00:00:03
Well, Hannah, welcome to the Ex
00:00:05
Homeschoolers Club. I'm so excited to be
00:00:07
chatting with you today.
00:00:09
>> We've known each other for a long time.
00:00:11
Um, I just had your sister Stephanie on
00:00:14
the podcast not that long ago. I don't
00:00:16
know when this is coming out, but it
00:00:17
it's somewhere in that mix.
00:00:19
>> So, audience, if you haven't heard
00:00:21
Stephanie's interview, go back and
00:00:22
listen to it and uh you get a little bit
00:00:25
more of a picture of the Gibbons
00:00:26
household with with Stephanie's takes as
00:00:28
well. But Hannah, I'm stoked
00:00:30
>> to chat with you today. We've known each
00:00:32
other a long time. I think we met We
00:00:33
were just talking. I think we met at
00:00:35
Aana, I think, was kind of the the
00:00:38
beginning.
00:00:39
>> Way back
00:00:40
way back.
00:00:41
>> I Yeah, we would have been grade school
00:00:43
probably.
00:00:45
>> Yeah.
00:00:45
>> Junior high.
00:00:46
>> When did you start Aana? Like what? Um
00:00:50
>> level were you like a cub? A cubby?
00:00:52
>> I don't think I was a cubby. I think I
00:00:54
was a Sparky.
00:00:56
Oh, yeah.
00:00:58
>> Is that what they were called? Like
00:01:00
>> Yeah. Yeah. Sparky. It's like a little
00:01:04
um What was he a Not a dragonfly.
00:01:08
>> What was Sparky? Uh
00:01:09
>> was he a Firefly?
00:01:11
>> Firefly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Firefly.
00:01:13
>> Yeah. I just remember like the colors.
00:01:15
Like I remember like blue was like the
00:01:17
youngest group and then it was red and
00:01:18
then green and then
00:01:20
>> and then blue. But then it changed.
00:01:23
>> It It did change. Yeah, it did change
00:01:25
because then later I I worked at an Aana
00:01:28
and I was like I wore a gray shirt and I
00:01:30
was like I don't know what this means.
00:01:31
Like
00:01:32
>> oh
00:01:33
>> I was like this isn't fun. Need a fun
00:01:35
color. But um yeah, if you if Yeah. If
00:01:38
people don't know what a wana is, go
00:01:40
look it up. It was like it's like Boy
00:01:43
Scouts and Girl Scouts mixed with like
00:01:47
>> vacation Bible school and memorization
00:01:51
of scripture
00:01:53
>> and games, I guess.
00:01:56
>> Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I
00:01:58
loved the games.
00:01:58
>> The games still rock to this day.
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>> I always Yeah, I those were so fun.
00:02:04
>> Yeah,
00:02:04
>> I I really enjoyed Wana.
00:02:06
>> Oh, yeah. Me, too. I look back on it
00:02:08
very fondly. I met most of my homeschool
00:02:09
friends from the Ohigh Valley at Aana.
00:02:12
>> I took it real serious. I'm like,
00:02:14
>> "Same."
00:02:15
>> Like the like Aana store was like
00:02:18
>> what I looked forward to like every
00:02:20
year, dude.
00:02:21
>> Yeah. No, same
00:02:23
>> same. But um but yeah, but I mean we
00:02:26
lived like couple streets away from each
00:02:28
other and like I feel like throughout
00:02:30
our homeschool experience like different
00:02:32
members of your family were constantly
00:02:34
at my house, constant I was constantly
00:02:37
at your house. Like we our our lives
00:02:39
just overlapped quite a bit. Like we
00:02:41
ended up we didn't go to prom together,
00:02:42
but we went in the same group of people.
00:02:44
>> Yeah. And
00:02:45
>> yeah, we did so many things together.
00:02:48
>> Exactly. So there's just there's a lot
00:02:50
of history there, I guess, is what I'm
00:02:51
getting at.
00:02:52
>> No, totally. I know we um I was talking
00:02:56
about uh
00:02:59
uh what's it uh Masters in Disguise that
00:03:02
movie and like I it like drew me back to
00:03:06
immediately like being at your house
00:03:07
like watching movies and just like I
00:03:09
don't know it was just fun. So yeah. No,
00:03:11
we totally do.
00:03:12
>> No, there's like Yeah, exact like I said
00:03:14
there's just so much I think history
00:03:15
there of just like Yeah, even just like
00:03:17
stuff like that. Just hanging out at
00:03:18
each other's houses and like not even
00:03:20
homechool related stuff. And we were in
00:03:22
so many different homeschool like
00:03:26
activities like outside like
00:03:28
>> Yes,
00:03:28
>> we were in we did dances, we did plays,
00:03:32
we did
00:03:33
>> we were both we did there it is. That's
00:03:36
what it is. Yep.
00:03:38
>> We were that
00:03:39
>> Yeah. When I had Stephanie on um
00:03:41
>> experience,
00:03:42
>> she made a joke about how she was like
00:03:44
she was like I missed that. I missed the
00:03:47
mime. She was like pre mime era. she
00:03:50
like just squeezed like she dismissed it
00:03:52
like well so did my other sister too but
00:03:55
well to be like I it wasn't something
00:03:58
that I was like really wanting to be
00:04:01
like I never heard of the mind team or
00:04:03
anything and then
00:04:06
one day my mom took me to the first mind
00:04:11
meeting and she just basically was like
00:04:12
oh yeah here go like I remember she gave
00:04:15
me this hu it was like one of those
00:04:17
humongous Bibles
00:04:19
like like a like just this fatty Bible
00:04:22
she probably just picked off like the
00:04:24
shelf like oh you're supposed to bring a
00:04:25
Bible so here and I'm just walking into
00:04:28
this place. I had no idea. I was just
00:04:30
like
00:04:31
>> here I am. But I remember afterwards
00:04:33
when I went in the car I was like that
00:04:35
was pretty cool.
00:04:36
>> The mimes was a good time. I mean it was
00:04:38
like very much like
00:04:41
>> I mean we were we were mimes for Jesus
00:04:43
so obviously like there a lot of lot of
00:04:45
Christian songs. There was the Bible
00:04:46
study aspect of it and things like that,
00:04:48
but again, it was just
00:04:49
>> it was Yeah.
00:04:50
>> friends and like all of us were kind of
00:04:52
like theater geeks and like
00:04:56
>> we just like being goofy and silly and
00:04:58
like it was just that I don't know. I I
00:04:59
think that gave us a lot of
00:05:02
>> it fulfilled that need I think for a lot
00:05:04
of us. Um
00:05:05
>> totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was a
00:05:06
community for us and uh
00:05:09
>> Yeah. where we met. Um it was good.
00:05:12
Yeah.
00:05:13
>> How long did you do that? Because I only
00:05:14
did it for three years. I feel like I
00:05:16
did it for a lifetime, but I only ended
00:05:17
up three years in there.
00:05:20
>> I did it for like I think like eight
00:05:23
years.
00:05:25
Like a solid chunk of my life was um
00:05:29
being a mime. I I Yeah, probably around
00:05:32
eight or nine mime years.
00:05:35
>> Nice. So So when I think of myself as a
00:05:37
pro that I'm like, "Okay, no, Hannah
00:05:39
Hannah's actually like a pro at mime."
00:05:41
Yeah, she can. Yeah. So if you if you
00:05:44
run into Hannah, ask her to put you in a
00:05:46
box. Ask her
00:05:47
>> ask me all the things that's they love
00:05:49
to ask
00:05:51
like,
00:05:52
>> oh no.
00:05:54
>> Yeah. Or not. Or maybe that's too much
00:05:56
religious trauma that we need to expel
00:05:59
from our
00:06:02
>> Yeah,
00:06:03
>> we can we
00:06:04
>> No, it was
00:06:06
No, it was good. There was a lot of good
00:06:08
and a lot of not so good. But it was
00:06:12
>> yeah,
00:06:12
>> it was a mind team. like what do you I
00:06:14
mean
00:06:15
>> it's a time it's a period of time in our
00:06:17
lives that I think it's it's funny
00:06:19
because all the people who I've had on
00:06:21
or have just had conversations behind
00:06:23
the scenes about our MIME experience for
00:06:27
the most part most of us agree on the
00:06:29
fact that we're like there's a lot of
00:06:32
negative with the mime team but the just
00:06:35
the like the hanging out the like the
00:06:38
actual like
00:06:40
>> creativity the creative part of it and
00:06:44
just like doing something that was
00:06:46
interesting with dance and I mean
00:06:48
learning how to be silent and tell a
00:06:50
story like
00:06:51
>> Yeah.
