Sunday 23 November 2008

Simplicity

I am hoping that my dear blogger friends would give me some advice. As you have probably read I am on a quest for some simplicity in our lives. I feel the desire to stear away from some of the modern consumerism and other stuff that modern day living pushes us towards and although this is something that has always been with me, that desire has for some reason become such a greater priority right now.

We have made some changes and TV free was one of them. I set the family the challenge to watch no tv for a week and it was a complete breeze. I could be quite happy to turn in the TV and never have one again. The children were not concerned at all and if I am honest I thought that they would miss it. They rediscovered long lost toys and games that they had forgotten about and just played for hours and hours. There is nothing more entertaining than listening to the giggles of children having fun. We still have the tv and we can watch it but I think that it gave us all a little more appreciation of the other things we have in our lives. Where we go from now? I dont know the answer to that right now, but I know that it will include much more fun.

Right now, I am hoping that some fo my blogger friends will help me here. There are no right or wrong answers as everyone is different...
What does simplicity mean to you? Is it staying at home, avoiding consumerism or whatever?
Can you share your ideas and perhaps give me some more ideas.

Also as we head to what can be the most expensive time of the year I need some ideas for Christmas presents, mainly for my children age 9 Girl and 7 boy. It is hard to try to be simple with the children over christmas but I am lucky in that my children never ask for anything, so this avoids some problems but it also makes it difficult to get them things that they would like. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

7 comments:

April said...

My daughter will be 9 in Jan. I have been struggling with Christmas, both due to lack of funds and the fact that she doesn't know what she wants! She is very into her art, so I have bought up some cheap supplies for her from The Works - but lots of different things so she can try different things

April xx

Locket Pocket said...

Hi Sarah - I totally understand where you are coming from but lack the commitment to follow it through I think. But we have already explained to the children that Christmas will be a much less expensive experience this year (not that we ever spend more than about £40 on each of them anyway which is very modest compared to most people I know). I've explained to them that money is tight and I am going to make them their Christmas presents from us and they seem fairly happy about the idea. Just the other day I asked them if there was one thing they really wanted as a "bought present" and Fred asked for the new crazy bone sticker book (99p) and one packet of the new crazy bones - another 99p!!!

One lovely thing I remember hearing about on the radio a few years ago was a mother who wrote her children each a letter promising her dedicated time to do things with each child - for example cooking lessons or sewing or something like that - even just playing for a specified amount of time. Totally free but absolutely what every child really wants - quality time with their parents.

Hope this helps!!!

Keep up the really good work! You are an inspiration!

Lucy x

Beki said...

hama beads!
great for all ages and keep the children and adults entertained for hours xx

Sol said...

Hi there Just popped over from GTM.

I agree with Lucy. How about you make some 'cheques', that say, on **** day I will spend 2 hours with ***** in the park. the children cn then fill the day in (with prompting from you, so it can only be on say a saturday, when you have time and take it in turns with each child). you can do this for each person. So a younger child can "cash" a cheque to have some time to watch or play with the older child.

I am not sure how this would work as there are big gaps in my families age, so I always wanted my Sister or Brother to play something with me. but because they were older, they didnt want to be with the little kid. so that may be nice for them to have that ALONE time.

The other simplicity things are, just going for a long walk somewhere. dedicate a window sill and make it a nature/treasure table. You can then spend the time to talk about said items. So not only has it not cost you anything for the item the children learn from it?

Stuff, I know in our house there is only PB and I. and for 2 adults we fill a small 3 bed house. and it is all stuff. Other than out treasured possessions, and I will include our laptop in this as it is a means for us to keep up with Family all around the world and the push of a button, so we have to keep that. More the things that really we dont need. We have book shelves that are over flowing. If I could get my head around using the library, then I could borrow not buy.

I could go on forever. It is a case of looking inwards for me, and asking myself, does this stuff make me happy. Mostly the answer is no.

Sorry for the length of this comment! It is just that I think at this time, there are more people taking up the quest of how can I get back to the simpler life?

Greentwinsmummy said...

I think its an evolving process,once you have made the decision that a particular way of living isnt how you wish to go thru the rest of your life,there can set in an impatience to transform everything & FAST lol!if you are like me & think thru things alot then by the time the head had made a decision then the corporeal world needs to CATCH UP NOW & FAST loL!!!yet in simplicity there is slowness,it will all unfold as its meant too x

In the meantime lol! I found divesting myself of *stuff* helped immensley,whether your possessions have come from John Lewis or charity shops! they cost money,be it 10p or £10,all money that someone had to work for,when you start to thrash out your *stuff* you realise once its gone that you dont want to have to replace it,you dont want the place to get stuffed to the gills again.

If you can do car boot sales then use the money it generates to have some family days out,let the children choose what to do,where to go etc.

As far as Christmas gifts go,I have done away with the idea of one main present & lots of little ones,which in effect was how we had Christmas when small(although we had little compared to some these days!) we have got the smalls small things :o) theres so much pressure these days,hopefully with more & more of us raising cildren with gentler 'expectations'
it will have a diluting effect against the mad marketing frenzy.

I agree with the others,children just adore time x x x x
GTM x x x x

Homemaker Ang said...

I try to stay home as much as possible but I do need some time out to regroup and refresh. I come back home inspired again and replenished with a new outlook... you know now we have gone pretty simple over here :) are their amish in the UK?
xoxox
God BLESS!

Greentwinsmummy said...

You have an award to collect on my blog sweetpea x x
GTM