnormal issues there. But it's still hard on kids. I mean, and then I saw that a lot, a lot more actually, later when we moved to Japan. And we were living in, like more closely with families who were always transitioning, coming and going. And I and I saw the kids and their behavior and I start that's whenever I started volunteering in Sunday school. I'm like, I just want to love on all these babies. You're You're jet lagged and saying goodbye and saying hello all the time, you know. And it's so I felt I felt vindicated when we moved to Japan because in Singapore, it wasn't sure I didn't have that community around me. I kind of felt more isolated. But anyway,
Shannon Earley:isolation is a really big thing with being a home mom. Also a homeschooling mom. It's like double. And I'm not trying to say that a typical home mom doesn't feel isolated. Yeah, but when you're a homeschooling Mom, are those other times the moms like you want to get together for branch? Or do you want to go to the Y together? We can do pack carline? And you know, yeah, totally. Yeah, walking to the school to pick up your kids. And then not just that when you have conversations with people, even though Richmond is a great community for homeschooling. As soon as you talk about homeschooling kids, a lot of times people will just be like, great, and then they're like, you can tell them their inner monologue. That's weird. You know what I mean? Like, Oh, geez, Oh, geez, don't look. Don't look, though.
Unknown:Yeah. And I'm just waiting. I'm like, Oh, you know, I'm gonna see something that's gonna confirm this. Yeah. Oh, type? I know. I know I am. Because I feel like we are somewhat of a stereotypical homeschool family limiting technology. Yeah, you know, things like
Shannon Earley:Christian weirdo. Yeah, Jesus freak.
Emily Petersen:Yeah. But in in Singapore, it was like, sorry, I was gonna go back to
Shannon Earley:go for it.
Emily Petersen:What we said about Oh, not trusting God, not trusting. That's what I wanted to say. Like, whenever I was my doubt, even though the Holy Spirit was telling me you should homeschool, but me, you know, making that request of you're gonna have to remove all my options. I quickly learned how fickle my faith was. And I got called out on that my whole first year in Singapore. And where I had to really own my trust in God. And I realized like, I mean, God was like you either trust me or you don't. You either believe I'm good all the time. or you don't. It's simple as that. And that's what I struggled with that whole first year of schooling, and in Singapore, and it was a dark, dark time where the enemy was ready at any time for me to stumble, and take over and lead me astray and put lies in my head. And I found comfort in those lies.
Shannon Earley:Mm hmm.
Emily Petersen:And I had a hard time letting them go in order to step out in faith.
Shannon Earley:Totally.
Emily Petersen:So it was this constant struggle. And something really great happened. And it was hard at the time, but I was so on edge emotionally. That like Derek and I used to always watch movies at night before we moved to Singapore in Kansas. Our time was to put the kids to bed and right like movie.
Shannon Earley:Yeah, Netflix and chill.
Emily Petersen:Yeah, exactly. In Singapore, I didn't watch movies. I didn't watch TV I couldn't. My emotions were too high. Anything he turned on no matter how funny no matter how romance like it could have been anything. And I would just cry. Yes. And I just couldn't. I couldn't. I had so much I was processing and struggling with. So I created a new new routine of reading at night. And I would just read I and I, since I was like, Well, I have to homeschool. I have to homeschool. I have to homeschool. I couldn't deny it at this point. So I read homeschool books, and I read Bible study books. And once I got to be a little bit more competent, then I would pick up the historical novel.
Shannon Earley:Dude, I can't believe I mean, dude, running to the Bible or Bible study, when you're in a time of struggle is it is insanely difficult. So the fact that the Lord was gracious to you in that and merciful to that, I mean, that's amazing. Yeah. Because those are exactly the times when people are like, well give up. You know what I mean? Like, I don't hear God, so I'm done.
Unknown:That's the thing is I was like, I need to lean in. And that's where I learned like, all those Bible verses about loving God's discipline, just stuck out at me. All those Bible verses we grew up learning, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, that's a verse about contentment, and being happy in any and all situations, not asking God to do stuff for you, you know, and so, and you know, the
Shannon Earley:discontentment's the thief of joy?