00:06:52
>> very interesting things
00:06:54
>> that most people don't get to ever
00:06:56
experience like I you know I
00:06:58
>> it's a very unique
00:06:59
>> Exactly. And it's one of those things
00:07:00
you get to keep in your back pocket for
00:07:02
like when you're at having a
00:07:03
conversation with somebody and you're
00:07:04
like you need a unique fact about
00:07:06
yourself. If you're like, "Oh, yeah. I
00:07:07
also was a mime." Just like
00:07:09
>> I normally you like Yeah. for like a
00:07:13
two truths and a lie.
00:07:15
>> I'll use that one sometimes cuz it's
00:07:17
like what the heck? Like mine.
00:07:20
>> Who expects that, right?
00:07:22
>> Yeah. Yeah. You don't see me and think
00:07:24
mine.
00:07:25
>> Yeah.
00:07:25
>> So, yeah.
00:07:26
>> Or maybe you do. I don't know.
00:07:28
>> Don't know what that says.
00:07:29
>> I do. But that's I mean that's cuz what
00:07:31
that's I know you
00:07:32
>> that that's that's just it's in our DNA
00:07:35
at this point. Yeah.
00:07:36
>> I've just accepted it, you know.
00:07:38
>> Yeah.
00:07:39
>> Well, let's talk a little bit about like
00:07:41
your homeschool experience. Were you
00:07:43
homeschooled all the way through
00:07:44
beginning to end?
00:07:46
>> Yep. Yeah, I was um all through high
00:07:50
school,
00:07:52
same with um the rest of my siblings.
00:07:56
Um
00:07:58
so, yeah, pretty the whole the whole
00:08:00
thing.
00:08:00
>> Okay.
00:08:00
>> And then I went to community college
00:08:03
after, but
00:08:04
>> Okay. So, let's talk about like maybe
00:08:07
your idea of what like a day in the life
00:08:09
at the home at the at the Gibbons
00:08:11
homeschool house like
00:08:12
>> Oh my god.
00:08:13
>> Was there I mean Stephanie was like it
00:08:14
was kind of chaotic. There was never
00:08:16
just a set anything but like I I don't
00:08:19
know. She's also one of the older ones.
00:08:21
You you're on the younger side of of the
00:08:23
six of you guys. Like
00:08:25
>> was there ever
00:08:27
>> structure or was it always chaos? Uh,
00:08:30
I'd say like toward like the be
00:08:34
beginning, like the early years, I feel
00:08:37
like there was a little bit more. Um,
00:08:41
but overall it was a pretty chaotic
00:08:47
like
00:08:49
experience. Um,
00:08:52
my
00:08:54
parents, I think, had this vision of
00:08:57
what they like wanted their family and
00:08:58
their life to be. And it was
00:09:03
like homeschooled kids, raised
00:09:06
Christian. Um, like if my mom had her
00:09:11
like ultimate dream, I I swear we would
00:09:13
been Amish. And like she tried like to
00:09:17
implement that like when she could.
00:09:20
>> That's funny because I remember my
00:09:22
sister coming going to your house for
00:09:23
like promiseke keepers I think is what
00:09:26
it was called.
00:09:26
>> Oh my gosh. Yeah. Oh, I haven't thought
00:09:29
about that in a long time.
00:09:30
>> Yeah. And like I don't remember if you
00:09:32
guys wore costume. I mean in the home
00:09:33
school world there was obviously like we
00:09:35
did wear costumes and bonnets and Yeah.
00:09:37
All that kind of stuff. I think we did
00:09:39
like quilt like um
00:09:42
we would like make patches of quilts and
00:09:44
like put them together or something. I
00:09:46
don't that's like I have such little
00:09:48
memory but that did bring something back
00:09:49
though. Yeah.
00:09:51
>> Kind of that like
00:09:53
very traditional like you were saying
00:09:55
like Amish kind of view like there was
00:09:58
definitely a lot of that in the
00:09:59
homeschool world of like most of the
00:10:01
girls knew how to sew,
00:10:03
>> most of them knew how to cook.
00:10:05
>> Mhm. The dresses and skirts thing is a
00:10:07
whole another can of worms. Like I know
00:10:10
you weren't required to wear dresses and
00:10:12
skirts, but like a lot of our school
00:10:13
dances and school events like good girls
00:10:15
had a very strict dress code and the
00:10:16
guys we kind of
00:10:18
>> got to wear whatever. So
00:10:20
>> yeah. Yeah. But yeah, so I think they
00:10:23
just um
00:10:25
had this dream. I feel like it was maybe
00:10:28
a little more of my mom's and my dad
00:10:29
like kind of just went along with it,
00:10:32
but it didn't really seem like something
00:10:34
that
00:10:36
he was really passionate about. But um
00:10:40
but yeah, we never had
00:10:44
like real structure when it came to like
00:10:46
our schooling. It was um I kind of just
00:10:50
felt like whenever she felt like it. Um
00:10:53
and then like later on um
00:10:58
like her and my dad just had like a very
00:11:02
difficult marriage. So, I think that
00:11:04
that just um kind of became
00:11:08
like her priority and then it just I
00:11:11
don't know it just felt like you know we
00:11:14
kind of just dwindled off like the
00:11:15
teaching like it kind of just
00:11:18
>> basically stopped like she was um
00:11:23
you know and at the time you know as a
00:11:26
kid you're you don't really think about
00:11:29
the like consequences of like the future
00:11:32
you know you're just kind like you do
00:11:34
you don't want to do school, you know?
00:11:35
So, like when I had my mom basically
00:11:39
like at one point she was kind of like
00:11:40
if you want to learn like go ahead and
00:11:44
learn like here are some books like you
00:11:46
could look up stuff like if you want to
00:11:49
basically like it's it's in your hands.
00:11:51
Um if you want to like pass any of this
00:11:55
like I'm kind of like burnt done. Um,
00:11:58
and yeah, as a kid I'm kind of like,
00:12:00
okay, then yeah, no, I'm not going to do
00:12:03
that. Um, I would rather go like hang
00:12:06
with my friends or do whatever. Um,
00:12:10
and then it was in
00:12:14
like throughout high school, I would
00:12:16
have just these panicked times of just
00:12:18
like
00:12:20
I don't know anything. And I like would
00:12:27
try my best to like teach myself, but it
00:12:29
wasn't practical. I didn't it just
00:12:33
didn't work. And um I really struggled a
00:12:37
lot like in school and high school and
00:12:41
um throughout my life even until today.
00:12:43
like it's um something that
00:12:48
I can look back and um it makes me upset
00:12:52
because I'm I feel like it like failed
00:12:55
me in a way
00:12:57
that like I wasn't really set up for
00:13:00
success and um I know a lot of it you
00:13:05
know is you know everyone's responsible
00:13:07
for themselves and all that like I don't
00:13:09
like
00:13:11
completely blame everything. But um
00:13:14
sometime, you know,
00:13:17
it's kind of hard because it's like I'm
00:13:20
having to put in so much extra work now
00:13:22
because of like the lack of education
00:13:25
that I had growing up. Um
00:13:29
and so that's yeah, that's kind of uh
00:13:33
what I mean when I kind of say like I
00:13:35
feel like homeschooling kind of did me
00:13:37
dirty. The hope, right, of homeschooling
00:13:40
is like your parent or your parents are
00:13:42
committed to like, hey, like we're going
00:13:45
to educate you. Like that that's kind of
00:13:47
that that when you when you
00:13:50
dive into the reasons that people
00:13:52
homeschool, a lot of it is like they
00:13:54
don't, you know, they don't trust the
00:13:55
public school system or they think they
00:13:57
can do better and they want to educate
00:13:59
their kids on the things that they want
00:14:00
to educate them on.
