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

Today we are talking about upsetting our kids. Sometimes as parents, we have to make hard decisions for our kids. Decisions they don’t like. Decisions that upset them. We are talking about feeling that tension between what your child wants you to do versus what you actually need to do.  This tension can quickly turn into fear. Fear that they will whine. Fear they will be disappointed. Fear that they will cry. Maybe even fear that they will be traumatized (I hear this one a lot from you all!).  Here’s where I feel like it gets confusing. We are all striving to be responsive, respectful parents. We want to honor our children’s individuality. We want to honor their choices. We want to empower them to make important decisions in their own lives.  BUT…our kids don’t have fully developed reasoning skills. They can’t fully see through the implications of their decisions. They can’t always understand our rationale. They often live in the moment.  The post Hard Decisions appeared first on Simple Families.

In today’s episode, Part III, we’re going to talk about how we can work to improve and better understand the challenging relationships that we have in our lives. We will cover setting boundaries, empathic listening, building connection, and communication patterns. Listen to: Part I Part II The post Challenging Relationships (Part III) appeared first on Simple Families.

In last week’s episode, we started talking about challenging adult relationships. I asked you to think about who that person(s) is for you. Now, this week we will talk about setting goals for those relationships and the impact of idealizing these relationships. In the previous episode, we discussed that some of the people who challenge us the most are those who have different beliefs, world views, and levels of emotional intelligence than we do.  Having a world full of people who are a carbon copy of ourselves and our beliefs just isn’t realistic. And frankly, may even be a little boring. But just because we are different, doesn’t mean we can’t have a positive relationship.  The post Challenging Relationships (Part II) appeared first on Simple Families.

We all have challenging people in our lives. Maybe it’s your brother or your mother or a best friend from childhood. Our goal is to try to start viewing this person through a new lens—so you can reframe your mindset and your attitude. This topic of relationships is incredibly broad and I want to narrow it down to focus better. So we’re talking, specifically, about finding peace in challenging adult relationships. TUNE INTO PART II. The post Challenging Relationships (Part I) appeared first on Simple Families.

Stress can lead to anger and irritability. In today’s episode, we are talking about how anger can spill over onto the people we love the most, including our partners and children. I’m sharing how we talk about this concept with our kids. In this wild and crazy year of 2020, there's no denying that every family across the world is facing stress and overwhelm. And this stress and overwhelm is going to invariably impact our mood. When we're feeling pushed to our limits, we're going to get angry, we're going to get irritable, and it's going to spill out onto the people that we love, including our kids, including our partners. One question that I get a lot, especially from women from mothers is how do I stop yelling? Now I don't think there's any easy answer to this. So today I'm going to share just one thing. One thing that's working in our house. When we talk about anger and frustration and irritability, as with most things, I don't think we should strive for perfection. I don't think we should strive to have a

For the first 30 years of my life, I struggled with messiness. No organizational system worked for me. In this episode, I’m sharing about my natural tendency towards mess and chaos along with how simple living has changed that for me. Let's talk about messiness. I am a messy person by nature, and I do think that's a thing. I think there are many of us who are prone towards messiness based on the way that our brains function. And I'm going to talk more about that in this episode today, but I know pre simplicity life felt even more than messy. It felt chaotic. And that chaos and messiness very much felt like a character flaw for me, no matter how hard I tried the physical stuff, the mental stuff, the parenting stuff, it all felt overwhelming. It felt like too much. So today I'm sharing a little bit about my story of my messiness. And if you're feeling hopeless, I want to reassure you that you aren't, or if you feel like your kids or your partner Hopeless, they aren't. If I can find my way on this path toward si

One of the greatest, if not THE greatest, obstacle to simplicity with kids is FOMO. The fear of missing out. We worry about our children missing out on toys, experiences, and opportunities that they desire. We worry our children will be negatively impacted as a result. We fear they are going to miss opportunities. We also worry they are going to be mad at us. Or that they won’t fit in if they don’t have the same things as their friends. As the adults, we have to serve as the brain managers for our children until their brains are fully developed (so…like 25-years-old? Kidding, not kidding.) That means we have to make hard decisions based on reason, logic, and family values. Often these are decisions that our children just aren’t equipped to make. The post Comparison, Envy, and FOMO appeared first on Simple Families.

Today I’m sharing my best relationship tool. It’s called expansion and contraction. Expansion and contraction is a simple way to find the rhythm in your family. In fact, it’s probably something you do all the time without even noticing. However, once you bring it to your awareness you will be able to use it with more intention. You’ll find your days flow more smoothly and you view your relationships more positively. In this episode, I’m going to show you how to use it as a mindset switch and as a tool to manage behavior.  As many of our kids head back into the school year in some way, shape or form, there's a lot of discussion around finding a rhythm for your family. Personally, I think that this idea of finding a rhythm in your home sounds kind of abstract. What does it even mean? So today I'm going to be sharing my favorite tool that does actually help you find a rhythm. It helps you manage the energy and the behavior of your children, but it's also a general tool that I find helps me in relationships acros

Our family was on vacation recently–and my husband and I wanted to explore some new sights. We love to wander around and breathe it all in. My kids don’t always share this joy. In fact, on this particular trip, their legs seem to quit functioning altogether. They “couldn’t walk” another step but could miraculously ride a bike and swim with ease. Whining is very much a part of childhood. In fact, it’s also very much a part of adulthood. But by the time we are grown, we have learned the difference between public and private speech, and we understand the need to separate the two in different contexts. The post Why Do Kids Whine? appeared first on Simple Families.

