The Busy Mother’s Guide to Minimalism

Motherhood can increase your motivation to live simply, and at the same time make it harder to cut back. You want to be a good role model, but a growing family tends to accumulate more possessions and commit to more activities.

While minimalism is likely to help you save money, there are other benefits that may be even more important. You’ll have fewer distractions and more time and energy to devote to your family.

You can enjoy the advantages of a simpler life whatever your circumstances and philosophy. Maybe you’re simplifying voluntarily or under pressure from financial setbacks. Maybe you define minimalism as growing your own food and making your own clothes or just spending less money at restaurants and shopping malls.

As you’re deciding what works for your family, here are some strategies for minimalist moms.

General Principles for Minimalist Moms:

1. Slow down. Calm your mind and clarify your thinking by resisting the urge to rush. You’ll feel more creative, and you’ll accomplish more with less effort.
2. Appreciate boredom. Give your children the opportunity to become bored. Modern life makes it easy to go through the day being passively entertained. When they’re forced to rely on their own resources, your children will discover the power of their imagination and the benefits of unstructured play.
3. Connect with nature. The beauty and peace of green spaces enhance our mental and physical health. Take your children for a walk through the park. Visit forests and oceans when you vacation.
4. Avoid comparisons. Watching celebrity couples with full-time nannies or reading Super Mom blogs can make anyone doubt their parenting skills. Set your own standards and work at being the best version of yourself.
5. Network with other parents. Make friends with other parents in your neighborhood. You can exchange advice as well as outgrown clothing and toys.
6. Manage stress. Show your children how to set aside time for reflection and relaxation. Try meditating briefly or taking a few deep breaths.

Specific Strategies for Minimalist Mothers:

1. Eat as a family. Eating as a family leads to closer relationships and better nutrition. Join each other at the dinner table for a homemade meal at least once a week.
2. Divide up chores. Learning to take responsibility prepares children for adulthood. Assign age-appropriate tasks to each family member instead of trying to do everything yourself.
3. Run errands together. Use your time more efficiently by bringing your children with you to the grocery store. They can practice reading labels and doing arithmetic.
4. Limit toys. It’s difficult to keep toys from multiplying, especially around birthdays and holidays. Create a system for keeping the total volume under control. You might want to try rotating toys by giving your child only a few to play with each week. Or, encourage regular toy donations to charities that help kids.
5. Reduce clutter. Consider what other items you have around the house that you rarely use. You can clean your house faster when you get rid of clutter. Your surroundings will also feel more comfortable and look more attractive.
6. Monitor technology. The internet can be used wisely for communication and education, but too much screen time can hinder your child’s development. Create house rules like no phones at the dinner table and turning off all devices at least two hours before bedtime.

However far you decide to go with minimizing your consumption, you’ll be teaching your children to value a more mindful and meaningful life. Buying and owning less stuff will give you the freedom to enjoy what you already have.

The holiday season is all about goodwill, good friends, family, and love. Unfortunately, we’ve been conditioned to believe that the best way to show these feelings is through elaborate gifts.

If you’re strapped for cash this year, but don’t want to give up the giving aspect of the season, look no further!

Here are some great gift ideas for when you’re pinching pennies during the holiday season:

Gourmet tea and coffee

Create a gourmet tea or coffee basket combining a hand-picked mug with a favorite flavor or two of coffee or tea. Add in other items as desired, such as honey, sweetener sticks, specialty creamers and marshmallows to suit the gift recipient.

Homemade cocoa mix

Create a homemade cocoa mix by combining powdered sugar, cocoa, powdered milk, and other desired ingredients. Layer the mix in a jar to create a unique gift and include instructions for making the hot cocoa on the gift tag.

Homemade baking mix

Follow the same idea as the homemade cocoa mix, but this time with cookie or brownie mix. Layer the individual ingredients like flour, sugar, and chocolate chips in the jar to create a unique gift. Include clear instructions so the recipient can recreate your favorite cookie recipes.

Gourmet gift baskets

Combine gourmet cheeses, meats, crackers, mustards, jams, and other ingredients to create your own gourmet gift baskets. Buy the individual items yourself and save a great deal of cash in comparison to buying pre-built gift baskets from specialty stores.

Gardening gift basket

Combine flower seeds, vegetable seeds, and other gardening goodies – like trowels and hand shovels – to create a gift basket for someone who enjoys gardening. Add other goodies as desired, like plant markers, pretty containers, and homemade soil mix.

Home movie basket

Combine a gift card for movie rentals with popcorn and butter spray or seasoning and a box of movie theater-style candy to create a gift basket for enjoying movies at home with the family.

Breakfast gift basket

Combine pancake or waffle mix with a bottle of real maple syrup and any other gifts that you think would suit a “breakfast in bed” theme such as a relaxing CD or a nice book.

Muffin baking basket

Combine muffin tins with a couple of different store-bought or homemade muffin mixes and some fresh berries or chocolate chips. Include the recipe for each muffin mix.

Recipe box and cards

Put together a handmade recipe box with some of your favorite recipes inside. Put the recipe cards together yourself, decorate them to suit the recipient and add in extra cards for their own recipes. Use stickers, colored pens, and calligraphy to create unique recipe cards or dividers for the recipe box.

Favorite candy jar

Buy and decorate a glass jar and fill it with some of the recipient’s favorite candies. Layer different colored candies to create a colorful effect. For example, separate gummy fish by color and layer them from bottom to top, then hand paint an aquarium scene on the outside of the jar.

You can customize all of these gift ideas to suit the recipient, and each gift is meaningful because you put it together yourself. To give gifts that truly matter, make them yourself, and put your heart into them. You’ll be surprised at how much money you can save when you create homemade gifts yourself!