00:14:02
>> But like what you're talking about is
00:14:03
like your mom Yeah. maybe having some of
00:14:05
that at a at a period of like, okay,
00:14:07
hey, like we're going to study these
00:14:08
things and this is what I want to teach
00:14:09
you. But you're saying by the end it's
00:14:12
like she's just like, well, if you want
00:14:13
to learn something, you just like go do
00:14:14
it.
00:14:15
>> Well, it's their job to teach you how to
00:14:18
learn, like how to go research those
00:14:20
things. Like, you know,
00:14:22
>> my parents encouraged like if I was into
00:14:24
something, they're like, "Okay, yeah, go
00:14:26
study that, go whatever." But there was
00:14:27
also still a lot of like, "Well, you're
00:14:29
also going to do XYZ. There's math,
00:14:31
there's science, there's all these
00:14:32
different things.
00:14:34
If they were not pushing me to do those,
00:14:35
I was not I'm with you. I Why the heck
00:14:37
would I want to go study that stuff?
00:14:39
That's boring to me. That's like when am
00:14:40
I ever going to use that? I would much
00:14:42
rather learn about like
00:14:43
>> pirates and history and like
00:14:46
>> whatever else like how to build
00:14:47
something in my backyard because that
00:14:49
was like
00:14:51
>> good for me. And so
00:14:55
>> so I don't blame you. I don't blame you
00:14:56
for being mad about that because like
00:14:58
you're you're that's very valid feeling
00:15:01
for sure. Is there a point when you kind
00:15:04
of like
00:15:05
realized or maybe were more verbal of
00:15:08
just the fact that you're like, "Okay,
00:15:10
like this failed me, like this was not
00:15:12
good." Or did you kind of know even back
00:15:16
then?
00:15:17
>> I I feel like I've felt that way for a
00:15:20
long time just because I've spent
00:15:25
my like cold childhood up until like now
00:15:28
just feeling I I just feel like
00:15:30
incredibly dumb. like I just I like just
00:15:34
always felt behind and um just not
00:15:37
caught up with everyone else and um and
00:15:42
like I always knew that and I would I
00:15:44
just try to like hide it from everyone,
00:15:46
you know, like I can appear that I kind
00:15:49
of know what I'm doing. Um, but so yeah,
00:15:53
it wasn't maybe an exact moment, but I
00:15:56
always felt that growing up and never
00:15:59
really had like
00:16:01
huge hopes for like the future cuz I
00:16:03
just like well I'm just I'm just not
00:16:05
smart um in that way. Well, I'm
00:16:09
wondering like you brought up like you
00:16:11
went to college so like was college like
00:16:15
tough because you were like okay like I
00:16:18
don't know what the hell I'm doing like
00:16:21
and now I have to play catchup.
00:16:23
>> Yeah. So I went to uh city college for a
00:16:26
couple years. cuz I never graduated. But
00:16:29
um the like my first year going was
00:16:35
I had so much anxiety and fear like I
00:16:38
was like this was a school and like
00:16:40
there's you know it
00:16:45
I was really scared like my first um
00:16:48
semester going and I
00:16:50
um really struggled there too. And what
00:16:53
was really hard for me is that like I
00:16:55
desperately like wanted
00:16:58
to learn like I really
00:17:01
like wanted to do good but I just
00:17:04
didn't. I mean in in in some things like
00:17:07
I um did well in like um certain
00:17:12
subjects but like
00:17:15
I really struggled.
00:17:17
>> Yeah. Well, school's like building
00:17:19
blocks, right? Like if you like I think
00:17:21
about math all the time because like one
00:17:24
one of your sisters and I did math
00:17:25
together for a long time and like
00:17:28
>> and and she's a little older than and
00:17:30
than than I am but like you know we were
00:17:33
at the same point in our math like kind
00:17:36
of a thing and we had to learn those
00:17:38
building blocks together of like I don't
00:17:40
think we necessarily needed like
00:17:42
addition subtraction but like we were
00:17:44
like multiplica we did multiplication
00:17:45
tables together we did division we did
00:17:47
fractions we did all of that stuff and
00:17:48
it was all these
00:17:50
building blocks that got us to like,
00:17:52
okay, hey, like I can do math. Like I
00:17:55
can buy paint for a room and like
00:17:57
understand the math that goes into that.
00:17:58
I can bake
00:17:59
>> a sheet of brownies and understand like,
00:18:01
oh, I need to double the recipe. Like
00:18:02
how do you do that when it's fractions
00:18:04
kind of a deal like very practical use
00:18:06
cases for that kind of stuff.
00:18:08
>> But like it's all building blocks of
00:18:10
like to get to that point. You don't
00:18:12
just like drop in and it's just like oh
00:18:14
here you go. But I can imagine that like
00:18:16
in college because there was classes
00:18:17
even for me in college that I was like
00:18:21
science in particular I was like I have
00:18:22
no concept of like what is going on
00:18:24
right now. Like I was like I feel so
00:18:27
behind.
00:18:28
>> Yeah. Where do you turn to then like
00:18:30
learn that? Or is it just a like okay
00:18:33
like I'm going to give up and like do
00:18:35
something else that like I'm good in
00:18:36
these areas so like let me just pursue
00:18:37
those areas or has there been a desire
00:18:40
in you to be like okay hey like I
00:18:41
actually kind of want to figure this out
00:18:43
like I know I'm bad at it and like let
00:18:45
me go back to elementary school and like
00:18:47
some ways and be like let me just like
00:18:49
actually
00:18:50
>> get the basic building blocks I need to
00:18:51
like learn this now. It's funny because
00:18:54
so because I uh currently work at an
00:18:56
elementary school and it's just um funny
00:18:59
because sometimes I'll be in classes and
00:19:01
I'm like, "Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. I like
00:19:05
>> you're taking notes in the back
00:19:07
learning." Yeah. No, for real. I'm
00:19:08
supposed to be there helping them and
00:19:10
I'm like,
00:19:11
>> "Oh, yeah. This is good stuff." Um I
00:19:14
feel like more recently I have have had
00:19:19
like a new desire to like learn and
00:19:22
expand like my knowledge in these
00:19:26
subject or just like new things too. Um
00:19:30
but
00:19:32
for like yeah when I
00:19:35
was out of school like I had no desire
00:19:38
to like learn anything. I just my only
00:19:42
thought was like like what can I do?
00:19:44
Like what do I know how to do? And at
00:19:48
the time I was working at a coffee shop
00:19:50
and then there was an opportunity to buy
00:19:52
it. So I was
00:19:54
um it was something I really liked and
00:19:58
I'm happy I did. But a big part of
00:20:01
taking that job was just like what else
00:20:05
am I going to like I don't know how to
00:20:06
do anything else. Like it was kind of a
00:20:10
little bit out of fear of well if this
00:20:13
is it like feel like this is it like
00:20:15
this has to be what I do. But then now
00:20:19
like switching careers into this, it's
00:20:21
like I can also do this and I'm really
00:20:24
good at it and I actually like
00:20:28
I love it and like I um it really helped
00:20:32
me to kind of get a little confidence in
00:20:35
like maybe I can do other things and
00:20:37
like learn other things. I wanted to ask
00:20:40
you too because like when we chatted
00:20:42
before like you had brought up like kind
00:20:45
of learning like you know we're we're
00:20:48
both like 30 now like but kind of
00:20:50
finding out like you're neurody
00:20:51
divergent. You've got some like
00:20:54
>> your brain is wired differently which is
00:20:56
like very stereotypical homeschool kid.
00:20:58
Like we all got kind of like weird
00:20:59
things that kick around in there, right?
00:21:01
But like now like learning that when
00:21:04
you're 30 like that's a big that's a big
00:21:07
life shift of like holy crap like
00:21:09
>> maybe answers questions but also like
00:21:11
raises other questions. So like can you
00:21:13
talk a little bit about like that and
00:21:14
like what
00:21:15
>> why did you do that and then like
00:21:19
>> what what have you kind of learned from
00:21:20
that?
