Minimalism With Children – The Importance Of Habits

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When striving for minimalism with children, developing habits that will help you reach your goals is important. Minimalism with children is possible.

Minimalism can mean many different things depending on who you talk to.  As someone inspiring for minimalism with children, I struggle to find the balance between life and material things every day.  Finding this balance can be difficult.  The importance of habits when striving for minimalism is so important – whether you are an individual or a parent.  It is one thing to purge and declutter, but you need to change your habits to prevent going back to where you were.

You also need to help your children develop these habits.

 

Minimalist cannot be defined by numbers.

Many minimalist dream of being able to live in a home that at first glance is obviously a minimalistic environment.  There is an appeal to the empty surfaces, the open spaces, the lack of visual clutter.  For me, a simple environment without the visual clutter allows me to relax and not worry about the stuff.

When you add children into the equation, especially if you are a large family, it is harder to achieve that effect.  Many large family minimalists, myself included, see images of the “ideal” minimalistic home and cannot help but compare themselves to that.  Minimalism with children is possible.  My educated mind knows I cannot compare myself to The Minimalists or other famous minimalists and the beautiful images they share online.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

I am just me and am doing the best I can.  As a mom of four children, who have their own wants and needs for material items, I will always have more stuff than I desire.  I know that until my children have grown and moved on, I will not have the bare bones home.

That is perfectly ok.

That does not mean I am not a minimalist now, for it is my habits and approach to stuff that makes me a minimalist.

 

View From Outside

The amount of shoes in our home is a good example of how minimalism with children can appear to be anything but minimalistic.  Each member of our family may only have a few pairs of shoes, but walk into my entrance way after a busy day and it will look like a shoe store.

Our Shoe Collection:

• Boots – 6 pairs
• Running Shoes – 6 pairs
• Sandals – 6 pairs
• Slippers – 6 pairs
• Soccer cleats – 3 pairs

On first glance, it appears anything but minimalistic.

But, when you break it down per person, we are in fact quite close to our minimalism goals.  The only shoes that are put away for extended periods of time are the soccer cleats.  They live in a bin at the top of the closet, otherwise, all shoes are in the closet or shoe cupboard all year round.  Where we live, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, you may need winter boots in June – you never know.

Each member of our family only has 4 pairs of shoes, slippers included.

 

What Is Minimalism?

 

Minimalism is about surrounding yourself with items that you truly love, use, and need.  It is about respecting yourself and your surroundings.

The other day, Becoming Minimalists share this on facebook:

 

As far as I have come on my minimalist journey, I am still storing more than I would like.

I must remind myself that I live in a home, not a storage unit.  There are certain seasonal things, like Christmas decorations, that I am ok storing.  I have many other things hidden away that do not need to be there.

It is a process, and I am working to achieve my goals every day.

One part of my process is changing my habits.  I used to bring home new things on a daily basis and just put them anywhere.  Changing my habits is changing this.

 

 

 

The Importance Of Habits

We cannot define minimalism by the number of things we have.

We are minimalists because of the actions that we take every day.

Once the decluttering is done, if you have not changed your habits or way of thinking about the material things in your life, you will go right back to where you were.  You will bring things home and slowly refill the space which you worked so hard to remove the clutter from.

 

For us, our journey to minimalism with children started long before we actually got rid of a single item.  I started being aware of the amount of stuff I had, and I had a LOT of stuff.  My children had a lot of stuff.  My husband had a lot of stuff.  Together, we were overwhelmed and drowning in our belongings.

I will be sharing more about our journey on how we got to where we are in future posts, so don’t forget to subscribe so you get email notifications about new posts!

I slowly began to change my habits.  One little thing at a time.  We made little changes and, over the past 3 years, they have become new habits which allow us to maintain the lifestyle we enjoy.

Being Mindful

One change we implemented was One In, One Out.  After months of having to remind myself to do this, it slowly became a habit.  It changed the way I purchase items.

 

So how does it work?

It is as simple as it sounds.  If you bring something into the house, something must leave.  This applies to toys, clothing, books, etc… When we want to purchase something new, or even something used, we need to make space for it in our home environment.  For us, this means removing something else.

At first, this was a hard thing to do.

I would be at the store and would see a great deal.  If I was wanting to buy a new top, I needed to get rid of one at home.  I would sit there, struggling to decide what I might get rid of from my closet at home.

Looking back, I have to laugh at myself.  I had so many shirts in my wardrobe that I never wore, but thinking about which to get rid of was very difficult.  When I truly think about why it was hard though, it was not because I did not want to get rid of anything.  The hard part was that I was trying to justify to myself why I needed to buy this item.  By thinking about which item I wanted to get rid of at home made me realize that I have a wardrobe that is overly abundant and yet I still had that desire to get that great deal and buy the shirt.

This habit is about controlling your impulse to purchase without much thought.

It is about being mindful of why you are buying something.

A Home For Everything

Another habit we have instated into our daily lives is actually putting things away.

Sounds logical, right?

It is amazing how often I do not put things

away.  I blame my kids for not cleaning up their toys when they are done with it.  They are clearly done with the foam blocks and have moved onto Paw Patrol, so why haven’t they put the blocks away?

But then, as I look at my side table, I notice there is a crochet hook and other notions laying there.  I have no active crochet project on my hook right now, but did I put my things away?

Nope!

I know my crochet hook has a home and before I started this sentence I did, in fact, put it away.  It took all of thirty seconds and that is because I took the time to establish a home for everything.  I knew exactly where its home was and it was easy to put away.  I did not even have to think about where I might possibly put it.

Habits should be easy.  No thought required.

It may take some effort in preparation, but once you add these things to your daily routine it becomes a habit that you no longer have to think about.  This process has been made easier by taking the time and assigning a dedicated space for all of our belongings.

Everything has a home.

Minimalism with children is possible when everyone, including your children, knows the home for their cherished belongings.

 

Minimalism With Children

Children develop their habits every day.  It is never too early to start instilling positive habits in their lives.

Little habits, like cleaning up after dinner or going through old toys on occasion, can make a big difference in the long run.  Establish these habits early by sharing your journey to minimalism with your children.

We have four boys, and therefore we do have our fair share of toys.  We have an assortment of blocks and vehicles.  All of our boys have their favourite toys, and each age group has specific toys that meet their needs.

You do not need to get rid of all your toys to be minimalists.  As you progress on your minimalism journey, it is a great time to discuss your ideal lifestyle goals with your children.  I was amazed at how willing my children were to get rid of toys that they did not play with.

By introducing minimalism to our children, and by reducing the number of toys we do have, we have found that our children actually play more.

Our children now have approximately 20% of toys than they did when there were only two of them.  Each toy is special and loved.  Each toy has a home and each child knows exactly where the toys go.

When we go to the store, and impulse strikes, we have a conversation about the toys we have at home and which toys they would like to donate to bring home a new toy.  Quite often, my boys choose to keep their toys and not indulge in impulse.  They love the toys they have and the impulse for something new does not trump that.  I am so glad that I am able to teach them this habit and life skill at such young ages.

Minimalism with children is possible.

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