theminimalistmom.com

I feel like we’ve streamlined a lot of things: we aim to do less laundry by wearing things a few times before washing them. A few months ago we moved our dishes to a low cupboard so that the kids could empty the bottom rack of the dishwasher. I’ll take a few lost dishes for the time savings and the satisfaction of having my kids contribute to running the household. If your kids are under five and you feel like you’re drowning in housework, let me tell you: it gets better.

If you’ve ever run a marathon you know that you don’t run the race thinking of all the miles ahead of you. You may also find others that want to simplify or declutter by sharing your goals publicly. You don’t need to spend any money to simplify and declutter. It’s a 12 month course run by a whole host of authors and speakers that will guide you through simplifying areas of your life and home.

If you don’t know the person well enough, or they have everything they need and want, maybe you don’t need to give them something wrapped up. Maybe it’s time to rethink giving tokens of friendship and thanks and, instead, move to a different type of giving. If you have a long tradition of gift exchanges and/or kids with expectations, set the stage now for what gifts will look like this year. Instead of buying stuff for each other, ask if friends and family want to donate money to a great cause.

If a parent gasped at a gaggle of well versed and mature siblings taking a public bus without an adult by their side, they would keel over from the free range parenting happening in our small town. In a country that provides no subsidized child care and no mandatory family leave, no assurance of flexibility in the workplace for parents, no universal preschool and minimal safety nets for vulnerable families, making it a crime to offer children independence in effect makes it a crime to be poor. Free range parenting and giving children independence can give parents more time. For now, free range parenting simply means that our kids are not supervised around our house and yard at all times (a parent is home – just not always in the same room as them or outside with them).