2 years on 11.2.11-11.2.13

So, the Outside the Box gallivanters blog is 2 years old. Phenomenal. Incredible! The eclectic, terrible photography, great music, trip advisor meets allotments, lego, parenting, place to store photos of art works and cooking from scratch recipes all wrapped up in home educating daily blog has reached its second anniversary. More Museums and gallivants that could be easily counted.


From the first ever post "Growing Brains" it has become clear that there are more talking the talk than walking the walk. I read on twitter the other day that anyone can think outside the box but that it takes true courage to live outside the box and thought, on a day when once again my children were questioned several times about why they weren't at school, how relevant that was.

So it goes.

115,000 visits, 81 followers, 400 twitter followers.


Amazing. Thank-You for reading. Some of you everyday :)


Daily for some considerable time now there have been 200 visits to this blog everyday. Consistently.

It is rare now that I write anything remotely philosophical, it is absorbed and entangled all around, so much of the blog has been about deschooling me and if that is all it has done it has been time well invested but it has been about so much more.

One clear change from the posts of 2011 is how reduced our "car crash" moments are - how much better I (and maybe I alone!) feel I handle siblings, melt downs, life etc


Could be the passage of time? Looking back on the old photos chosen for today's post I can see life with a 1, 4 and 6 year old as it was in February 2011 was certainly more intense than it is now.

Here are a few of my best quotes

"Yes, it may be a 5 minute wonder but You can have a lot of fun in five minutes."

"They don't stop painting because the bells goes, they stop because they have finished."

"Ten minutes with an interested child is more beneficial than a whole day with someone who is not listening."

It can been seen from the compilation of posts that there is much improvement in going with the flow not nagging - quality time - all the time! And, ironically for a blog called the gallivanters I feel happier and more settled with the trio at home than I ever thought possible. For ages my perception was that going out was somehow easier but now we are in a delicious place for sibling play and home is a great venue for that.

 Two years ago this week at the Natural History Museum and the Wetlands. At the start of the blog the trio were "The Smalls" but somewhere between then and now it became apparent that they weren't small anymore.

In answer to several similar posts - for me home educating my children is like a dance - sometimes we need faster music, sometimes we practise at home, sometimes we dance in public but the most important thing is that we are dancing together. It matters less to me now whether we are structured or autonomous - I am not forcing them they are not forcing me.

Our relationship is totally key, learning won't happen without it - people don't stay in bad marriages

I do update our blog everyday. Our family commitment to home ed is long term. 2025 minimum. As I frequently say on the blog it is about the journey. The journey is life. There's no rush to the destination, race to the end. Take tips, advise and ideas from those whose thoughts most closely align with your hopes and dreams for your family. Ask lots of questions about their intentions before you listen to their opinions. Often when people criticize you it is because of their issues not yours. Someone with very young children who has a large amount of time to dedicate to forums is in danger of missing out, go for those with old home educated and unschooled children instead.

It's all good. From gym memberships, shifting 10kg, stepping down after five years running and administering the local home education group, meeting the LEA, connecting with Charlotte Rochez. It's all been documented and would most certainly have been forgotten without.

Connections made, networks weaved, support, ideas and inspiration found and hopefully a little given in exchange.