My Name Is Erin,
I am a mama to a little girl, Phoebe, and I am married to the best man I know. We hunt for treasures in thrift stores and read piles of books. We dance in the Washington rain. We play videogames. And we try not to kill our garden (but we always, inevitably, do).
I am a painter and a poet. I find inspiration in everyday moments.
In my day-to-day life, you could describe me as a “Crunchy Christian Mom.” Matt and I make gentle choices with our daughter and intuitively followed the principles of Attachment Parenting before we even knew what they were called. In our family, we support a lot of things that probably make us seem like hippies: midwives, breastfeeding, baby-wearing, family bed-sharing and elimination communication. Here are some of my featured posts about our lives as parents:
• Phoebe, Month One. Words, Words, Words.
• Adventures in Baby Poop: Elimination Communication with Our Infant
• The Joy of My Heart
• Phoebe’s Work: how we pay our preschooler for extra chores
We support the “real food” movement by eating locally and naturally as much as possible. We drink raw milk, make our own sauerkraut and kombucha, and shop at local grocers and farmer markets. For years, we have been members of a farm CSA, and I did a blog series, 52 Weeks with My CSA, cataloging the food we received from our local farm throughout an entire year. This year, we are stepping away from the CSA for our new challenge: figuring out how to keep our garden alive so that we can grow more of our own food!
You may have even seen my post Green Cleaning: 10 Simple Habits which caught on pinterest like wildfire a few years ago and remains one of my most linked posts to this day.
Homeschooling is on our horizon. We are drawn to the principles of Charlotte-Mason as well as unschooling. We believe that a passion-centered approach to learning, tailored for our child’s needs, is the best way to help her find success in life. Phoebe is a dancer, and we share a love of music. I am capturing some of our songs and dances on the blog, including original songs created by Miss Phoebe. I also write as a guest blogger on Penelope Trunk’s Education blog. Here is a list of my posts on her site:
• Why Gen Y doesn’t homeschool
• What’s a parent’s role in unschooling?
• Unschooling starts the day your child is born
• Self-directed learning is more fun with parent intimacy
• Homeschooling is not just for rich people
• How to quit your job so you can homeschool
• Review of the documentary: Class Dismissed
I do not shy away from talking about hard topics. Perhaps the most important post I’ve written is the one where talk about the time I was depressed enough to try to kill myself. That experience was a defining moment. It made me realize that I didn’t want to die, and it gave me the courage I needed to make better choices for my life. My path to self-acceptance is ongoing, but these days I feel rich with happiness in a way I could have never dreamed possible a decade ago.
When I started my blog in 2009, I had two very humble goals: I wanted to find my voice, as a writer; and I wanted to learn how to create a website by just jumping in and doing it. My blog has changed over the years, as I have matured and grown as a person, but I like to think that I’ve never lost my desires to hunt for meaning, to learn deeper truth and to create beauty.
Are you still looking for some fun posts to explore? Then read a couple of my poems:
Or check out some of my musings about the nature of reality and our place in the universe:
Thanks for reading along!
PLEASE EMAIL ALL INQUIRIES DIRECTLY TO hello@darlingillustrations.com .
