About

Intrepid: daring, fearless, bold, resolutely courageous

Welcome to IntrepidK8!

Since you clicked on my "About" page, I guess you want to know a little bit more about me.  Well, let's start with the important stuff.  First, I enjoy a lot of things.  First among these likes are books. I'll read just about anything but when I'm tired I like a good epic or urban fantasy or an historical novel or romance and when I need intellectual challenge, I like reading non-fiction history, law and politics. I also like children's books.  Good thing I have a lot of kids as it gives me a good excuse to keep reading their stuff.

I also like to eat out, although with all these kids that passion is rarely indulged these days.  I enjoy wine, a nice cup of tea and ginger biscuits, bonfires (I so want a fire pit in my garden - a chimnea is nice but it lacks the visceral oompf of a good old fashioned fire pit), and reading the newspaper on Sunday mornings. I also like to go to the movies.  And there is no better vacation than a road trip.  More on that in a minute.

I have 5 kids. I stared having them when I was 20 and haven't really stopped until now, although there are some big gaps in productivity.  It is ironic that I have degree in women's studies and yet four of my children are boys.  Ain't karma a kick in the teeth?

My kids are being raised as dual nationals - their father, my husband, is an Englishman.  So if my spelling gets a bit indecipherable, now you know why.  We currently live in a bucolic little village in the Midlands of England but not for long.  The husband and I met at summer camp (can I just say to any single moms out there, summer camp is an outstanding place to find a husband cause you know from the get go they like kids) and long for the travel and adventure of our early years of wedded bliss when we did wild and wacky things like live in a tent for 3 months, get married without telling anyone, and relocating from Maryland to California  because we felt like it.

Good times.

Things are a bit different now.  Back then I was pretty good looking and had a satisfying "career".  A decade and a half later, I've seen and done a lot of things - moved counties, graduated from law school, survived the teenage years of my eldest, watched my dad battle cancer, buried my sister and gave birth to two more gorgeous little men.  I have traveled many miles and added a few extra pounds.  Luckily the extra pounds come with some added wisdom, so all is not lost.

I used to think that in order to be somebody, I had to have a respectable career.  No longer.  After careers in education (high school history teacher) and law (English qualified solicitor, aka lawyer) and public service, I now devote myself to raising kids and trying to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie. It may not rock the world, but if you've ever had a really crap day at the office and come home to a plate of out-of-the-oven cookies, you know these things are medicinal if not spiritual. It's not a waste of time, I assure you.

I'm a big believer in attachment parenting although I confess to being a breastfeeding failure.  Nor can I  leave the house without lipstick and mascara and I do love a manicure, so make of these things what you will.

I believe in freedom parenting.  I just made that up so I'm not entirely sure what I'm on about, but I think it means I want to say yes more than I say no and I want my kids to be free to explore and enjoy the world.  Let me think on it a bit and I'll get back to you. I am becoming increasingly committed to unschooling the four children who are still at home.  One of these kids has Aspergers Syndrome and is already unschooled.  The results are amazing.

I'd like to build a log cabin in the woods in Colorado, but that's a few years away.  Until then, the husband and I plan on hitting the road in an RV and seeing the world.  We plan on taking the kids with us since no one wants to babysit and switching from homeschooling to road schooling.  When we finally do get our land with our cabin, we'll try to live as sustainably as we can.  And I may yet add more kids to the tribe but only through adoption.  My years as breeder are done. I've turned out the lights and shut the door on that period of my life.


I blog about all of these things: motherhood, education, books, being an ex-patriot, Asperger's Syndrome, and just about anything else that strikes my fancy.  I believe that life is about freedom.  It's about being bold and courageous.


Please leave a comment or two - I love to hear other folks' stories so if you've got a blog I'll pay you a visit.

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!