I didn’t set out to homeschool my kids. As a matter of fact, if you had told me when my oldest daughter was 2 years old that I would be homeschooling her, I would have done that polite smile thing and then “accidentally” deleted your number from my phone.

By the time my oldest was 2 years young, I had a second daughter on the way and a thriving job at a Christian publishing house editing their high school curriculum. Life was full and busy and I had no intention of slowing down.

Fast forward only a year and a half later and I was not only home with 2 small children, I was a full-time mom with no other role or title. My husband had gone back to school full-time and I quickly became Holly Homemaker.

It was a really hard transition for me to go from having a job with a pretty cool title, a growing paycheck and a fun team to being home trying to create something special for my young children.

I learned almost overnight that the best way to engage these little people was creativity. I remember right around Christmas time when my oldest was only 3, I got out the paper, glue, glitter, ribbon and whatever else I could find and told her to go to town. I needed the time with her almost one-year-old sister. I figured whatever mess I came back to would be worth the 20 minutes of focused attention with the baby.

What I came back to not only surprised me but forever changed my view on the value of creating. My sweet 3 year old had not only made the most beautiful Christmas card but also was able to explain to me the whole process-why she had put this here and that there-and felt a HUGE sense of pride in creating something all on her own without any help from me.

Thus began our actual homeschool life. In many ways, I’ve been an unschooler from the beginning, fitting in math and writing in between more important subjects like play, fort-making, reading, creating and discovering.

I remember a couple years back talking to an older homeschool mom. We were talking about how that particular day was going and I said, “It’s great! The girls are playing together so well and having so much imaginative fun that we gave up our studies for the day to enjoy each other.” I could almost hear her smile over the phone as she replied “You know that’s what you say almost every time we talk.” And she was right!

So, here’s the deal! It doesn’t matter if you homeschool, send your kids to public or private school, unschool or live in the woods. YOU are creating your family culture. And it’s meant to be unique.

Whether you are sneaking creativity in on the weekends between soccer and play practice or making creativity the main goal of everything that you do, creativity and play and space to make is a gift.

It’s a gift for you and for your children.

And if you believe creativity is only for kids, I’ve got an offer for you!

Come try our Thrive Hive Creative community and discover what can happen when you thrive in your own creative life. I can almost promise that it will change your entire family culture. But you’ll have to come see for yourself!