00:21:22
Yeah, I um never really
00:21:26
thought I was and I um would have maybe
00:21:31
little like inklings of like of it or um
00:21:35
like my mom is diagnosed. So like I
00:21:41
but I never really pursued to like get
00:21:44
assessed or anything. Um, but I started
00:21:48
therapy this year and
00:21:53
pretty soon like within a few sessions
00:21:56
like she's like, "Yeah, I think you're a
00:21:58
little near spicy here." Like she she
00:22:01
like could pretty much tell. And um it
00:22:05
took me a while and I'm still kind of in
00:22:08
this like accepting that I do have um
00:22:13
ADHD
00:22:14
and it's totally like
00:22:18
just thrown like the curtain or lifted
00:22:21
the veil or like it really
00:22:25
made me look at my life like a whole new
00:22:27
way. And it's been really weird and like
00:22:32
but also really um
00:22:36
cool in a way of like just learning
00:22:39
about myself. Like I feel like I'm just
00:22:41
kind of meeting myself in a in a way.
00:22:43
And um
00:22:47
it's weird though because yeah, now
00:22:49
looking back at like my
00:22:53
homeschool journey, it's like
00:22:58
I struggled so much because of right the
00:23:01
lack of teaching and everything, but I
00:23:04
also struggled because I'm different and
00:23:07
I
00:23:10
often would wish like that I was put in
00:23:13
school. So then
00:23:16
cuz there's people there who would see
00:23:19
that and um get me help or like help me
00:23:23
learn in like a different way, you know,
00:23:24
try different things and um so it's
00:23:31
it's kind of like a mix because
00:23:35
I can
00:23:37
now look back and be like maybe I like
00:23:40
wasn't so much the problem and just like
00:23:42
this dumb person, but cuz I just
00:23:44
struggled with
00:23:46
many basic things like daily struggles
00:23:50
and
00:23:53
really just felt down. Um, and now I can
00:23:56
see that like I it's really just because
00:24:00
like you said like I'm just wired
00:24:01
different and need help in different
00:24:03
ways that were never met. And
00:24:08
but there's also kind of the like so
00:24:12
it's
00:24:15
yeah revealing and helpful in that way
00:24:16
but also it like
00:24:19
>> kind of makes me feel like I'm starting
00:24:21
at like ground zero. Like I you know I
00:24:24
have to kind of learn how to
00:24:27
>> live with this from from here on. And
00:24:30
you know, it's encouraging me because
00:24:31
now I have tools and like
00:24:36
ways to cope and learn. Um, but yeah,
00:24:41
it's been like a
00:24:44
a weird experience, but it's been
00:24:46
overall good and I'm I am happy that I
00:24:50
know and it really kind of you just are
00:24:52
like, "Whoa, this makes sense." And
00:24:54
that's the thing that really was weird.
00:24:55
She'd just say things and I'd be like,
00:24:56
"How how do you know that?" She's like,
00:24:58
"Girl, this is textbook.
00:25:00
>> This is like and I'm like, "Oh my god."
00:25:02
Like, and it was also just really cool.
00:25:06
Like, therapy has just completely
00:25:08
changed my life. Like, I recommend
00:25:11
therapy if you're able to um to anyone.
00:25:15
It's like um yeah, shout out to my
00:25:18
therapist, please. So, um,
00:25:21
>> I was gonna ask, are there any like I I
00:25:24
I don't know if coping mechanism is the
00:25:25
right term, but like I call like the
00:25:27
things that I do and like have learned
00:25:30
about myself like I have my little like
00:25:32
coping mechanisms where I'm like, okay,
00:25:33
I operate this way and like now I'm
00:25:36
learning this way of like like you were
00:25:40
talking about like looking back at like
00:25:42
>> you can be kind of upset because like
00:25:44
okay, childhood me was for for me I have
00:25:47
like some emotional stunted Like I
00:25:50
struggle to cry. I struggle to be
00:25:51
emotional. I just like become a brick
00:25:53
wall. And like so like I can look back
00:25:56
and like at kid me and be like I needed
00:25:59
a hug and I needed like whatever. And
00:26:01
like and that that like no shade to my
00:26:03
parents cuz like they did love me. Like
00:26:04
it's it's
00:26:06
>> some other stuff that happened. But
00:26:08
>> but like now as adult like I'm like okay
00:26:10
like I can hug myself. I can like do
00:26:13
these things that like it's okay to cry.
00:26:15
It's okay to feel this way. like and
00:26:17
like just unpack it a little bit more.
00:26:20
And so I guess what I mean by that is
00:26:23
like I have my coping mechanisms now
00:26:24
where like I know when I get overwhelmed
00:26:26
and I'm like, "Okay, I'm feeling
00:26:27
emotional and I'm putting that brick
00:26:29
wall up. I know, okay, I need to
00:26:31
journal. I need to like I record my
00:26:33
thoughts. I like do whatever the little
00:26:35
things are. I give myself a hug. I like,
00:26:37
you know, have a weighted blanket or
00:26:39
like whatever the thing is. It's like
00:26:41
that's like the thing that I'm like,
00:26:42
"Okay, go to that. That's going to help
00:26:44
me now." Have you found anything like
00:26:47
that where you're just like you're like,
00:26:48
"Oh my gosh, like I wish I would have
00:26:50
known this as a kid where you're like
00:26:52
this would have just like helped or like
00:26:54
or maybe it's even things that you have
00:26:55
already just been doing for most of your
00:26:57
lifetime that you're like, "Okay, I
00:26:58
didn't know that that was a coping
00:27:00
mechanism, but now it makes sense."
00:27:02
I think something that I struggle with
00:27:06
is um I get
00:27:11
insanely
00:27:13
like frustrated and mad at myself like
00:27:15
for not doing something right or like
00:27:19
something I should have done like
00:27:20
yesterday and didn't like I will get
00:27:22
just like so upset at myself and will
00:27:26
just like
00:27:28
when I was younger like I
00:27:31
would
00:27:34
I would just have so many breakdowns
00:27:35
basically is what I would like. I would
00:27:38
just get so overwhelmed with like
00:27:41
anger and like emotion and just like
00:27:44
really just feeling um like over
00:27:47
stimulated really and I would just be
00:27:49
like frustrated at everything and it
00:27:53
would turn into a huge meltdown like
00:27:57
I've
00:27:58
um but I've been able to kind of like
00:28:04
kind of like what you said like you feel
00:28:05
it coming or like you can the signs. Um
00:28:09
I like through therapy would try to work
00:28:13
on it and she'd be like, "Okay, you
00:28:15
know,
00:28:17
you're a little kid and you're having
00:28:19
like you're not doing something right
00:28:22
and you something's going to lead to a
00:28:25
meltdown or whatever." She's like, "What
00:28:28
would you tell your she know she always
00:28:29
does the like you know you go back in
00:28:31
time or you know you can tell younger
00:28:33
you like what would you actually want
00:28:38
someone to like save you or what or help
00:28:40
you?" And for a long time I'd be like I
00:28:42
can't say anything like I you know um
00:28:46
but
00:28:48
the thing that I
00:28:52
do now is like
00:28:55
I basically just convince myself I'm
00:28:57
okay. That sounds like kind of basic,
00:28:59
but um
00:29:01
you know, you're just like,
00:29:04
you know, you can tell yourself like I'm
00:29:07
safe, like I'm okay, and
00:29:11
like you're not making a mistake,
00:29:14
>> right?
00:29:14
>> Um I'm still really like
00:29:17
working on like different um coping, but
00:29:21
something that's also helped me are like
00:29:23
fidgets. like just having like I have
00:29:26
just like extra energy and
00:29:30
it does help me a lot. Like I have one
00:29:33
that's um the one that helps me the best
00:29:35
are like the it's called like little
00:29:38
ouchies or something. It's like this
00:29:40
thing with like the little
00:29:41
>> Yeah.