Emily Petersen:Yes, yeah. And like the Bible verses about just loving God's discipline. And
Shannon Earley:How He's like, the good shepherdand the rod for
Unknown:Yeah, oh, I wrote that I wrote Psalm 23 on a piece of paper, and I stuck it up on my wall. That's what I started doing was I started taping Bible verses up on my walls, and I would force myself to stop and read them as I walked by in my house.
Shannon Earley:That's really sweet. that's also psycho. You're writing all over the wall. People come in and there's like Thread connected everywhere.
Emily Petersen:What'st that movie? A Beautiful Mind.
Shannon Earley:Yeah you were like, Beautiful-wminding it, bro.
Emily Petersen:Yeah I was like,
Shannon Earley:No, you have to hold on to 100%.
Emily Petersen:Leaning in - and I did this great Bible verse on x, or Bible study on Exodus, and she talked about how the Israelites, they left Egypt, and then they were grumbling. Yep. Even though they had the manna and
Shannon Earley:Dude, the tower, the pillar of fire was right there that they would follow at night. That's insane. But God's presence was literally with them. And they were still we are so
Emily Petersen:yes. I used to, like read that previously and be like, gosh, Israelites, they can't get it together. What's wrong with them?
Shannon Earley:Right.
Emily Petersen:But I was an Israelite,
Shannon Earley:right?.
Emily Petersen:In Singapore. I was like, reminiscing about our time in Kansas. Like it was so wonderful. And we we knew Kansas wasn't right for us, we knew we weren't going to stay there forever. That's why my husband took the job in Singapore, so that we could go live overseas for three years. And then the idea is you come back, and then you get first choice of where you want to live. So that was like our ticket out of Kansas. Well, why he wanted to work overseas, and you save a lot of money working overseas, too. So, um, yeah. So I was like, you know, in my mind, I'm like, on Kansas, we had, we had this, we had all these friends that we hardly ever saw, right? We had these wonderful neighbors that we hardly ever saw.
Shannon Earley:Right. Right.
Emily Petersen:We had our family over in Illinois, that we didn't see that often. And you know what I mean? Like, I was really romanticizing, it wasn't the reality. And so then the Bible verse, whatever is good, whatever is right, whatever is true think on these things, and that was one that I really clung to, to keep my mind right. And keep my mind focused on what was true. And whenever you're, the truth was, I was called the homeschool. I had to own it. I had to own it. I had to level up.
Shannon Earley:Yeah, yeah. Bonus. Yeah.
Emily Petersen:Yeah, sure. I don't feel cold but I'm like doing this.
Shannon Earley:I'm like, well, and I think you're also excited and hype and nervous. Yes. Because Yeah, I can. You get like muscle cramps, and you're just like, you're gonna be done and be like, I need a nap now.
Emily Petersen:Itn't that funny, how that is?
Shannon Earley:Yeah, because it's, I don't know. There's just so much you're putting so much of yourself out there. And then already, there's like the feeling of I don't want to be judged. And then also you and I are getting to know each other a lot more. And then also sharing scripture can be really scary.
Emily Petersen:Yes, because I don't know the exact scripture or where to find it.
Shannon Earley:Dude, In my testimony I literally said Jesus said to the dudes, and then I was like,
Emily Petersen:No, I loved that because it's relatable. And that's the thing is it's like what's relatable How many? I know so many strong Christian women that don't know exact.
Shannon Earley:Dude, getting the gist is better than memorizing and I'm having no idea what's going on.
Emily Petersen:Right.
Shannon Earley:So whatever. Um, that's just me being prideful. Um, so you were saying that you felt like you were called to homeschool?
Emily Petersen:Mm hmm.
Shannon Earley:What did you do? We so when you were feeling isolated the thing that you would turn to was Scripture? How did you ever find a homeschool community in Singapore?
Emily Petersen:Yes, I'm so glad you asked this because God provide provided for me in ways that I could not have even imagined. First of all, Facebook is wonderful. So got onto Facebook.
Shannon Earley:Dude, that's so brave to it's scary to be like, Hi, I'm a new person will you be my friend? I hate that.