Kids.

You love them, but they’ll drive you crazy if you let them. LOL It’s not easy to deal with your children each and every day when you’re used to them being at school for 40 hours each week. Having them at home and keeping them busy is a significant challenge.

You hate to see them sit in front of the TV all day long, but you hate to hear them whine about being bored even more.

No one is completely happy about the current circumstances, but as a parent, you have the responsibility to navigate this challenge with your children.

Use these ideas to keep your kids busy at home while maintaining your sanity:

Write

Most kids love to write stories, make lists, and record ideas. If your child is one of those that likes to write, give them a writing task.

• Tell them to write a scary story about two friends lost in the woods.

• Maybe your child is older and would like to keep a journal.

• Write a story together. Take turns writing a couple of sentences. The next person has to pick up where the last person left off.

Art

Regardless of age, there are many people that like to draw, paint, sculpt, color, or cut and paste. Have an art hour each day.

• Watch a video on how to draw a face and practice together.

• Give your child some chalk and tell them to play in the driveway.

Garden

Gardening can be a lot of fun. It’s exciting to plant seeds and watch them grow. Flowers, vegetables, berries, and herbs are all options. Try planting some foods that your child loves to eat.

Hike

Get out of the house and hike in the woods. Many parks have walking or hiking trails. It’s great exercise and an easy way to change the scenery for an hour or two.

Bake

Kids love to bake. Depending on their age, some children need more help than others. Bake a cake. Make some cookies. Allow your child to fix or help with dinner. Try some new recipes.

Remodel

Let your child remodel their room. It might be time for a new color or a new desk. Perhaps the artwork on the walls is getting a little old. A new lamp? Give your child some freedom to make their own choices.

Watch old movies

Has your child ever seen Goonies, The Karate Kid, or the original Star Wars? Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? Relive some of your favorite childhood movies with your children.

• They might laugh at the special effects found in a movie from the 70’s or 80’s, but that’s part of the fun.

• Talk about some of the differences between these old movies and the ones they normally see today.

Old toys

Pogo stick? Hula hoop? Hopscotch? Old board games? Or maybe pull out some of their old toys from the attic, basement, or garage.

Build

Build a birdhouse, treehouse, doghouse, or fort. Build something out of popsicle sticks. Construct a raised flower bed. Build some shelves.

Zoom

While there are many platforms for holding virtual meetings, Zoom has become especially popular these days. Set up a meeting for your kids and their friends. They can spend time together and catch up with each other’s lives.

If you’re at the end of your rope with your kids, you’re not alone. It’s not easy to keep your kids occupied in a healthy way. However, there are plenty of things your kids would enjoy doing that they’ve never even considered.

Put on your creative hat and give your kids a few things to do that will benefit them more than watching TV or playing video games. You’ll all be glad you did!

What Will You Do When Your Child Tattles?

One day your children are interacting peacefully, and the next thing you know, one of them turns into an informant. They’re dying to let you know that their brother ate a cookie before dinner or their sister was on the phone after bedtime. They might even start reporting on the neighbors if they’re letting their grass grow too high.

Tattling is annoying, but it’s a natural part of growing up. It’s a sign that your child is starting to outgrow hitting and screaming, but they’re still unsure about how to resolve conflicts more maturely.

The issue becomes even more complicated when you’re trying to teach your child when to deal with situations on their own and when it’s important to tell an adult.

Try these tips for helping your child to tell the difference between tattling about small stuff and telling an adult about serious matters.

Discouraging Your Child from Tattling about Minor Issues:

1. Identify their reasons. You can determine if your child is tattling or telling you about something urgent by examining their motives. Let them know that you disapprove of trying to get someone into trouble, but you’re proud of them when they want to be helpful.
2. Step back. While there are many things you can do to guide your children in a positive direction, you want to give them enough room to work situations out on their own. As long as everyone is safe, consider ignoring tattling rather than rewarding it by intervening.
3. Provide validation. While you may disapprove of tattling, you can reassure your child that their views matter. Empathize when they describe being mistreated or seeing someone break the rules.
4. Demonstrate tolerance. Living in a community sometimes requires concentrating on your own responsibilities and overlooking the choices of others. Talk with your child about how to handle injustices.
5. Promote friendships. Your child may want to stop tattling if they know it will cost them, friends. Explain why other children may avoid them if they tattle too much.
6. Teach compassion. You can also help your child to understand how tattling affects others. Ask them how they feel when someone tells on them. Roleplay so they can act out being embarrassed or hurt by gossip.
7. Build confidence. Some children tattle to get status and power. Explain how they can boost their self-esteem in more desirable ways like excelling at school or playing team sports.
8. Remove temptation. You may be able to prevent tattling before it starts. Children who sleep and eat well are less likely to lash out.
9. Explore alternatives. Talk with your child about what they can do instead of tattling. They might practice sharing instead of fighting over toys. They might focus on their own grades even if a classmate skips their assignments.

Encouraging Your Child to Tell You about Serious Matters:

1. Examine feelings. Small children may have trouble putting ideas into words, but they still have strong emotions. Ask your child to come to you if they experience anything that frightens or confuses them.
2. Discuss distinctions. Talk about the difference between being unsafe and being annoying. Compare throwing rocks at someone to chewing with your mouth open.
3. Spend time together. Your child is more likely to reach out when they’re in trouble if you work at staying close. As a bonus, they’ll also be less prone to tattling just to get your attention.

Raise your children to avoid tattling about minor issues, but ensure they know that it’s okay to reach out to an adult when they’re trying to help themselves or another child.

Once you understand why your child is telling you about someone’s behavior, you can help them practice strategies that will support healthy social and emotional growth.