00:29:42
>> spikes. And like cuz if I'm feeling just
00:29:47
like like I get so overwhelmed and like
00:29:52
just extremely overstimulated that I'm
00:29:54
like I will just squeeze that thing so
00:29:56
hardcore and it has a spinny thing on
00:29:57
the top. It's so good and I'll just and
00:30:00
it it that that helps me too. So, um
00:30:03
yeah, these aren't like groundbreaking
00:30:05
things, but like I'm still um learning
00:30:09
how to deal with it. And just I think
00:30:10
honestly just the awareness of it is
00:30:13
like the huge like the biggest step is
00:30:15
just being aware of like okay what's
00:30:18
happening like I'm feeling this way why
00:30:21
or you know like can kind of zoom out a
00:30:24
little bit and be like
00:30:26
>> okay no we can do this like
00:30:28
>> and just yeah I don't know
00:30:30
>> well especially when it's like getting
00:30:31
upset over like something dumb right
00:30:33
like
00:30:34
>> oh my god
00:30:35
>> for me like it could be like oh I was
00:30:36
supposed to do laundry yesterday or like
00:30:38
I you know it's the end of the day and
00:30:39
I'm like, shoot, I didn't like do this
00:30:41
thing. It's like, okay, do it tomorrow.
00:30:44
It's like not the end of the world,
00:30:45
right? Like, so sometimes it's it's it's
00:30:47
one thing if it's like, okay, I was
00:30:48
supposed to pay my taxes today and like
00:30:50
I really was supposed to pay my taxes
00:30:51
today, right? Then it's like you can
00:30:52
kind of beat yourself up over that, but
00:30:54
like um
00:30:55
>> but yeah, like something dumb like the
00:30:57
laundry, you know, it's like that
00:30:58
doesn't warrant
00:31:00
>> just a complete meltdown.
00:31:02
>> And so learning that kind of like that
00:31:04
regulation of like, okay, it's okay.
00:31:07
like you said, like being able to tell
00:31:08
yourself like it's okay. Like I I missed
00:31:10
it. Like it's not a big deal. It'll be
00:31:12
there tomorrow,
00:31:14
>> you know? And like I think about like
00:31:16
when I was a kid, like my cuz I also
00:31:18
like we get frustrated and I get angry
00:31:21
and like you know a lot of my friends
00:31:23
never saw that side of me. But like when
00:31:26
I get angry frustrated like I would just
00:31:27
like go mow the lawn. Like my lawn was
00:31:30
always mowed. If you came to the house
00:31:32
it was always
00:31:33
>> Yeah. Like I I'm sure that Caitlyn can
00:31:36
attest to like there were times when I'm
00:31:37
just like I you know she'd come up and
00:31:40
I'd be like I'd be like hello and I'm
00:31:43
going to go mow the lawn now and like
00:31:45
she you know and it was just that was
00:31:47
the thing like you were talking about
00:31:48
like it's that extra energy and it's
00:31:50
just like get it out of the body as
00:31:52
quickly as possible.
00:31:53
>> Yeah.
00:31:54
>> What's nice now as adults is like also
00:31:56
there are other ways to do that that
00:31:58
it's like not doesn't always have to be
00:31:59
super physical. like you can just kind
00:32:01
of like I said like it for me it can be
00:32:03
writing or it can be speaking my stuff
00:32:05
out or whatever and it's just like
00:32:07
>> so it's just getting that
00:32:10
>> you got to get rid of it because it is
00:32:11
energy and it's just like you got to get
00:32:13
rid of it and then
00:32:14
>> you do
00:32:15
>> take a breath
00:32:17
>> move on right
00:32:18
>> other things too that like just to
00:32:21
prevent
00:32:22
like possible things from happening like
00:32:25
I found out that I'm pretty um
00:32:30
Like with clothing, I'm um I get
00:32:34
like weird I have like sensory issues
00:32:36
with like my clothing a lot. And if I
00:32:39
kind of have something on that's
00:32:41
irritating me like throughout the day
00:32:44
like right like if I'm wearing all day
00:32:46
like I'm going to be pretty pissed by
00:32:48
the I mean like
00:32:49
>> Yeah. It's got that ramp up effect of
00:32:51
like the end of the day. Yeah. It's not
00:32:52
going to be pretty.
00:32:54
>> Yeah. So just or like stuff like that
00:32:56
too. just um
00:33:00
but yeah, no, I'm I really only
00:33:05
let's see I I forget when I started
00:33:07
therapy, but it's it's been maybe like
00:33:09
five months.
00:33:10
>> Okay.
00:33:10
>> Now, um so still kind of like figuring
00:33:15
it out, but I couldn't actually say
00:33:18
the sentence like I have ADHD for like a
00:33:22
long time. Like I felt like I don't know
00:33:25
why I felt like a fraud. I was like, I
00:33:27
don't know. I don't like, are you sure?
00:33:29
Like, I don't, you know, I um and it's
00:33:33
just so weird to like live your whole
00:33:37
life one way and then you're like,
00:33:40
no, I was actually a whole different way
00:33:42
trying to live in a different way and it
00:33:45
just Yeah. But it's been um real
00:33:48
insightful and I'm like,
00:33:50
>> yeah,
00:33:50
>> I'm excited to like learn more about it.
00:33:53
But
00:33:54
>> so did you do like an actual like test
00:33:56
for that? Cuz I know that there's some
00:33:58
like neuro test sometimes the therapist
00:34:00
just kind of is like you're showing all
00:34:03
the signs kind of a thing.
00:34:04
>> I've only been diagnosed from my
00:34:07
therapist who but she like specializes
00:34:10
in neurode divergent. Um, but like I
00:34:13
haven't like done like the assessment,
00:34:16
you know, like
00:34:17
>> so that and there's also like that too
00:34:20
of like well should I wait till I get
00:34:22
like the
00:34:24
full thing to really like try to accept
00:34:28
that but I already know I do like right
00:34:31
you know so I and it's expensive also
00:34:35
like it's you know so at this moment I'm
00:34:38
like I'm okay with just
00:34:42
knowing that and then maybe maybe
00:34:44
someday it's something I'd probably like
00:34:46
to do but um
00:34:48
>> I think about like so like I'm pretty
00:34:52
neurotypical
00:34:54
um but like
00:34:56
>> you know I think you know and I I I
00:34:59
sometimes say the thing of like oh I had
00:35:01
my ADHD moment or whatever you know it's
00:35:03
like I I know that I'm not ADHD like I
00:35:06
don't have a lot of the symptoms of it
00:35:08
>> but
00:35:09
>> growing up around so many home kids who
00:35:11
like whether they were diagnosed,
00:35:13
undiagnosed, like we grew up around so
00:35:15
many people that that is the way that
00:35:17
they operate. And so I think it's kind
00:35:20
of an interesting thing of like
00:35:25
those people can still feel so alone in
00:35:28
the like I'm the only one feeling this
00:35:30
way. I don't know if you ever felt that
00:35:32
way, but like like you're alone on an
00:35:35
island of like this is how I feel and
00:35:37
like the reality is
00:35:39
>> you were not alone.
00:35:41
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:42
>> Like and like you said with your
00:35:44
therapist of like her of your therapist
00:35:46
basically being like uh yeah so you know
00:35:49
this and this and this and this and you
00:35:50
being like how do you know all this
00:35:51
stuff about me? It's like well because
00:35:52
that's like
00:35:54
>> it's studied. There's a lot of people
00:35:55
who have that
00:35:56
>> you know. Does that make it easier to
00:35:58
like kind of deal with it being like,
00:36:00
"Okay, I'm not alone in this anymore."
00:36:03
>> No, it totally didn't because she also
00:36:04
was telling me she's like the majority
00:36:06
of people like are neurody divergent.
00:36:09
Like there's a lot of people who do um
00:36:13
that it's but it's just not like known
00:36:15
or talked about or like you you think
00:36:18
you know but like
00:36:21
or you think you know what it looks like
00:36:23
and is but it's like it's such
00:36:25
everything's like such a spectrum and
00:36:27
it's like not everyone's
00:36:31
diagnosis is going to look like someone
00:36:32
else's like and there could be many
00:36:36
similarities and then different like
00:36:37
right
00:36:38
>> so it did make me feel um it did make me
00:36:42
feel better because I I didn't feel
00:36:47
like just so dumb. I'm like, "Oh, no."