Do you feel like you need some new screen time rules for your kids? There’s a good chance that your kids have consumed an increased amount of screen time during the pandemic. Whether it’s for work, school, or pleasure—we’ve all been home more and utilizing new devices in new ways. But what hasn’t changed is the self-blame and criticism we place on ourselves as parents for giving our children “too much” screen time. Because “good parents don’t let their kids have too much screen time.”  Right? Have you have internalized the message that the quantity of screen time your child consumes correlates with the quality of your parenting? I know that I have. From the earliest days of pregnancy, I indulged in books on brain development that touted the benefits of going screen-free in the early years. Therefore, in the first years of my parenthood journey, my son was screen-free. The post Screen Time Rules for Kids appeared first on Simple Families.

After our last episode, Educating Your Child in a Pandemic, I got a lot of questions. Today I’ll be answering your questions about returning back to school this year. Show Notes/Links: Link to First Name Basis episode on privilege White Fragility by Robin DeAngelo Hi there and welcome to episode 230. Today, I am doing a back to school question and answer session. After the last episode, educating your child in a pandemic. I got a lot of questions. Today is just going to be a real straight talk, giving you my thoughts and opinions in this hard, tricky season of life. And I want to tell you first and foremost, that what's right for me and my family is right for me and my family. It's going to look very different than you and yours. You are the expert on your family. Trust her gut. You have all of the answers inside of you. The post Back to School Q&A appeared first on Simple Families.

Right now, many of us are thinking about back to school decisions. Educating your child in a pandemic is no easy task. Homeschooling? Distancing Learning? In-person school? Even if we are privileged to have a choice, making hard decisions for our families can feel agonizing. You may even lose sleep over it. That’s why I’m sharing the 9 things you need to know about educating your child in a pandemic. The post Educating Your Child in a Pandemic appeared first on Simple Families.

The toy industry sells us the story that our children need toys to be happy. In fact, we are sold the story that our kids need lots of new toys to be content. You may have come to believe that more toys=more joy and find yourself spending countless dollars attempting to prove this theory to be true. You aren’t alone, in 2020 the toy industry brought in over $95 million in global sales. These numbers surely bring a lot of happiness to the toy industry. But what about our kids?  Let me tell you our story. When I became a new mother, I was ready to give my baby everything. All the toys, all the love, all the best.  This motto “more is better” wasn’t new to me. I entered motherhood with a lifelong history of clutter–both physical clutter and mental clutter. But I had different circumstances than most when I gave birth to my first child. At that time, I was finishing up my doctorate in Child Development.  That means, during my first pregnancy, I was elbow deep in more than just clutter—I was also immersed in the r

We’ve all picked up on a few habits during this crisis–and some of those habits might not be serving us. Today I’m sharing more about my attempts to moderate caffeine, a habit that I’ve leaned on hard the past few months. I’d love to hear from you. Do you have any habits you are trying to moderate right now? The post Caffeine + Crisis Habits [Quick Wins] appeared first on Simple Families.

When we speak to our kids, words do matter. We don’t have to get it right all.the.time, but I like to use the same phrases repeatedly to help drive home important lessons. Therefore, I’m sharing the 10 exact expressions my kids hear on a regular basis. Sometimes the simplest things can be the most impactful. You can either listen along or read–in today’s episode, I’m sharing how I use these and why they are important. The post Simple Things I Say to My Kids appeared first on Simple Families.

In our house, we have three primary rules that guide the way we parent our kids. Today, I’m sharing the three rules and how we talk to our young children about them.  Here they are: Respect the rights of other people,   Protect and care for the environment (both inside the house and out),  Take only reasonable risks.  It can be really easy to fall into the trap of creating a lot of little rules, often based on annoying behaviors. Don’t throw sand. Don’t touch the exercise bike.  You are allowed to change your rules. If you have too many, you might need to reevaluate and decide which ones to keep after this episode. Because the truth is, they may cost you more time and energy than they are worth. Thanks again for tuning in to today’s episode! The post Rules [Quick wins] appeared first on Simple Families.

Many of us have been decluttering our homes for some time. But what about our brains? Mental clutter is real. Parenthood can feel heavy. We are tackling the 10 reasons that parenthood feels cluttered and overwhelming. The post Mental Clutter 101 appeared first on Simple Families.

We are wrapping up our first year of homeschooling and I wanted to share my reflections with you. I know that many people are considering homeschooling next year due to the pandemic, but our family is planning to send the kids to school. Tune in to hear the things I loved about homeschool and the parts I struggled with as well. SHOW NOTES/SHOW LINKS All About Reading Math-U-See Exploring Nature with Kids Oak Meadow The post Homeschool Reflections appeared first on Simple Families.

Many people around the world are reentering and finding a new “normal” after several months at home. In today’s episode we are talking about what this might look like. This includes communication about your comfort level in socialization, finding the silver-linings, acknowledging the experiences of others, recognizing resilience in your children, and making space for partnership. Show Notes/Links: White Fragility by Robin D’Angelo Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad Jasmine Bradshaw of First Name Basis The post Reentry appeared first on Simple Families.

Are you wondering how to talk to young kids about race? I’m so pleased to welcome Jasmine Bradshaw to the podcast today to share her insights. Jasmine and her husband Carter are the voices behind the podcast First Name Basis. Her work is a resource that I will return to time and time again. Be sure to subscribe to her show and follow her on Instagram. Show Notes/Links: First Name Basis Podcast Find Jasmine on Instagram Join the First Name Basis Community on Patreon The post Talking to Kids About Race appeared first on Simple Families.