This blog started as a place for accessible nature reviews and homeschooling resources. But it’s become something bigger: a story about resilience, family, and belonging, with nature, books, and art still at the heart.

From Accessible Nature and Homeschooling to Something Bigger

When I first started Midwest Mimi, my focus was clear. I wanted to share our adventures as an accessible nature blog, making the outdoors easier for families like mine. I leaned into homeschooling, writing about raising kids to love learning even on a budget. Those things are still true. Nature is where we ground ourselves, and homeschooling is how we live and learn every day.

But over time I realized something. By only showing the pretty side of nature and homeschooling, I was leaving out too much of the truth. It made me feel fake. And I don’t want anyone to read my posts and think, “That’s nice for her, but my life isn’t that simple.” Because neither is mine. My life is just as messy and difficult as it is beautiful.

Why Real Stories of Parenting and Chronic Illness Matter

Scrolling TikTok recently, I kept hearing people say the same thing in different ways: “We just want what’s real. We want honesty. We want vulnerability.” And it stopped me in my tracks, because that’s exactly what I want to give.

The truth is, my life has never been only soft trails and butterfly gardens. It’s layered, unpredictable, and full of contradictions. I’ve survived childhood abuse. I lost my mom to early onset Alzheimer’s. I hustled through my 20s and lived under the poverty line. In my 30s, chronic illness knocked me off my feet yet again. I’ve been married three times, I am raising kids without their fathers, and I finally found someone who values family as much as I do in my wife, Thy.

Building a Family Rooted in Love and Belonging

And yet, alongside all of that, I’ve built a family rooted in love and belonging. I’ve learned to rest without shame. Im raising kids who are neurodivergent and brilliant and messy and fully themselves. I’ve found joy in small places: a stack of books from the library, a sketchpad in bed on flare days, a quiet hour by the water.

That’s the real story of Midwest Mimi. Not just accessible nature reviews. Not just homeschool resources. But resilience, family, belonging, and the messy, unfiltered middle where life actually happens.

What’s Next for Midwest Mimi

Midwest Mimi is growing up with me. Nature will always be here, because it’s woven into who we are. Homeschooling will stay, because books and learning are in our bones. But now, I’m also writing about the bigger picture: resilience, parenting with chronic illness, neurodivergence, creativity, and the unfiltered truth of a life that is both harder and happier than I ever imagined it could be.

Why I’m Sharing the Unfiltered Truth

This shift matters to me because I don’t want to tell half the story anymore. I don’t want to show only clean beaches and tidy lesson plans without also showing the flare days, the hard parenting moments, or the grief that still catches me by surprise. Life isn’t either/or. It’s beauty and struggle, side by side. And that’s the perspective I want to bring here, because I believe that’s what actually connects us to each other.

Invitation to Join This Journey

If you’ve been here for the park reviews and homeschool tips, I hope you’ll stay for the deeper conversations too. This space has always been about more than checklists or itineraries. It’s about belonging, about joy in the middle of hard things, and about learning to see beauty in the messy middle. That’s the real heart of Midwest Mimi, and I’d love for you to be part of it.

Mimi 🌿❤️