Emily Petersen:I basically did that. Yes. And all I know what happened. I this was a huge game changer. I feel like God really provided had this woman in mind. For me. I searched just on Google Singapore, homeschool moms. And this wonderful woman called Serene. And she has a blog called buildingupmoms.com She is a homeschool mom in Singapore and she has eight children. Her husband is a pastor. very uncommon in Singapore. You know, we you hear about people like that in the US. But in Singapore, it's not common. I emailed her, I'd be like, I read her blog almost every night. Like when we were in the hotel. This is before I even had Ethan you know, and I was like, I was researching homeschool. Like I was thinking about it. But whenever we got by whenever I had my third baby and moved into our house, I was too stressed out I didn't want to do it. So that's you know that previous conversation? Yeah, I found this blog. buildingupmoms.com ,read her stuff, em-mailed her, I'm an American, I have three kids, and I just moved here. What kind of homeschool resources could you share with me? And she emailed me back? Like I was surprised because I thought she would just sayway too busy,
Shannon Earley:right? She's an internet at an entity.
Unknown:Yes, yeah. But she her and I kept in touch the whole time I was in Singapore. And through some very stressful times. I would email her like, there was one time where my emotional, like my mind wasn't processing things quite right. And there was one time Derek and I tried to go out on a date night. And my parents were visiting. So we left the kids with my parents. And the Ethan was only like four months old. He was still a baby. And we got on the train and the lights from the train and the combination of not knowing exactly where he was going, like Derek had a plan. But I didn't know where we were going. And I didn't know
Emily Petersen:Yeah, and I started crying. I was like, I
Shannon Earley:it's very crowded and different. And everything . don't know what's wrong with me. But I can't do this. I can't go out on a date. I can't do this. Like everything was just too new and overwhelming. And that's right, because you didn't get there till you're nine months pregnancy like you were still.
Emily Petersen:This was like a few months. Yeah, we had only been there and you probably were
Shannon Earley:home all day. It sounds like you were out exploring. No.
Emily Petersen:Because home exploring a new country
Shannon Earley:by yourself
Emily Petersen:without of vehicle navigating trains and buses with three small children. Yeah, that was not. I did eventually learn how to do it. So did you find a community? Sorry, let's go back to that. Yeah,
Shannon Earley:sure. I know, I'm like, tell me about the metro system.
Unknown:Like what ended up happening with that date night was that we went to a coffee shop, I got milk and cookies, and we just sat there in silence for a while and he was so sweet. My husband did military time before we met and he was deployed twice. And he told me, I'm like, you know, eating my milk and cookies and like, I don't know what's wrong with me. And he's like, this is kind of how I felt when I came back from Afghanistan.
Shannon Earley:awwwwwww
Unknown:like just completely understanding the overwhelm. You know, and the newness of everything. Yeah. Um, so that was that was comforting.
Shannon Earley:that's so romantic . It makes me think there's this verse in the Bible and it talks about how Paul's talking to the I think the Corinthians probably and he's talking about we are allowed to suffer sometimes just so that we can glorify God through sharing our sufferings with other people. And it's almost like it gives a it validates like the the suffering that you went through, you know. So even though it sucks for your husband, or like even my testimony, or the fact that you had this like, what seems to me is also like a little bit of postpartum depression.
Emily Petersen:It totally I had never had postpartum depression, but I bet I had I had something with my third born to where I was like, I am depressed. I do not feel right in my mind, no.
Shannon Earley:Yeah, yeah, yeah, dude, actually, I had it with all of them. And it look different with every one of them, which is actually I want to do a whole postpartum depression episode. It's another one of those things we don't talk about. I mean we talk about it, but we don't like go into detail about the thoughts we had or like
Emily Petersen:I was having a not even dreams but I would wake up in the night and see dark figures in my room for a really long time. And what happened even this is what a time where I had accepted that I needed to homeschool but I was still clinging to truths instead of leaning into Gods right. So plan right. And Madeline, my second born. She was two at the time, one and a half, something like that. She started waking up in the middle of the night with bad dreams. But it would like be she would like scream. It was scary. And I suddenly realized that my my inability to listen and obey to God and let go of lies was affecting my children. And I thought,
Shannon Earley:yeah, F this
Emily Petersen:Yeah, I'm like, if I'm seeing dark figures in my room, what's in her room, you know, and then I suddenly realized that all of I had let Satan in. By my lack of obedience to God, I had let Satan and I had given him a foothold into my home. Like, and I just realized the gravity of my sin. And, and that's when I went, like, you know, prayer warrior.
