Simple Families Podcast: Parenting | Simple Living | Minimalism | Purposeful Life With Kids + Family

I’ve seen numbers that say over 90% of women are unhappy with their bodies. Our body image, or the way we perceive our own bodies, is impacted by family, friends, social media, the news, and more. Many of us entered motherhood with pre-existing body image challenges, and pregnancy and motherhood can exacerbate that. Today I’m joined by Dr. Lexie Kite from Beauty Redefined, and we are chatting about changing the way women view their bodies.  Links to Connect with Lexie + Lindsay More than a Body Beauty Redefined on Instagram The post Body Image appeared first on Simple Families.

In this episode, I’m doing a quick-fire Q&A. I have a long list of questions from you all and I’ll be moving through, answering a variety of questions. We will be covering whether or not I have a junk drawer, parenting kids with bad attitudes, capsule wardrobes, defiance, video games, camping, lots of questions about partnership, and much more. Simple Families Foundations NY Times Hormone Surge of Middle Childhood Article SEN Superpower Books Expansion & Contraction Episode Messiness Episode Bedwetting episode The post Quick-Fire Q&A appeared first on Simple Families.

For the longest time, I was a budget-resister. As a minimalist, I don’t buy a lot of stuff so I didn’t think I needed a budget. But I was wrong–moving towards a consistent, air-tight budget has been one of the most intentional changes that we have made in our family. Today I’m chatting with author and financial educator Tiffany Aliche, also known as The Budgetnista. She’s sharing her tips and resources to ‘Get Good with Money’. Tiffany’s Resources New Book (for Grown Ups): Get Good with Money Kid’s Book: Happy Birthday Mali Moore More Resources: GetGoodwithMoney.com The post Get Good with Money appeared first on Simple Families.

“It’s just too much.” My daughter, who is newly 5, said this to me for the first time this week. She asked me to come clean up her room with her and when I walked in she sighed and said, “it’s just too much”. We don’t have a lot of toys, but she manages to accumulate stuff. Although this was the first time she has put this into words, her behavior has been telling me this her entire life.  Rarely will our kids be able to verbalize their overwhelm with stuff. More often, they will speak with their behavior. They will be able to feel the overwhelm, but they won’t be able to articulate or comprehend the solution. Which means we have to steer the ship. Episodes Mentioned: My Messiness Too Many Toys How to Use a Reward Chart The post Clean Up appeared first on Simple Families.

If you’ve been around the podcast for sometime, you will be happy to hear I’m bringing back the “Journey to Simplicity” series. In this series I chat with both friends and members of the Simple Families Community. We talk about what a simpler, lighter life looks like–and spoiler alert! It’s always imperfect and a work-in-progress. Find Jillian on Instagram // Link from Jillian to learn more about TM Simple Families episodes on alcohol: Episode 128 (Thinking about giving it up) Episode 141 (New Year’s Resolution to give it up) Episode 184 (Reflections a year later) The post Jillian appeared first on Simple Families.

Sometimes the road to self-improvement can also lead us toward self-doubt. Things that we previously thought we were doing okay on, we suddenly start to think we aren’t doing well enough. This especially happens in parenting. I hear from parents all the time that they want to “say the right thing”–but there is no clear wrong and right when it comes to parenting. You are doing better than you know.  Sometimes the road to self-improvement can also lead us towards self-doubt, things that we felt like we were doing okay on, now suddenly we feel like we're not doing well enough. This especially holds true in parenting. I get questions and emails all the time with people wondering how they should talk to their kids specifically what they should say to their kids. Now, if you're approaching unchartered territory, like the death of an animal, introducing the birds and the bees, or some other topic that you just have no idea where to start or no idea how to cover it. Then I think it's wise to seek out information and

