A Christian, a heathen & a German walk into a park...

It sounds like the beginning of an awful joke doesn't it? But this is exactly what happens once a week. 

As the sound of the gate clicks and I am handed water bottles, coats, scooters and cats; I know it is yet another day of learning for not only our home educated children but also for the three mums that gather here in the cold week after week.

All born at different times and different worlds, yet some how the powers that be pulled us together after the lockdowns government torment over the past two years. 

three women - one community​

Five months down the line we are still here, learning from eachother in a way I have only ever read about. You know that none judgement and oneness that everyone talks about. I thought I knew what it was. Turns out I was so wrong. Then 2020 happened and it all went off the rails for humanity. The greatest divide of our planet role played out before us, and we gathered in teams for safety of common beliefs. Yet  here we are three women in the park, often on totally different pages of a very similar book.

It would be ideal for me to tell you that its easy and that we skip across the fields feeling refreshed and full of life each week. Sometimes it ends in tears, and that's not always the children. Other times our conversations ripple across my mind in the middle of the night. Yet even at the hardest of times.
our meet always end with the deepest of hugs and understanding.
 
We talk about all the things. From the guilt that still lies silently dormant in the hearts of so many in Germany, to the oppression of women, how differently we choose to raise our children, housework, education and our own childhoods. As much as we try to avoid it there is always a peppering of current affairs thrown for good measure.

We send our communities and friends of friends love when times get hard and we laugh. We really laugh. There are moments when we will stand in an awkward silence because we've just danced along the edge of such a pivotal topic we need a minute to integrate what has been said before we reply.

For two of us we are so different it is as if we are two rivers moving in the opposite direction, yet both asking for the same things in life. Exceptance, love & community. 

each of us asking for the same things. love, acceptance & community.

​I can't help but think that maybe... just maybe our gods are the same thing. A force of unconditional love that is beyond our Full understanding. How we commune with them may be a different journey entirely, however perhaps what is more important is that we all have a faith in a something bigger than us. 

I often wonder what our ancestors would think. So much anger and violence in our histories combined. Yet I watch our children find common ground with very little effort, how easy it is when we put joy infront of our fears. It makes me feel hopeful that we are setting the tone for our families futures. 

We hug eachothers children, push them on swings & pick them up when they fall. 
Yet I sit here today listening to the rain, wondering if our cancelled park meet might just be rescheduled for another day this week. Not just for our children, but for the three women that refuse to be divided based on our beliefs and opinions. 

It is a small tender step we take each week, but it has already taught me so much. I am forever grateful for the fact that we all show up week after week. A safety net in a world that so often encourages judgement and divide. 

I once thought being a home-educating family would lead me to find like-minded people, turns out it that wasn’t the case at all. Being a home educator has taught me to accept those whose minds don’t work as mine does and understanding that neither is right or wrong. All on our own paths of self discovery.

I hope by showing unity no matter our differences we can also teach our children the same. 

We don't home educate to exclude parts of the world, we home educate to include all parts of our world. 

Sending you oceans of cosmic love from a very stormy corner of Yorkshire. 

​Cxx
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