Shannon Earley:So, badass. Yeah,
Emily Petersen:I said, that's when I started taping the Yeah, the scripture on my walls. And I got really serious about finding a community. So, like what I did to community, I don't remember exactly how I found them. Facebook you know me we met a few times here and there which was nerve racking because
Shannon Earley:were they mostly Americans or Singaporean?
Emily Petersen:Singaporean that we are moving to Singapore. I was like, Where's Singapore? They told me I see you're, they're used to it. That's the crazy thing. So our closest friends in Singapore were Singaporeans. We joined a Singaporean
Shannon Earley:it's like aa tiny little baby Island, right? Yeah. Or peninsula. Whatever it is. It's tiny.
Emily Petersen:Yes. It's teeny tiny. And there there is like a separate Yeah, no, it's an island and it's separated from Malaysia. So it's right off the tip of Malaysia,
Shannon Earley:homeschooling moms if you're listening. The only reason I know that is because I'm a homeschool teacher. Thank you.
Emily Petersen:Right, right. So smart because we teach our kids
Shannon Earley:dude I was listening to this. Guy's It was a podcast. And it was so I never thought of it this way. But the guy had said that homeschooling moms are without a doubt 100% the most educated people in their family,
Emily Petersen:I love it
Shannon Earley:because they are thoroughly educated on all different topics, but also through all different stages. And that was so encouraging to me. So I was like, I already did High School. But now I'm also like redoing geography again. You know, here's Spain in Italy, France, you know, whatever, you know, songs.
Emily Petersen:Yeah, what I could sing all of our country's presidents I couldn't back when with Elementary. I didn't know I could maybe name five.
Shannon Earley:Yeah, cuz now yagotta teach it.
Emily Petersen:Yeah.
Shannon Earley:It's the same with teaching Sunday school. I feel like that's when I really get into the depth of the Bible.
Unknown:Yes. So our devotional, the devotional I do with my kids was like, Okay, so that was the thing in Singapore, was that I did not have time to read my Bible. Like, it was this crazy thing. And I thought I was like, had lack of self discipline. All I had to do was get it together and get up early in the morning to get
Shannon Earley:to get less sleep with a three two and new
Emily Petersen:Yeah. So then I was like, putting so much pressure on myself and always feeling like I was failing, because I wasn't happening. And I was like, wait a minute, God is not limited to quiet time. He is not limited to my definition of Bible study. And really, the Holy Spirit called me out on that, too, was like, You know what, you're doing everything else. Why don't you just let yourself sleep in and let your kids wake you up in the morning. And that is what I did. And it was wonderful. Everybody started their day happy we snuggled we all snuggled in bed in the morning, and it was wonderful. We don't do that now. So that was a particular season where that was good. And that was like our thing. And then yeah, I read devotionals are there kids devotionals at the table, and that was my time to mm. And as I'm washing dishes, I would I would think and pray on what I just read to the kids. I mean, it really was like I learned the meaning of Pray without ceasing. And that's what I strived for. Because if again, if I didn't keep my mind right, then those lies would creep back in and take hold so I had to be a prayer warrior
Shannon Earley:right.
Emily Petersen:To claim Christ in my house.
Shannon Earley:Right
Emily Petersen:and I'm not answering this question very well, but the homeschool community. So I did find a homeschool community. We did hikes together. So this really great group of Singaporean moms, we would get together. And that was its own adventure. Sometimes I would take the taxi I'd like called Uber. I learned how to use Uber in Singapore.
Shannon Earley:I've ever used Uber in my life. Dude, That was four years ago. That's scary! That was before like shit was like regulated dude. That's crazy.
Emily Petersen:So I did Uber a lot. I tried to do the bus and the trains, but I would
Shannon Earley:were people on motorcycles or mopeds a lot.
Emily Petersen:Yes, yes.
Shannon Earley:With babies on their back?.
Emily Petersen:No, I didn't do that, no
Shannon Earley:, that's more like Philippines or something?