00:36:50
Like this is just how my brain is and
00:36:53
there are other people who
00:36:56
who are the same as me and do good in
00:36:59
life and or who are like awesome PE, you
00:37:01
know, it doesn't m So, so yeah. No, I
00:37:03
think it I think it definitely did help
00:37:05
me. I think there's a pressure.
00:37:08
There was a pressure in our homeschool
00:37:11
community of like homeschool kids are
00:37:13
also like smarter. We like we're better
00:37:17
we're better than public school kids.
00:37:19
Maybe maybe not than private school
00:37:21
kids, but like public school kids we're
00:37:23
we're smarter. We got it figured out a
00:37:25
little bit more. Maybe like for me I was
00:37:27
like my learning style is like my
00:37:29
parents cater to that learning style. to
00:37:31
my sister like her school experience, my
00:37:34
school experience very different because
00:37:35
they were catered to our learning
00:37:37
styles.
00:37:38
But like
00:37:40
again I but I remember hearing that
00:37:42
messaging of like well we're smarter.
00:37:45
We're you know we're going to go do
00:37:46
bigger things, better things. And then
00:37:48
like when I got to college and realized
00:37:50
like oh my gosh everybody I know went to
00:37:51
public school and they're like so much
00:37:54
smarter than me. I was like I'm an
00:37:57
idiot. like and and I was like I I you
00:38:00
know I can you know I can name off all
00:38:02
the books of the Bible and like I can
00:38:03
you know talk about whatever but like I
00:38:05
I just there was there was moments where
00:38:07
I was just like I I'm I'm legitimately
00:38:11
the dumbest person in the world and like
00:38:13
and even in the homeschool community
00:38:15
there were kids that were really smart
00:38:17
and I felt really stupid like I felt
00:38:18
like a poser among them of just like I'm
00:38:21
dumb compared to you.
00:38:22
>> Yeah. Oh my god. I totally know. I
00:38:25
totally know how you feel because I I
00:38:27
felt like that around
00:38:30
mostly everyone. I I um
00:38:34
I Yeah, I just felt like everyone
00:38:37
homeschooled was like
00:38:39
smart. Like all my friends were smarter
00:38:42
than me. And um but no, that is like
00:38:45
interesting. Yeah. To go and then kind
00:38:48
of opens your eyes of like maybe we're
00:38:50
not the best. Maybe public school isn't
00:38:53
like so terrible.
00:38:56
>> May Yeah, maybe not.
00:38:58
>> I also know like my parents just didn't
00:39:00
want me to go to public school
00:39:03
mainly for like
00:39:07
you know um possibly like falling away
00:39:10
from God and like I feel like that was
00:39:13
more of like their purpose in like
00:39:15
homeschooling us rather than like your
00:39:18
education. It's really interesting
00:39:21
because one of the things that
00:39:24
I'm learning through doing this show in
00:39:26
particular and like meeting all these
00:39:28
people is like now I'm also meeting
00:39:29
current homeschool families.
00:39:32
And what I find so interesting about my
00:39:35
conversations with them is I immediately
00:39:37
go to well why are you doing this? Like
00:39:40
I that is my that is my biggest ask of
00:39:43
all of them. And some of them it's, you
00:39:45
know, like I've met a lot of families
00:39:47
now who they RV and they travel the
00:39:49
world and the country like all the time.
00:39:51
And so they're like, well, we want our
00:39:53
kids with us, so we have to homeschool
00:39:56
them because we're just on the road all
00:39:57
the time.
00:39:59
>> But the way that they view homeschooling
00:40:00
is very different. Like the
00:40:02
homeschooling experiences that you and I
00:40:03
grew up in, our parents chose all of our
00:40:05
curriculum. They, you know, we were
00:40:07
essentially a private school. Um, but
00:40:10
everything came through and was filtered
00:40:12
through our parents. There's a lot of
00:40:14
people who view homeschooling as just
00:40:16
like, oh well, it's public education,
00:40:19
but like we just do it at home and it's
00:40:21
all online and they get sent the
00:40:23
textbooks and everything like that. And
00:40:24
mom and dad really have not they don't
00:40:27
have as much say over the everyday
00:40:29
curriculum. They have more of a say of
00:40:30
the extracurriculars and like we're
00:40:31
going to go to these museums and we're
00:40:33
going to go experience nature together.
00:40:35
And so I say that to say like the
00:40:38
people's why is so different than like
00:40:41
>> I think a lot of our
00:40:42
>> our parents why
00:40:43
>> right like like I think a lot of the the
00:40:46
families in the the achieve oh high
00:40:49
group that we grew up in their their why
00:40:51
was whether it was religion or I can do
00:40:54
it better than the public school but a
00:40:56
lot of it some of it was kind of geared
00:40:58
out of this like fear and a little bit
00:41:00
of this control of like hey if my kid
00:41:02
goes to public school like they're going
00:41:04
to fall away from God, they're going to
00:41:06
they're going to walk away from
00:41:07
religion, you know, all these types of
00:41:08
things where, like I was saying, now I'm
00:41:11
meeting parents where I'm like, no, they
00:41:12
actually like
00:41:14
the the reason they want to homeschool
00:41:16
their kid is more of like they actually
00:41:18
have the education that they can teach
00:41:20
their kid better than public school or
00:41:22
they want to take them on these grand
00:41:24
experiences that well, yeah, of course
00:41:27
you would want to you would want to
00:41:28
homeschool your kid or give them an
00:41:29
opportunity to do that.
00:41:31
>> Um, and so I just think it's different.
00:41:34
It's just like very there is still like
00:41:36
so many people who are like very
00:41:37
religion based and I'm like okay like
00:41:39
>> maybe let's think about some other
00:41:40
things really quick before we go down
00:41:42
that path.
00:41:43
>> But
00:41:44
>> no it doesn't mean that like yeah
00:41:46
homeschooling is like yeah you're doomed
00:41:49
to fail. Um it's just I think yeah where
00:41:52
you
00:41:54
like the reason for going into it I
00:41:57
think are like important and then to
00:42:02
follow through with it really
00:42:04
>> is huge. Um
00:42:06
>> we grew up in a bubble like like if we
00:42:09
really like look at it
00:42:10
>> such a bubble. Yeah. It it's it was such
00:42:14
an interesting it's an interesting thing
00:42:16
to break away from because like there's
00:42:20
a lot of there's a lot of the positive
00:42:24
moments of like we talked about like
00:42:26
just being at each other's houses and
00:42:27
like we had friends like we kind we were
00:42:30
socialized homeschoolers which is like a
00:42:32
that's a positive.
00:42:34
>> I know they're all shocked.
00:42:36
>> Yeah. They're like oh you can actually
00:42:37
hold the conversation. Um you're
00:42:39
actually interesting. Um but so like we
00:42:43
had that aspect down but it just it's so
00:42:46
interesting because like I I also grew
00:42:48
up believing that everybody's parents we
00:42:50
all believed the same thing and we all
00:42:52
kind of were beotting being taught the
00:42:54
same thing in our homes and there wasn't
00:42:57
disagreement and I felt like at a public
00:43:00
school there would have been
00:43:02
disagreement and there would have been
00:43:03
this like constant battling of like
00:43:05
ideas of like is evolution right? Is is
00:43:08
there a god? is they're all, you know,
00:43:10
politics, all this kind of stuff.
00:43:13
In the home school world, it just in our
00:43:14
home school world, it just felt like,
00:43:16
well, everybody's in agreement, like
00:43:17
we're all the same, like we're all
00:43:18
Christians, we're all Republicans, we're
00:43:20
all like, you know, all these types of
00:43:22
things. The reality is that's not true,
00:43:24
but it just felt that way for some
00:43:25
reason.
00:43:27
>> It did. Yeah.
00:43:30
>> I also kind of wanted to ask you a
00:43:31
little bit of like the big like the big
00:43:34
family stuff. You grew up in a family of
00:43:35
six. You're in the bottom
00:43:38
>> half. I'm in the Yeah,
00:43:40
>> right in the middle. I feel like most of
00:43:42
the homeschool families in Ohigh were
00:43:43
like big like six four to four plus kids
00:43:48
was like pretty normal and
00:43:50
>> Yeah.
