Did I Ever Tell You That I Wrote A Book?

And guess what? I don't regret it for one minute.

Have I ever told you that I wrote a book? I didn’t print it, I sold it as an ebook on Amazon when I was first learning about writing and self-publishing books. I wrote it when Lew was 17. It was (still is lol) called: Journey to Unschooling: A Mum's Story About Discovering the Learning Road Less Travelled. It’s around 20,000 words and it is most definitely the biggest thing I’ve ever written.

It's about my decision to homeschool Lew and in it I go back to my childhood and life pre-parenting, as well as into the life that Lew and I had together as a family who unschooled.

I sold a few copies and then soon took it off the virtual book shop shelves but gosh I am glad I wrote that story. Never will I regret that decision.

It captured something in my life that felt prolific and necessary to record. It was a snapshot in the life of a mum and child over his entire childhood and it explains my reasonings for choosing the life I chose for my son.

I wrote it for Lew, though he still hasn’t read it. I also wrote it for me. And I think, if I’m being completely honest with you, I wrote it for those who judged my parenting decisions. Not that I needed to justify any of it to them, but as a person who finds factual details extremely vital to the narrative of human lives, it served as a way for me to explain and factualise our life and my decision making.

For all of those reasons, other than the very last one (because, hello, I don’t need to prove anything to the nay sayers!), I am so glad that I wrote it all down. It’s there for Lew if he ever ventures out of his cringe mode, as a snapshot of my perspective of his childhood and why I made the decisions I made.

There’s much to be said about writing about our children and sharing their lives with the world, or even just one other person. Much debate, and so there should be. Exploiting the private lives of children has become an influencer’s playground and I am totally with those who err on the side of caution, particularly these days. I did get Lew’s permission to write that book and I think, at 17, he was old enough to make that decision. But part of me worried about that too so I stopped talking about the book online.

I read through some of it last week and it made me smile and now I put the question to you:

Will you write down your story?

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Let me tell you about a current member of Little Life Stories and how she is feeling about her decision to write down her stories.

She joined Little Life Stories earlier this year, after years of thinking about writing down her stories.

Life was busy. She had grandkids to care for, a veggie garden to look after, she was still working part time outside the home, and she had the kind of diary that filled itself before she’d even had her first cup of tea.

But she kept telling herself— for years — “One day, I’ll write my stories.”

One day.

When things quieten down.
When there’s more space.
When the perfect time comes.

Except it never did.

So, she joined Little Life Stories. Nervously. Half-convinced she’d “fall behind” (spoiler: there’s no behind here).

And here’s what happened:
She found she could write in 15-minute pockets.
She realised some memories spilled out faster than she’d imagined.
And the act of remembering became something she looked forward to — like sitting down with an old friend.

In her words:

“I was worried that writing my life stories would feel like homework. Instead, it’s like I’ve been given a second chance to relive the best bits… and understand the harder bits.”

Now, she has a growing stack of handwritten pages. She’s also typing them into a Word doc.

Here’s the truth:
We rarely get “the perfect time” handed to us.
We make the time, because the story matters.

And yours does and you’ll never regret taking the time to write it. I promise you that.

Little Life Stories isn’t about deadlines or rushing to a finish line.
It’s about gentle, guided encouragement, space to explore your past, and the joy of getting those memories out of your head and onto paper — at your pace, in your voice.

This round is almost full — I have just three places left before the doors close next week.

Do yourself a favour and get that story started

Your story is waiting and I would love to welcome you into the LLS fold.

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If you do happen to be new here, hi there! I'm Kim, and I love to share stories of home and childhood, and the moments that connect me with the people and places I love so much. I have a passion for encouraging you to write your own life stories down too and I have a new offering to help women do just that: Little Life Stories. I also have a free Beginner’s Guide to Turn One Memory into a Written Treasure: grab the guide here.

I also love the good old-fashioned art of letter writing, in particular, and of course, all things stationery. I have a gorgeous letter writing group for women, called: The Lovely Letters Project.

I write about the connection between my precious Nan and I, in a letter bundle here: Dear Nan.

I share all of these things over on Instagram, Pinterest and my website.

It’s really lovely to meet you!

Already part of the club? Welcome back! Love you long time! Hit that reply button to let me know you’re here. ◡̈ xox