{"id":10830,"date":"2017-01-23T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T13:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/?p=10830"},"modified":"2019-10-26T03:33:54","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T08:33:54","slug":"minimalism-with-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nosidebar.com\/minimalism-with-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"A Practical Guide to Minimalism with Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
Six years ago, I started a new journey<\/a> by embracing motherhood with less stuff. I have a small tribe of four young children, and this has been a big determining factor in my decision to design a simpler life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I found myself spending more time tending to my stuff than tending to my kids. And truthfully, the time and energy needed to care for our stuff while caring for my family was draining the joy right out of my motherhood.<\/p>\n Having kids brings a whole lot of joy<\/a>, noise, and it seems, an utter chaos of clutter. It\u2019s a perpetual struggle to keep clutter at bay with kids.<\/p>\n Many people think they could never be minimalist with kids\u2014because they have kids. Minimalism and kids under the same roof, working together in harmony. But, as it turns out, anyone can be a minimalist<\/a> with kids!<\/p>\n If you love the idea of parenting with less stuff, noise, and busyness, here are some practical ways you can experience minimalism with your kids:<\/p>\n 1. Invite your kids to join you.<\/strong><\/p>\n Invite your children alongside your decluttering projects. The sooner you ask them to join you, the more opportunities you\u2019ll have to help them experience the rewards of minimalism. Show them the value of \u2018more is less\u2019 in your life. Explore with them what they might find rewarding in minimalism.<\/p>\n 2. Embrace a minimalist lifestyle<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The best example is you! If you\u2019ve heard this before, it still bears repeating. Lead by example and show them a rich life with less stuff. The sight of seeing all their stuff opened up my eyes to all my stuff. I can not expect my kids to get rid of their things when I still had so many things myself that needed to go.<\/p>\n 3. Carve out time to declutter.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you struggle to find the time to declutter<\/a>? Carving out time to simplify your life with kids<\/a> is doable. Clear an afternoon once a week, once a month\u2014whatever it takes to carve out time to declutter your home. Remind yourself that your efforts will be beneficial in the long run. Removing items from your home means you will never have to spend time caring for it again!<\/p>\n 4. Do a Saturday clean up.<\/strong><\/p>\n Schedule a family clean up time. With kids, it\u2019s an uphill battle to keep a clean home, even as a minimalist. We do a \u201c30-minute cleanup\u201d, usually on Saturday mornings. Every child pitches in to clean up the house. This quick cleanup gives us a tidy home and the rest of the day to have fun.<\/p>\n 5. Establish boundaries.<\/strong><\/p>\n Our two big kids keep their stuff only in their rooms while our two littles have their toys strictly in the playroom. The dining room, kitchen, and living room are for household stuff only. While our two toddlers stuff does get spread throughout the house, we try to contain the kid stuff to the designated areas only. This leaves our living area uncluttered and simple.<\/p>\n 6. Simplify your family meals.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you cook different meals for dinner to keep everyone happy? Or choose time-consuming recipes with many steps and ingredients? We recently started batch cooking meal components\u2014it’s been very helpful while allowing flexibility to prepare the meal we want and do it quickly. Minimalist Baker<\/a>, a favorite of mine, offers recipes with fewer ingredients (10 or less), one, bowl, one pot, and 30 minutes or less to prepare.<\/p>\n 7. Use bins to store toys.<\/strong><\/p>\n Keep cleanup simpler (and attainable!) for kids by using bins, drawers or baskets to place their stuff. This makes it easy for your kids to toss their stuff into the bins. You can also label each bin by category, using picture labels if your child can\u2019t yet read. Our son\u2019s room has a trundle drawer under his bed where all his toys are kept. He can simply pull the drawer out to play with his toys and then slide it back under his bed when he’s finished.<\/p>\n 8. Own fewer clothes.<\/strong><\/p>\n Clothing is one thing that is certain to multiply with kids! A minimal wardrobe has reduced our weekly laundry and simplified everyone\u2019s morning dress routine. You may even find, like us, that a dresser is no longer required. Our kid’s clothing is easily stored in their closets<\/a>.<\/p>\n 9. Build capsule wardrobes.<\/strong><\/p>\n A capsule wardrobe streamlines<\/a> your family clothing and helps avoid excess. It gives you a simplified wardrobe with items that all work well together. Creating your capsule with the same color pallet helps it all flow together. Purchasing your child\u2019s wardrobe from the same store can also make matching items simpler. I love Project 333<\/a>\u2014where I go for all my capsule wardrobe resources.<\/p>\n 10. Schedule some time to rest.<\/strong><\/p>\nMinimalism with Kids<\/h2>\n