Emily Petersen:Yeah, they're pretty, um, Singapore is really safe, and is very like, structured and organized.
Shannon Earley:I'm just imagining the entire time, not what you're saying Yeah. No, you keep telling me one thing. And I'm like,
Unknown:well, this is so good. Because most people don't really know that much about Singapore. They imagine the rest of Southeast Asia. Singapore is very different. It's I always like Singapore is fascinating. If you ever have the opportunity to read up on Singapore's history, there are 50 year old country, they're the last English colony. They're very structured. Lots of British influence there. And a lot of them their English as a British accent.
Shannon Earley:Yeah, that dude in Spain, too. I was at the Costa del Sol. I was like, one of the guys I was talking to. He was like, to be honest, I was like, What are you saying? Yeah, yes, that was so it is very striking. Yes.
Unknown:And so they would own I would ask them questions are like, Oh, yeah, every time I go to Australia, they don't. They're surprised whenever they they hear that I speak English and Singapore.
Shannon Earley:Like Australians didn't know either. Nobody Thank you. Good. It's not just a white American Girl. It's not just
Unknown:yeah. So I would meet up with these these moms and we would go on hikes. And we would do nature hikes together and we would hike out in and we all had little kids like five and under. Some had babies strapped to them and we would bring food to share and we would teach our kids a him a Bible verse and tell a story and then they just play it. That's perfect. It was so fun. It was really hard though because Singapore is on the equator. It is really hot. The time wedding balls all day. So yeah, you're
Shannon Earley:like, Are there large bugs too? Or? Yes,
Unknown:yes. The bugs.
Shannon Earley:That was like believes dude, it was just like I've never seen insects as large. Yeah, flying in your bedroom at night because no one has AC Do they have AC in Singapore? They have a phrase God from whom all blessings?
Unknown:Yes, yes. It's so it may like okay, sorry. The Singaporeans don't use their ACS as often they turn out fans and open up the windows and everything but I will note
Shannon Earley:Do you must have looked insane. I cut it. Ah mama hot up.
Unknown:Yeah. Oh, that's your heart. Yep. Mm hmm. So I was not looking awesome in Singapore. But um, I was so thankful for those experiences. Like we saw crazy big bugs we saw which is cool opportunity, guys,
Shannon Earley:you know, like, yeah, I have definitely had days. One of the things I think as being a homeschool mom, which doing it in Singapore in Japan obviously have to do it is flexibility. So like, you have an idea of this structured routine thing you want. But you have to be okay with flipping it around your kids having a tantrum or a fever, whatever. Or you go on a playdate, and then it lasts too long, and you're like, crap, whatever. And then you're like, well, I guess that was social time. Like you have to be okay. And like give yourself grace. Because it's not gonna,
Unknown:you just can't if you want a perfect structured day, you have to send your kids to school. That's all there is to it. And I know in Singapore one thing God really put upon my heart because I did get to the point where Yeah, I would go to these homeschool meetups and things but there are times I got lost. I got so lost. I didn't even make it. Or I showed up late or frazzled went all Brides, right? Yeah. I mean, that happened a lot. And there was a point where I was like, maybe I just shouldn't even do this anymore. And the Holy Spirit said, don't be afraid to have a bad day. Have the courage to have a bad day? Because guess what, if you feel like you're sucking at everything, at least you're showing up and doing it.
Shannon Earley:Yeah, I mean, it's better to be like well, okay, scrap that and kind of milling. Alright guys, we're just gonna hug on my couch today.
Unknown:Mom's not got it in or we did that.