Saying ‘no’ can feel hard—especially to people we love. But if you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, you might benefit from saying no more often. We have to take ownership over how we spend our time, money, and energy. If we don’t, we will end up burned out, exhausted, and broke. It can be hard to say no, whether it's saying no to our kids, to obligations, to other adults, it's challenging because saying no often means setting a boundary. And when we set boundaries, sometimes other people get upset. If you're relatively new to saying no and setting boundaries, it can feel scary because you can worry about other people getting angry. But I will warn you if you don't say no and you don't set boundaries, you are going to end up angry and upset. We have to take ownership over how we spend our time, our money and our energy. And if we don't, we're likely to end up burnout exhausted and broke financially. If you're feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, you might benefit from it. Practicing saying no more of

We are nearly one-year into a global pandemic, therefore I’d say we are far overdue in talking about therapy. Therapy: Who needs it? How do you get started? Maybe you are interested in exploring therapy but you have decision fatigue—there are far too many options and you don’t even know where to begin. Today I’m going to try to simplify some of that for you.  Resource for finding mental health support ASAP. The post Therapy appeared first on Simple Families.

Bedwetting and accidents can be taboo to speak about as our kids get older. However, we’ve been challenged by these things in our home so I understand the importance of this topic first hand. I’ll warn you, my guest Dr. Steve Hodges and I are going to talk about poop and pee a lot in this episode, but I think you will enjoy hearing a new perspective.  Dr. Hodges Books: Bedwetting and Accidents Aren’t Your Fault: Why Potty Accidents Happen and How to Make Them Stop (Kid’s Book) It’s No Accident: Breakthrough Solutions to Your Child’s Wetting, Constipation, UTIs, and Other Potty Problems (Older book, the “Why”) The M.O.P. Book: Anthology Edition: A Guide to the Only Proven Way to STOP Bedwetting and Accidents (Newer book, the “How”) The post Bedwetting + Accidents appeared first on Simple Families.

Maybe you don’t consider yourself an outdoorsy person. Maybe you have a kid who isn’t into nature. I totally get that. The truth is that nature can be uncomfortable. It’s often: Too bright.  Too hot. Too cold.  Too windy.  Too loud. But we are all nature people, in fact—we need to spend time outdoors for our health and wellbeing. If you don’t think you are an outdoors person, let’s talk about why. And how we can start to shift that perspective and get outside of our comfort zones. For our own good and the good of our families.  The post Outdoorsy appeared first on Simple Families.

Our family recently downsized in a big way. I’ve had many people ask why we sold our lovely home and the short answer is: It’s complicated. My husband, David, is joining me in today’s episode for a candid conversation about the perils of homeownership and moving towards simplicity. The post Downsizing appeared first on Simple Families.

Let’s talk about kids who hit. Let’s also talk about adults who hit. This kind of behavior is taboo, especially as kids get older. We aren’t as open to talking with friends about it, and sometimes we feel like we’re the only parent facing this problem. There’s a lot of self-blame that goes into this as well. I know this because I have a kid who hit and occasionally still does hit. Hitting can trigger many emotions in us as parents. The post Hitting appeared first on Simple Families.

In today’s world, we are inundated with information. Whether it be about parenting, cooking, art projects, gardening…the world is quite literally at our fingertips thanks to Google.  The result is that we often feel like, if the information is available to us, we should consume it. And we should be able to put it into action. If you saw a meme online with 10 things you should say to your kids (I use this example because I have this list). Well, you read it, and it makes sense that you should go put it into practice.  Right? The truth is, that’s not always the case. When we learn new things and fail to put those new things into action, we can feel a lot of guilt. I call this “Know Better, Do Better guilt” The post Know Better, Do Better Guilt appeared first on Simple Families.

We are knee-deep in the holiday season, so let’s take a moment to talk about over-gifters—these are people in your life, or especially your kid’s life, that give more gifts than you’d like. Generally speaking, these are good, well-intentioned, loving people. The last thing you want is for them to walk away, feeling hurt, alienated, or confused.  Yet, you may also wish to see change, especially if you are moving towards a simpler life with less stuff. Particularly if you are raising your children with simplicity as a core family value.  The post Over-gifters appeared first on Simple Families.

