Things I Learned at the Wild + Free Conference

This past weekend, I attended the Wild + Free conference in nearby Franklin, TN. It was my third time attending a W+F conference, and this one was definitely my favorite of all three. It was inspiring and so full of all the good things - happy music, new and old friendships, handmade items and fun merch, hot coffee and decadent donuts, and a true feeling of camaraderie among mothers.

It’s such a sacrifice to go to an event like this - it costs quite a bit of money, and it takes so much maneuvering of time and schedules. I think of all the moms who had to make special arrangements, road trips, and flights to be there. For me, it was definitely worth it.

Wild + Free is a beautiful homeschooling community that believes in preserving the adventure, freedom, and wonder of childhood, and I’ve had the honor of writing for their bundles and also being on their podcast. Their founder, Ainsley Arment, clearly has such a heart for mothers and bringing families together in community. I’m grateful to Ainsley for endorsing my book, The Kindred Life, and I’m always happy to be a part of anything W+F does.

To kick off the conference on Friday evening, we were serenaded by the folky music of The Hunts, a musical family of 7 siblings, all of whom were homeschooled. You can’t help but see the joy and connection they create through their family and their music.

I also got to see some sweet friends and connect with mamas I’ve never met before, like my fellow local farmer, Lauren Palmer from Bloomsbury Farm. I got to see my friend Jaclyn Warren of Mommys15Minutes (left photo below) and had a surprise meeting with Sarah Fremont (right photo below), who started Wildflowers Girls Mag. We absolutely love that magazine in this house, and it was an honor to get to thank her in person for creating such a needed resource to celebrate and preserve girlhood in the tween years!

I was super excited about meeting Ginny Yurich, founder of 1000 Hours Outside, who was one of the MCs at the event. She was hilarious! I had the opportunity to chat with Ginny on the 1000 Hours Outside podcast a few weeks ago - you should definitely check out our episode. I love Ginny’s new book, 1000 Hours Outside - it’s a great read for all parents. I read almost the entire book in one day while lying in the hammock. We also use their lunchboxes every week and are big fans.

During the conference, I wrote pages of notes from the speakers, who were mamas in all different seasons and stages of homeschooling. These women were brave to speak from stage to pave the way for us. Although none of the speakers’ topics were planned beforehand - Ainsley asks them to speak from the heart - there was definitely an overall theme that unfolded…the importance of connection and intentional time with our children. We are helping redeem the past, savor the present and pave the way for the future, all at once.

I thought I’d share some tidbits of wisdom from these inspiring mamas with you…

Amber O’Neal Johnston is also known as “Heritage Mom” and the author of the book, A Place To Belong: Celebrating Diversity and Kinship in the Home and Beyond. I’ve already sung this book’s praises, and I’m still digesting it slowly, as it’s full of so much goodness that can be applied in our homes. Amber encouraged us to consider “the power of one” when parenting our children and having focused times when we connect with that child one-on-one, as if they were the only one. She exhorted us: “The ‘You’ that you are is a unique gift to your children.” This woman is a powerhouse.

Fun fact: Amber and I released our books on the same day this year, and she’s been such an encouragement and support to me through our online messages. I’m so glad I finally got to meet her and wish we could have talked for hours.

Elise Iudicello spoke of restoration and the beauty of building something unique with our families that will carry on for generations. She said, “You are the one who gets to sing the song of redemption given to you,” and that struck a chord with me because using my voice and “singing my song” has been a huge theme in my life in the last several years. She also said one of the most profound things I’ve heard about parenting in a long time: we all feel the passing of time with our children, and we tend to think of time slipping through our fingers like sand slips through an hourglass. But what if we instead focused on the sand piling up at the bottom of the hourglass? This is the accumulation of all the moments and memories we’ve been building all this time. She reminded us we’re not just preparing our children for the future; we’re giving them a past. What we are living today will one day be our children’s past. How will they describe it?