Shannon Earley:Which PSA. I also add. I mean, I'm not saying you had a mental breakdown. I did have a mental breakdown. When I had my kids were three, two and new. And I actually had one so I don't know. I don't know if it's three kids or It's having them in those ages. But maybe our brain is like, Hey guys, EFF this. I can't do it anymore. It is too much,
Unknown:or do you feel like I had so much lack of sleep then? Yeah, I did the other two. And like whenever something about I was out man rest Yeah. And I don't remember nursing Ethan and or Ethan's my third born. I don't remember nursing him in the middle of the night, but I distinctly remember being up with my other two, but my Emory back then it's all fuzzy. I had to ask Derek, I'm like, did I nurse him in his river? RL,
Shannon Earley:no, Maya that my three and two needed way more attention than the baby did at that time. And that's extremely difficult, because they all need it in different. And then your three year old is learning to be independent, and they won't stop talking, bless their heart. And then your two year olds constantly trying to kill themselves by accident, like shoving screwdrivers in the wall, and it's just insane. And all day long. You're like, who wrote on the couch who wrote on the wall who cut the dog's hair is just effing crazy. And you're just trying to keep up after each other so
Unknown:well. And I will say this in Singapore too. I felt like a lot more was expected of me as far as cleaning was concerned. So really hard because the bugs were big, and the same hot temperature all year round. Now, my Singaporean friends will tell you there's a rainy season and a hot season. I'm telling you, it's all the same. Yeah. It's rainy and hot. I called it the land of nod. I'm like, I don't know if it's fall or spring or I don't know if that is here.
Shannon Earley:Because Virginia is so good at seasons.
Unknown:Yes, yes. Oh, and being a farm girl. I clung to seasons. Oh, God pulled out my sacred cows. Dang, dude. I was like, I and I love the seasons, like fall is my favorite. Like I love all the seasons. And so to going through this struggle time without like a, you don't realize how much you look forward to something until it's taken away?
Shannon Earley:Without totally taking it for granted. You mean? Yes.
Unknown:Yeah, sure, like, without any of my typical like, comforts, you know, that was a huge part of it. And, and so I had to clean a lot more in Singapore with three small kids. Like, I remember one time my baby's sitting in the highchair and like a piece of her breakfast fell on the floor. And I was like, you know, I'll clean that out whenever we're done. Eat, ya know, within like a minute, there is a gigantic string of ants coming in from our sliding doors, because they have Windows everywhere and they're not sealed, right? They're meant to be open and let air in so they're not sealed. So ants, just go ahead and get under there. And
Shannon Earley:then you have a baby that's crawling on the floor or laying on the ground. And then the geckos come in, I got
Unknown:to get into geckos in my house. And that was like, oh my goodness at night when I just want to sit and relax. And then there's a gecko in my kitchen and
Shannon Earley:cry. And like big centipedes, and like giant locusts things, dude.
Unknown:And now like my Singaporean friends, they like have ways of keeping all of that in check. And they don't live with they don't live with ants and geckos they but I had to like live there while after living there a year then you learn that and then you do those things. But in the beginning, and yeah, I mean, you don't know. And so you just suffer.
Shannon Earley:Believe and people would be like, they'd cook food on the spot, open pit or whatever. And these giant ass bugs are flying around and they like one of them might fall in and they'd shoot away or pick it out. And I'm thinking like, I'm not I ate it. I remember thinking like, I'm not even. Yeah, like, did you? Did you get all of its wing now? Like, what the hell? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so action point. Yes. Sorry. No, don't even worry. We're gonna have to. Would you be my guest again? Yeah. Is your husband let you be my customer? Yes, he will be. Yeah. Okay. So, I have a question from somebody on Facebook. Okay. And their question was, what is something that you had to teach yourself in order to teach?
Unknown:That is a really good question. I had some No, what kind of or have an idea of what kind of teacher I might be and what kind of learner my child would be. I'd say that is was pretty helpful. Yeah.
Shannon Earley:When you can only really get through trial and error. Like, yeah, I mean, obviously reading and research, but the books I read,
Unknown:and I'll tell you the books I read, I read Charlotte Mason can Bri Gada I read the ultimate homeschooling guide, and I forget who that author is, but it's big purple or orange, big orange book. It's really good one. And I read Kathy Duffy's 102 top homeschool picks, none of those books did I read cover to cover? It's really important to know that because you look at those giant books. Really Whoa, she read all that Nope, nope, I didn't know took out what I needed to know. Definitely, um, uh, build the plane while you're flying that type of person I know. Well, and
Shannon Earley:when you have three kids, you're also doing it while you're pooping in nursing. You're just like, I don't know what I'm gonna do today. Okay, I'm gonna play with cops. Like,
Unknown:just take what you need to know. And and do that until you need to know some more. Yeah, then cuz it'll be more valuable to you. You'll retain it better. You won't have to read it five times. Yeah. Um, so yeah, don't be so hard on yourself and read all the books. So yeah, you need to know. So the one was Kathy Duffy's 102 top homeschool picks was one and you can get that from the library was really great at asking me questions to make me know what kind of teacher I was. And guess at what kind of learner
Shannon Earley:Nolan was. And that was one of the most more helpful for that. I mean, so I will say as a PSA, like, if you're a homeschooling mom, especially the granola Christian moms that I hang out with Charlotte Mason's you know, her jam, you got to read it. Basically. She's like, touch a tree. That's science. Like you gotta go perience. Right. Exactly. Experience. Yes. Yeah, smell the socks.