00:43:51
>> And then you have like my family of two.
00:43:54
So like
00:43:55
>> Yeah.
00:43:56
>> Was that ever weird for you to like I
00:43:58
don't know see that and like did it ever
00:44:01
feel strange to you?
00:44:03
I I I don't totally know what my
00:44:06
question is here, but like
00:44:09
because because I view the big bigger
00:44:11
families as like some of the olders help
00:44:13
teach the youngers and like just
00:44:16
>> Oh, yeah.
00:44:16
>> Even in life and like stuff like that.
00:44:18
Like there's there's much more
00:44:20
significant roles that get played of
00:44:22
like almost those kids becoming parents
00:44:25
at younger ages to their younger
00:44:27
siblings where like when there's two of
00:44:29
us like my parents were not outnumbered.
00:44:32
So like I never felt like oh I have to
00:44:34
be a dad to my sister.
00:44:36
>> Um
00:44:36
>> right
00:44:37
>> you know guardian maybe like you know
00:44:40
kind of but I don't know did that
00:44:43
>> did you ever think about that when we
00:44:44
were kids or like now looking back on it
00:44:46
where you're like huh that is kind of a
00:44:48
a weird thing. I always thought like I
00:44:51
had a big family and then I'll meet like
00:44:52
other homesooled families and they're
00:44:54
like 15 plus and I'm like oh okay like
00:44:57
so um but but yeah and I think that also
00:45:01
was what was hard for like my parents is
00:45:04
like you know just like with a family
00:45:08
like yours like with two kids is going
00:45:10
to look completely different than like
00:45:12
trying to homeschool
00:45:14
a family of six. like it's just kind of
00:45:16
like two completely different things and
00:45:20
um
00:45:23
like yeah your strategy and everything
00:45:25
has to be so different because it's like
00:45:27
how can you stretch yourself like
00:45:29
>> to do like that's a lot like you know so
00:45:31
I feel and it just can become
00:45:33
overwhelming like what happened to and
00:45:35
then it's just yeah
00:45:36
>> well we like I said we had so many
00:45:38
friends who these big families and like
00:45:42
they would end up being these caretakers
00:45:44
for their younger siblings
00:45:46
Oh, totally.
00:45:50
>> Is Hannah free to come hang out? Well,
00:45:52
no. She has to watch Nathan and Rebecca.
00:45:55
>> Mhm.
00:45:56
>> Okay, fun. Like,
00:45:58
>> cool. you know, and it's like, but
00:46:00
there's other times you were free to
00:46:01
come hang out, but it would, you know,
00:46:03
but there were some families where it
00:46:05
was just like we never got to see them
00:46:06
outside of like a big family whatever
00:46:09
because
00:46:10
>> they're just always watching their
00:46:12
siblings, you know, and that
00:46:14
>> Yeah.
00:46:15
>> And I bet too, like this didn't happen
00:46:17
in my house, but like
00:46:19
>> like a lot of the older siblings also um
00:46:23
like they're like taking care of them
00:46:24
and watching them, but like also
00:46:26
schooling them. And so like that kind of
00:46:29
yeah they kind of take over that role as
00:46:31
well
00:46:32
>> now that you're out of it and like we
00:46:35
talked about your kind of view of like
00:46:36
homeschooling failed you.
00:46:39
So if someone's coming to you if
00:46:41
friend's coming to you and they're
00:46:42
they've got a kid and they're like okay
00:46:45
I'm thinking about doing the homeschool
00:46:47
thing. Are you is your gut reaction an
00:46:50
instant like do not do this because it's
00:46:53
just or or or are you at a point where
00:46:55
you're like okay
00:46:57
>> here's a lot of things to consider, you
00:47:00
know, but there can be maybe some good
00:47:02
over here. Like where where do you sit
00:47:04
on that spectrum? I I I really think
00:47:06
homeschooling like can be a really
00:47:08
awesome thing and like I'm not um
00:47:13
I'm not like totally like against it.
00:47:15
Like um I just think I had a really bad
00:47:20
experience, but um I and I don't think
00:47:25
it's something that I want to do for
00:47:27
like
00:47:29
the future. Um, but like if someone is
00:47:34
like really passionate about it, um, I
00:47:38
would just say
00:47:40
to really kind of like we said like ask
00:47:42
the why, like why are you doing this?
00:47:45
>> Yeah. Um but and to have like a clear
00:47:50
understanding like with you like whether
00:47:53
you're doing it alone or like with your
00:47:54
partner to like both be on
00:47:58
the same page with it and um
00:48:05
I want to say to not give up but like
00:48:08
but that's not really
00:48:10
like if you're if it becomes
00:48:12
overwhelming to like I don't know I
00:48:14
think just to to think of your kid's
00:48:17
best interest really. Yeah.
00:48:19
>> And just kind of what you know.
00:48:21
>> Yeah.
00:48:22
>> I mean, yeah. I don't I would probably
00:48:24
Yeah,
00:48:25
>> that's what I loved about my
00:48:26
conversation with Stephanie was like she
00:48:28
went from homeschooling our kids to not
00:48:30
and like the reason for that is this
00:48:32
like
00:48:32
>> this partial like I have to do what's in
00:48:34
the best interest for my kid. I also
00:48:36
have to do what's in the best interest
00:48:37
for me. Like I had our friend Katrin on
00:48:40
not too terribly long ago. Kind of the
00:48:42
same deal.
00:48:43
She was like, "I need me time. I need to
00:48:46
work on myself." And
00:48:48
>> yeah,
00:48:49
>> you know, and my mom has said this to me
00:48:51
too of like
00:48:52
>> when she started homeschooling my sister
00:48:54
and I,
00:48:55
>> she was not the the healthiest person
00:48:57
she could have been.
00:48:59
>> And that comes through a lot in the
00:49:02
early years of our homeschooling. And
00:49:04
so,
00:49:06
>> you know, I don't fall in the same camp
00:49:07
as you feeling like homeschooling
00:49:09
completely failed me. But I also like I
00:49:12
there is a lot of time in there where
00:49:13
I'm just like this was not good. It was
00:49:16
very messy. And now we talk about it and
00:49:19
she's like, you know, if I had just
00:49:20
taken a couple years and really worked
00:49:22
on myself and then said, hey, like now
00:49:23
we're going to do the homeschool thing,
00:49:26
I think we would have just eliminated
00:49:28
that, you know, and so like you're
00:49:29
saying, like be on board with your
00:49:31
partner and understand what you want out
00:49:33
of it and like, you know, it's not as s
00:49:35
and it's also okay to be like this isn't
00:49:37
working, so it it's just not working.
00:49:40
Like we don't have to do it.
00:49:41
>> Yeah. No, I completely agree. Yeah. It's
00:49:44
It's a big um decision for sure.
00:49:47
>> Yeah. So, I mean, what's what's next?
00:49:51
What are you what are you learning now?
00:49:52
Now that you're like, "Okay, I'm out of
00:49:54
it. I'm removed. I've got new you you're
00:49:57
working in the education field now." So,
00:49:59
like,
00:50:00
>> you know, and now you're you're learning
00:50:02
all this stuff about yourself. You're in
00:50:04
therapy. Like do you we kind of brought
00:50:07
it up a little bit of like you kind of
00:50:09
having that passion to learn a little
00:50:11
bit more again like what are you do like
00:50:14
how are you doing that how are you
00:50:16
implementing that in your life? Well,
00:50:19
when it comes to like my job, I'm
00:50:24
pursuing
00:50:26
um becoming a RBT, a registered
00:50:29
behavioral technician. And like through
00:50:31
that, like I have to do like a bunch of
00:50:34
like um or sorry, like a online course
00:50:38
for it.
