This Week’s Small Change – Why I’m Choosing to Simplify
Post written by Breck Gamel on 7 February 20114 Comments
Can my child do more with less?
I’m in the process of simplifying our home environment, in hopes that I can give my children more room to develop into the people they were meant to be.
However, to do this means I am fighting against culture. I’m fighting against a society that wants more faster and easier! “The pace of our daily lives is increasingly misaligned with the pace of childhood,” writes Kim John Payne in his book Simplicity Parenting.
I want something more for my children. I want them to enjoy the beauty nature has to offer, the love friendships provide and the quiet stillness their brains need to develop fully. I want to keep them from premature and unnecessary stress and pressure.
I instinctively do that with my baby, of which society is relatively supportive. But it’s as though by three years old, children are expected to be able to make adult decisions and cope with adult issues.
Payne writes, “A protected childhood allows for the slow development of identity, well-being, and resiliency….By simplifying, we protect the environment for childhood’s slow, essential unfolding of self.”
I believe the home is a sort of “womb” for children. It is my job to control their contact with the world – to protect them and nurture them throughout every part of their environment – until they are mature adults fully capable of facing the complexities of life. I believe I can offer them this best through simplifying.
“Can my child do more with less?” this is the question I ask as I work towards simplification.
Editors Note: What are you intentionally doing to simplify this week?
You are so right it is fighting against culture, but who cares. We do what’s necessary for our children. I made our home environment more simplified and at my son’s level so that he could naturally develop his own independance as he wanted. We do these things instinctually despite the comments we get from friends and family about how we should not do it that way. Just smile at them, thank them and keep doing what you know is right!
Blessings.
We made our first pass at simplifying the toys in the fall of 2009, shortly after reading the book. We are very intentional to not accumulate more toys and “stuff”, but it’s amazing how quickly the toys accumulate again (I can’t believe how precious the plastic cellphone and figures from the dentist have become).
A few times a year, we make another pass at removing more toys – once such pass a few weeks ago (after the holidays). This Saturday our daughters (7 and 4) were playing (quite contently I might add), one called out, “Hey, where did that train go, the plastic one with the animals?” I replied (as calmly as I could), “I put it away. Let me know if you really need it and I’ll get it out.” There was a little noise, but they quickly went back to what they were doing. Success!
We are also on this simplification journey & the more we shed the more we WANT to shed. The items we now crave are the ones that are made by us, family, friends…it’s difficult to homeschool as sometimes we worry that we won’t have all the resources children are afforded at public or private schools, but perhaps there in lies the biggest blessing!
I was startled recently to notice that in our preschool classroom we have not that many more toys than an average child has in our community–and yet twenty-one children are busily and happily engaged every day. And not only that–they know where everything belongs and notice is something is out of place after cleanup! So yes, children can definitely do more with less. Kudos to you for putting it that way!
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