Unknown:That was all, like recruiting all of this senses helps put things makes things in memory. 100% and you chain information.
Shannon Earley:Well, also in your kids learn differently. Like, my son, Finn is a fidgeter. And so we'll do things like count by twos by doing jumping jacks or whatever. Oh, yeah. So it's not just this thing or like, even if we're learning a history story, we'll have them act it out theatrically. So there's anyways whatever. Okay, next question from somebody online. Uh huh. What's something that totally went wrong that you learned when you were homeschooling overseas?
Unknown:Something that totally went wrong with homeschooling. Um, okay, so I i think this is a very typical story. A lot of homeschool moms will be able to relate to this, but I set up a beautiful homeschool space. I strategically set our time to be during the nice my baby's nap time.
Shannon Earley:When you're effing exhausted
Unknown:Yeah, and so yeah, so I had a very specific plan for homeschool. And I would get and then and then lo and behold that would work sometimes but actually most the time one of my babies would wake up and toddler or baby I mean cuz she was two we ever get that feeling
Shannon Earley:of like it's gonna sound so are sorry guys. I'm admitting it be authentic. Yeah, of like, almost like a burst of rage inside. You don't let it out. But you're like you feel like this monster come up because you just got everybody to sit at the desk. You just got the stuff out and then the baby's crying and you're like I know when I get up. This kid is gonna lose their mind and not sit here anymore. It is so
Unknown:so that's the thing grades exactly what Yeah, I would put more emphasis on I would miss place the emphasis in homeschool. The emphasis with homeschooling by preschooler was time together was intentional time together with mom. And as my oldest one who just got his little World Cup flipped upside down and had a new baby brother, and was making all new friends that time with mom was more important than learning shapes. Hundred percent, it was most important hundred percent
Shannon Earley:well, and if you want to get to the real nitty gritty like my children with autism, when they would have therapists ABA therapy comm It was literally learning how to spend time with somebody and have like a give and take relationship, playing games learning how to be a loser winner. I mean, so when you're giving your child that face time, first of all, everybody knows that's all their kid wants. And all day long work. I got to clean. Go away. Be quiet. Do this do that. We are not like let's just sit and do a puzzle. Yeah. So there's my thing with that I said First of all, I don't know if I had a second point. I just love it and you're gonna learn so much from it more. You know, if you were to be like, let's just color together. They're gonna learn so much with you. Yeah, and they're gonna friggin love it.
Unknown:Right. So misplaced emphasis on those early tight you really need to identify what is important. I mean, make a plan. And the Bible This is biblical. I mean, a man plans his ways the Lord directs his steps. So make a plan. Put a plan you need a plan into action, but recognize what's the purpose of the plan and don't miss place the goal? Yes of the time. Yes. Yes. I hope I said that, right.