We have different expectations for our kids’ behavior based on the type of environment that we take them into. Perhaps you feel at ease when you pull into a playground, and your kids can jump out to just run, yell, and play. But what if you have to take them to a department store to make some returns? Or to an upscale restaurant for Grandma’s 90th Birthday dinner? Sometimes we have to take kids into environments that challenge both them and us. In these situations, I find it helpful to use what I call ‘Prep Talks’. Prep Talks are when you simply lay out your expectations for behavior before entering into a potentially challenging environment. The post Prep Talks appeared first on Simple Families.

There’s so much empty space left to fill during the holiday season. That emptiness often leads to discomfort. But, as humans, we have a way of filling those voids without pause. It’s true; there’s so much missing this holiday season. It might feel slower and more open than you intended or hoped. The post What’s missing this holiday season? appeared first on Simple Families.

Let’s talk about Santa. I’ll start by saying this is not a kid-friendly episode, because we will be discussing Santa from the perspective of a parent. If you know what I mean. If you have a child present with you—press pause and come back to this. With the Holiday Season upon us, I know many parents have mixed feelings about how to integrate Santa Claus into their celebration in a way that feels authentic and approachable to your family.  In this episode, we are going to start off by letting go of all your core beliefs about Santa and starting fresh. There are probably aspects of your childhood that you want to keep, and others you want to let go of. As the parent, you are steering the ship. You get to define the role of Santa and gift-giving in your home. If you are trying to focus on non-tangible gifts this holiday season—like relationships, religion, and family connection…then you might find it necessary to strike a new balance in your approach to Santa Claus.  The post Santa appeared first on Simple

This gift guide isn’t meant to literally click and buy (although I’ve included links for ideas). Instead, it is intended to make you think differently about gifting. Our kids may grow out of their toys, but they won’t grow out of spending quality time together as a family.  If we want to stay focused on what matters most around the holidays, then we need to consider the way we are gifting. Our kids can easily be distracted by the piles of wrapped gifts. There’s a whole lot of dopamine and anticipation build up to those gifts. And that can be distracting if we are trying to focus on the real gifts of the season–family, community, and religion. Find links to products/services mentioned on simplefamilies.com. The post 2020 Holiday Gift Guide appeared first on Simple Families.

Organization can feel like a false promise of more. If only you could be more organized, you could manage MORE stuff. You could handle MORE on your calendar. But the truth is, the sheer quantity of…everything…is inundating us.  My efforts at organization mostly lead me to feel like a total failure. I can’t organize my dresser drawers, they end up a heap of mess. I can’t organize my purse, it ends up all thrown in the middle. I can’t organize multiple playdates and activities for my kids on a weekend, because I forget things. You don’t need more bins. More planners. You don’t need ombre’d markers. And you certainly don’t need more self-loathing about being unable to maintain complex systems. What you need is more practice saying no.  Organization isn’t the answer. Minimalism or better yet, essentialism is the answer.  The post Organize vs. Minimize appeared first on Simple Families.

We all want our kids to eat well. We will try anything and everything to make it happen. But what if sometimes we try too hard and end up mucking it up in the process? There is plenty to be said about simplicity and feeding children–today we are exploring this topic more. Feeding a family can feel anything but simple. When you try to juggle health and nutrition with preferences and moods, not to mention cost and time feeding a family can quickly feel overwhelming. This is a topic that I've long been interested in and not because I'm any kind of connoisseur in the kitchen, but because I'm a recovering picky eater, I don't think I ate a single vegetable until I was about 19. That coupled with my interest in child behavior and parenting. This is where I chose to focus my doctoral research. In particular, my dissertation looked at the parents' approach to feeding in the early years and the impact it had later in life. So, today I'm going to be sharing a combination of research and my personal experience. And the