Leslie Martino spoke of the importance of connection and shared stories of heritage passed down from her grandmother in Martinique to her mother, to her. She said, “my mother is my stable tether” and spoke of motherhood being an “anchor” for our children. So many beautiful analogies. She said, “Our daily dialogues with our children are amounting to something grand,” and “In letting go of our children, we are setting them free to become.” Finally, the quote from her that I haven’t stopped thinking about since then, “I want my children to remember that they were gifts and not my burdens.” Yes, yes, a million times, yes.

It’s always wonderful hearing the wisdom from Jennifer Pepito, author of Mothering By The Book: The Power of Reading Aloud to Overcome Fear and Recapture Joy: and founder of The Peaceful Press curriculum. I just love everything Jennifer creates. We’ve used The Peaceful Press for years in our homeschool, and I’m truly enjoying her book - I share more about it here. You can also check out my and Jennifer’s IG live we did this summer.

Jennifer spoke about saving culture through how we raise our children daily in our homes. In studying the lives of the saints, we see how they “preserved the sacred and beautiful through their diligence,” and we, too, can follow that example with diligence. She said that the people who changed culture throughout history most likely didn’t say, “I’m going to go save the world today.” They were just faithful with what was set before them to do.

Julie Bogart of BraveWriter shared a really cool narrative while constellations were projected on the screen about what she learned as she supported her son in his interest in astronomy. I got tears in my eyes, remembering the wonder of the first time I also saw Saturn and its rings through a telescope and what it felt like to understand that it was actually real. I actually wrote about this experience in the chapter “Ice Cream on the Roof” in my book.

Richele Baburina is a watercolor artist and spoke on the importance of beauty. During a severely traumatic time in her life, she said, “It was beauty and wonder that took our hands and led us to forgiveness.” She spoke of how beauty fed her soul during dark times and that “flowers became as important as rice.”

Greta Eskridge has become an online friend, and I’ve heard her speak at other W+F conferences. Greta is absolutely delightful, and you can’t help but smile when she speaks. She shared about adventure and the importance of taking risks and raising resilient, risk-taking kids. She reminded us that to do this, we have to model it. We have to let our kids see us take risks, fail, and get back up and try again. Amennnnn. Greta also spoke about teaching our kids to be vulnerable by modeling it ourselves.

At the end, the inimitable Sally Clarkson, a veteran homeschool mom, author of multiple books and mentor to so many women, was awarded by Ainsley with the Legacy award for a lifetime of heart-led homeschooling. 🥹 It was a beautiful surprise moment, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Sally’s four grown children put together an amazing video showing photos of them with her throughout their childhood and spoke such honoring words about her. “My mother wasn’t perfect, but she was perfect for us.” Ainsley then sat down with Sally to do an on-stage interview, and Sally encouraged us: “Just do it with all your heart. Be all in, and don’t worry about the edges. Who you are is exactly the story your children need.”

Finally, the highlight of the conference was getting to hang with my dear friend Bre. If you’ve read my book, this is the Bre from the chapter “Learning To Ask For Help” where I share about we used to live within walking distance in our old Dallas neighborhood and were pregnant with our first babies together. And how her friendship was an absolute lifeline. Her family now lives and travels in an RV, so be sure to follow their adventures on Instagram! Such a gift to spend these few days with her.

Just for fun, here are some vintage photos of me and Bre and our wee first babes. So many walks together for sanity and community, and so many trips to the park in the Dallas heat! And now our oldest babies are 12.

Story.

Heritage.

Freedom.

Presence.

Courage.

These are themes I’ll carry with me as I go about my days. Well done, Wild + Free, for putting on another conference that feeds our souls and draws us closer to each other.

There was a Maker’s Market at the conference which was chock full of shirts, books, crafts, handmade items, etc. Take all my money. I got one of my girls a Luna moth patch for her backpack, and I got my other girl a sunflower pin that says “wild and free.” And for moi, I took home a shirt that says Book Worm. Of course. This proud book worm will think of the magic of this weekend every time I wear it.