Shannon Earley:No, you did. Hey, guys, it's Shannon. We're almost at the end of Episode 13. The last couple of minutes is a fun little time where I got to ask Emily some rapid fire questions and answers. But before we get there, firstly, I wanted to remind you if you find Emily on Instagram Her hash tag name, whatever the thing that you're going to find her under is E Petersen, three, underscore, my R and F, stats e p e t e r s, e n, the number three, underscore my R, and F, like Frank for Rodan and Fields. And let her know that you heard her on our podcast, she will give you 20% off your first order, which is a really big deal. Secondly, guys, please share this. We are all over the place. And I would love to keep on growing. Every time you share our podcast or tell somebody about it, whatever it is, our numbers keep growing, which then encourages me to go find more really fun and cute people to interview. Thank you so much for coming. And I hope you guys enjoy the last couple of minutes of Emily and I's fun day together. Sweet Emily, this is my fun part. You have to pick a number one through 200. And depending on the answer to layouts, you will have a random question that you have like zero time now I just want you to go. Rapid answer. Okay. I mean, the answer can be long, but you got to answer it
Unknown:quickly. Okay. All right. between one and 200 right. Okay, so I'm gonna do I'm gonna go with like my kids birthdays. Oh, yeah. 24
Shannon Earley:Whoo. Okay, girl. benteke walk through. Okay. 24 What is your favorite joke?
Unknown:Where does the king keep his armies? Were up his sleeve ease up.
Shannon Earley:So I love corny. corny joke. There were two muffins. I forget. Forget it. Okay, oh, wait a minute. Yeah. Okay, so there's two. There's two muffins in there in the oven. And one muffin says, Oh, no, man. It's really hot in here. And the other one says, whoa,
Unknown:we can talk. Haha.
Shannon Earley:All right, second question.
Unknown:Go. Okay, one through 222.
Shannon Earley:What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Unknown:rinse out my mouth. Really? Yeah,
Shannon Earley:you've got like a healthy.
Unknown:I just don't i don't brush my teeth until after I have coffee. But I get up. I take out my retainer.
Shannon Earley:Okay, that is why I was renting. Fancy rose? Yeah, you do really pretty cheap. And now I'm not gonna look at you. Because I know that that's really awkward when you compliment somebody and it's like, way too intense of a compliment. I can't make eye contact.
Unknown:All right, third question. Oh, okay. Sorry. 28.
Shannon Earley:My kids are what would you do? If you had 15 minutes of fame?
Unknown:Okay, like 15 minutes of fame. Like everybody in the world is watching. Yeah,
Shannon Earley:I don't know. It says what would you do with your quote unquote, 15 minutes of fame?
Unknown:I think I'd share a Bible story. Whoa, dude. Yes, pretty bad. I don't know which one I'd share. But I would 15 minutes of fame. Everybody fame. Everybody in the world is watching. I hear something from the Bible. Maybe just your testimony. Oh, yeah. If I could do that in 15 minutes.
Shannon Earley:Okay. So was there anything else that you wanted to let them know? Any encouraging words for moms out there that are feeling like, dang, I got thrust into this.
Unknown:Yeah. So um, I do, I do. And my biggest thing, my biggest takeaway from my time of being thrown into homeschooling is to lean into the hardship. trust the Lord, He is with you. He is good at all times, even if you're not feeling it. And it won't always be like this. There is growth on the other side, there are results waiting for you on the other side. It's just hard right now. But man in that time of hardship is whenever you get to experience God the Most and you don't want to miss that.
Shannon Earley:Definitely hundred percent. And just to piggyback on here, guys, like when she was talking about the age of kids that she was in that age is just the difficulty like it is just not possible to comprehend unless you've been through it. And it's almost like you're trying when you have one kid you can still kind of live life like you had no kids because we'll just go with you everywhere. And you have two kids and and you're like you know it's a little harder, but I can still pretty much do whatever I've got to arm deter. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, you have three kids sitters unattainable, and you're still trying to live life like a one kid life for some reason in your head, you're like, I can easily pack a diaper bag and just go, that whole pick up and go thing. And the insane amount of being pulled in 75 directions. It's it's. So, next time you're an old lady and you're in the grocery store and you see a mom, and she has three kids and they're acting insane. Do not say cherish every moment and do not look at her kids like you hate them. Say something like can I buy you a margarita? Something like that? Right?
Unknown:Right. All right,
Shannon Earley:dude, thank you for listening to nesting with the early birds. I had a great time today talking with Emily. We just sat in her driveway, I'm wearing a quilt that she stitched with love. And the birds chirping or husband was doing some house projects in the back. It was a beautiful, beautiful day. So thank you so much for coming with us. If you have any other questions, Emily and I could talk for 7000 hours and both of our husbands are taking care of our children. So please send them all in. Thank you so much for listening and we will catch you next time. Thanks