00:50:38
>> Um and there's
00:50:42
a lot of
00:50:44
things in there that like I'll be like,
00:50:47
"Oh shit." like I don't really know like
00:50:49
and I have to kind of like with um cuz
00:50:52
it's a lot of uh data recording
00:50:54
>> right
00:50:55
>> so you're and like like graphs and like
00:51:01
like math basically like percentages and
00:51:04
like
00:51:06
and I'm I'm just and so I'm kind of like
00:51:11
trying to relearn or learn those things
00:51:14
um for that and like Um,
00:51:19
and honestly, like
00:51:22
podcasts are like my best friend. Like I
00:51:25
just try to like
00:51:27
um
00:51:30
>> I pretty much Yeah. Like um I'm not
00:51:33
really like doing like class like
00:51:35
besides like my training thing which
00:51:37
feels kind of like a class,
00:51:38
>> right?
00:51:39
>> Um but so I'm not really pursuing like
00:51:43
higher education I guess. But um
00:51:46
>> if I want to know it, like I'm going to
00:51:48
go get that knowledge. Like I'm just
00:51:50
going to figure it out. And it doesn't
00:51:52
always mean going to college. It doesn't
00:51:53
always, you know, it doesn't mean always
00:51:55
doing training, but like it
00:51:57
>> it just means like I'm gonna I'm gonna
00:51:59
figure it out,
00:52:01
>> you know, and it's not too late. Like I
00:52:02
can go I can go learn this now. It's not
00:52:04
too late to
00:52:05
>> and that's really important too is to be
00:52:08
like yeah like I can still learn things
00:52:11
from like elementary school then and and
00:52:15
be like yeah it's it's it's not um too
00:52:20
late because that's something that's um
00:52:23
I feel like I struggle with too. like
00:52:26
like I can't go back and like relearn
00:52:29
everything. Like I'm not gonna but but
00:52:32
you can like and it might not be
00:52:34
everything but like Yeah. stuff you're
00:52:36
interested in and like Yeah. YouTube
00:52:39
documentaries and and it's it's a little
00:52:41
more like fun now, you know, because
00:52:42
it's not like
00:52:44
>> it's not shove down our throats.
00:52:46
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I know sometimes
00:52:48
also like I I don't know if you figured
00:52:50
this out or not, but I know being
00:52:52
married to somebody who has ADHD, like
00:52:56
there's a hyperfixation thing that
00:52:58
happens sometimes with with some people.
00:53:00
And so it it is very interesting. I had
00:53:02
to watch that too of like,
00:53:04
>> oh, cool. Like this person's really into
00:53:07
this thing now, you know, and just going
00:53:08
down all of the rabbit holes of like
00:53:10
every I want to know every little piece
00:53:13
of the puzzle. Oh, that's when you know
00:53:15
you're on to something good when you're
00:53:17
>> Yeah.
00:53:18
>> What can I find?
00:53:19
>> I love that.
00:53:20
>> Well, Hannah, is there is there anything
00:53:22
I missed? Is there anything we haven't
00:53:23
touched on? Is there any homeschool
00:53:25
memory that's popped up where you're
00:53:27
like, "Okay, we didn't touch on this,
00:53:28
but we need to talk about it."
00:53:30
>> Oh gosh.
00:53:33
Um,
00:53:37
I don't even I'm like feel like there's
00:53:39
so much but then also like I can't think
00:53:41
of
00:53:42
>> No, it's it's so vast, you know? It's so
00:53:44
vast of like there's things all the time
00:53:46
that pop in my brain of just like
00:53:49
>> oh, we did this thing like like I think
00:53:52
about like the like the Mitchell plays
00:53:54
or like mine. There's periods of my life
00:53:56
where I go where I'm just like don't
00:53:58
even think about those things and then
00:53:59
something clicks and it like triggers
00:54:01
this whole memory of like
00:54:04
I did that. Oh yeah, we did that. You
00:54:06
know what I mean? Like we did theater
00:54:08
together. We did we filmed a freaking
00:54:10
movie in people's backyards and at your
00:54:12
house. Oh my gosh. We filmed a movie at
00:54:14
your house.
00:54:15
>> Do you remember that?
00:54:16
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. We did so many
00:54:19
fil like different films like the like
00:54:22
with YouTube and then like uh the movie
00:54:25
thing I'm like I don't even think I was
00:54:29
really a part of it but I think I was
00:54:31
just friends with all you guys so I
00:54:33
think I just was there like hey um but
00:54:38
yeah no I have a lot of like
00:54:44
a lot of like fond memories of like um a
00:54:47
lot of the stuff like we did. And um
00:54:51
yeah, it was kind of maybe it was good
00:54:54
my mom forced me to do mine
00:54:58
>> cuz then you know I met all all my
00:55:00
friends.
00:55:00
>> Yeah. It's like a good bad you know.
00:55:03
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:55:05
>> Well, cool.
00:55:06
>> That's kind of what she would do. She
00:55:07
would just like take me play and be
00:55:09
like, "Okay, you're doing this now."
00:55:10
>> Yeah. I mean, hey, that's why I took
00:55:12
dance lessons. My mom was like, "Jacob's
00:55:14
got to know how to talk to girls. throw
00:55:16
him in that class.
00:55:18
>> Oh dear. And how did that go?
00:55:20
>> And we I mean we know how that turned
00:55:22
out. I was like the face of it for how
00:55:24
many years at one point. So
00:55:26
>> very true.
00:55:27
>> Yeah.
00:55:27
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:55:29
I know. Icon.
00:55:31
>> Icon. Yep. It's me.
00:55:36
>> Anyway, this has been fun. I appreciate
00:55:39
I appreciate you coming on and you're
00:55:41
welcome back anytime you want to talk on
00:55:43
stuff. I
00:55:43
>> No, thanks for having me. The cool thing
00:55:45
and I want to hopefully leave you with
00:55:47
this encouragement because like I said I
00:55:50
I now talking to current homeschool
00:55:53
families and asking them about what
00:55:56
would you like to know about a
00:55:58
homeschool experience is all of them say
00:56:00
the same thing. I just want to know how
00:56:03
it was for somebody. They're like I
00:56:05
don't need the the nitty-gritty of like
00:56:07
what curriculum you used or what
00:56:09
whatever. Like I just want to know
00:56:12
looking back how do you feel about it?
00:56:14
what was good, what was bad, what was
00:56:16
ugly, all those types of things. And so
00:56:18
I appreciate you for coming on and like
00:56:20
telling your story because it's
00:56:22
important. It's not fun. Like it's not,
00:56:25
you know, I'm sure it's not always great
00:56:26
to relive all those memories. Um, but it
00:56:30
it it's impactful and people like
00:56:33
resonate with it. And so be encouraged
00:56:36
that there's a new generation of people
00:56:38
who maybe don't have to live through
00:56:40
that kind of experience
00:56:42
>> because you share. And so
00:56:45
>> yeah.
00:56:45
>> Well, yeah. Yeah. Well, that is nice.
00:56:48
>> Yeah. Well, cool.
00:56:50
>> Well, good.
00:56:50
>> That's that's about it, folks.
00:56:53
>> If you're listening,
00:56:55
>> drop us a comment if you made it
00:56:56
>> if you made it this far.
00:56:59
>> Um, do all the internet things that you
00:57:01
know how to do. Leave a comment, leave a
00:57:03
review, leave a like, share it with a
00:57:05
friend. Um, you know, tell tell your
00:57:08
other friends. Hannah, share it with all
00:57:09
your siblings uh if you feel so uh
00:57:12
courageous to do so. Um, but yeah, and
00:57:15
if you want to be a guest on the Ex
00:57:16
Homeschoolers Club, I promise I don't
00:57:18
bite. I promise I'm very nice. Um, we
00:57:21
can chat even before doing an interview.
00:57:23
uh if you're nervous about it. But yeah,
00:57:25
if that's something you're into, shoot
00:57:27
me an email at exhsclubgmail.com
00:57:30
and uh I'd love to chat and set up some
00:57:32
time to just like dig into your
00:57:33
homeschool stories because they're
00:57:35
important and you're not alone. Okay,
00:57:37
we're all most of the people who come on
00:57:40
the show were a bunch of weirdo
00:57:41
homeschool kids and that's okay. You're
00:57:44
not alone. So with that,
00:57:46
>> we're going to say goodbye and we'll see
00:57:47
you next time.
00:57:49
>> Peace.
00:57:51
>> Later.
00:57:53
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