Rushing from one thing to another leaves no time to appreciate and reflect upon your days.ĭaily practice to cultivate mindfulness help us become more grounded and present. You may then start to realize that quality wins out over quantity – not only with possessions, but with your commitments. You know that all the finest things are moot without true presence and gratitude. You start to realize that appreciating what is here and now is the key to happiness. In fact, it feeds the craving mind that leads to suffering.

You start by realizing that more stuff and more distraction does not bring happiness. My “spirited” child responded with less tantrums and more calm.īefore we embrace simplicity, there is an inner transformation that takes place. We also started to consciously balance a busier day with calmer ones.

We started to keep a steadier rhythm to the week. How did we implement this? We chose to limit them to one organized activity (swimming, music, etc.) at a time. I wanted to protect the magic of their childhood. I wanted my children to have unscheduled time each day to daydream and play. He also gives practical tools for simplifying your environment and schedules, in order to introduce more rhythm and peace in your home.įor children, simplicity leads to calm security, sanity, and connection. Payne lays this out powerfully with studies and stories. The onslaught of too much stuff and fast-paced schedules wreak havoc – especially for “spirited” children like my oldest. Simplicity Parenting clearly lays out the problems and pressures that our hurried, materialistic, competitive, media-driven culture puts on children. I didn’t realize what a big change this book would lead us to. So when the book, “Simplicity Parenting” by Kim Jon Payne fell into my lap, I immediately resonated with it. It’s not something you can buy at the mall. I wanted to teach through our choices that happiness comes through connection with each other. I wanted our lives to be more connected to nature. I was getting quite clear on what I didn’t want. The piles of cheap plastic toys held no appeal either. I met screen-attached kids and knew that wasn’t for us. I cringed at babies being propped up to watch Baby Einstein. With a year of experience as a mother, I could see a lot of things about our consumer, media-driven culture that I didn’t want us to buy into as a family. I loved piles of books.īut around the time my first daughter was starting to toddle, I began to change my mind. However as an artist with creative “clutter,” for a long time I wasn’t on board with the simplicity that my husband wanted. As we become more mindful, we naturally make our lives simpler. When we start to practice simplicity, we naturally become more mindful. Mindfulness and simplicity go hand in hand.

Undistracted mamas