I loved this Alana!! Society is so obsessed with being 'busy' and if you aren't super busy then you aren't accomplishing anything useful or meaningful. We live in such a fast paced world that doesn't have the time to just sit and ponder the important things. I've got 3 year old and 7 month old boys and I just love to sit and watch them interact with one another. It'll be so nice to just watch them become best friends and enjoy a simple childhood together 💖 sometimes I forget how blessed I am that God has enabled me to have this simple life and to enjoy this special time watching my boys learn & grow. I always joke that I'm a bit of a hermit, but I love it! XX
Yes, we have to create an atmosphere of true beauty for them, classic beauty, timeless beauty. The beauty of nature, the beauty of home, the beauty of literature, of stillness.
I'm bot a mamma yet, but I really love this video! I love your response to "Don't your kids get bored?" No! You haven't raised them to get bored when they aren't watching TV, or on the internet. I think sometimes we forget to let kids be kids. LOVE your point of view on this! 😊💙
Right! My nieces watch a looooot of TV and they say they’re bored very often.. they rather do more hands on and outdoor activities. They also ask for more of out time. That’s really what they long for the most. It our time, love, nurturing and attention
I'm very inspired by you! I stay at home and homeschool our three kids, 2 boys almost 8 and 5.5 and a 2 year old daughter. I feel very busy often, and I recognize how the enemy (Satan) tries to keep people busy and distracted and life complicated, because it really effects our relationship with our Father and hearing the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.I don't do social media, other than watching a few RU-vid videos. And I intentionally try to simplify things. But even so, busyness Creeps in! You gave me some good reminders about sitting down with my kids at meals and really absorbing the little things. I sometimes get in running around and stressed mode! Thank you!
Right on!! As a mom of six kids with an older crew of teens and a younger crew ages 8-4. This is so true! Teens need down time to talk and know you are listening! Teens also need time to rest, relax and just be as they deal with stress and develop habits they will carry into adulthood. Being intentional about slowing down and white space is a life long must! We are design for this. We have to create an atmosphere/family culture that your kids want to come back to and carry on. Sowing these seeds is much easier when they are younger and when they are older you will see the fruit in their choices! Many of our faith and history heroes spent tons of time outdoors in nature...outdoors is such a must for all of us! Thanks for sharing!! Keep on mama!
The CEOs of tech companies are sending their kids to no tech schools Parents in Hollywood often limit their kids media This is something worth considering when caring for all children
Great perspective! We live a slow, extracurricular free life as well. I've found that the busier we are, the harder it is to volunteer at church and say "yes" to our calling of hospitality. Those are more important uses of time to us.
Good morning! Love keeping it simple in our life as well. My three kiddos do Taekwondo twice a week but we weren’t interested in a sport for them that required practice four or five times a week plus traveling to away games and all that rush I watched my cousins do with their kids from young ages. My kids have not shown any interest in anything more and they are very content with their extracurricular and the time spent at church with our homeschool group and Sunday school. They spend a lot of time outside and with kids in our neighborhood riding bikes and playing. This is such a wonderful season to be in and I am so happy to be living it right now. Have a very blessed week!
Such wisdom in what you are sayinv. We have 7 children and homeschool. We waited until they were probably 10 or so to get involved in sports.....I miss the days of staying home and having nothing to do. Our compromise now is busy fall slow winter busy spring slow summer. That way we can refocus on what's important. It has worked so far.
Emily Q I can see things getting busier as life goes on but I’m glad we have waiting...we are waiting:) thanks for your encouragement!!! It’s SKWSYS good to hear from other more learned mamas:)
This is exactly the kind of life I wanted for my family! My kids are teenagers. They are in public schools. My daughter is in marching band and is always busy. I have to fight just to get her to do simple things to take care of herself. She is 16, so I expect her to wash her own laundry and clean her own bedroom. She will be an adult soon and I feel like she is trying to push for that busy life that all the other kids have. My son likes to be home and do home stuff. He likes to help his dad with remodel projects.
I was raised by my grandmother who was born in the 1920s while my mom worked to provide as a single mother. Life was really simple but I was bored out of my mind. I really think it was because I had no siblings. Fast forward to now I am expecting my fourth because it was a bad experience for me being the only child 😂 and I don’t want my kids to be lonely like I was for so many years. I’m grateful I homeschool because the bond they have for each other brings me so much joy. Something I always yearned for as a little girl.
Things will get busy when they’re older anyway It’s difficult for me to be intentional when you pack a lot in your life Some people seem to like being busy and do it well but I don’t think most people can do this successfully Kids do better when they know what their schedule is and the more there is every day it’s difficult to know what to expect and it causes stress My husband wants our son to do martial arts and I said that’s fine to have one regular activity that’s beneficial We can tell he’s going to be a rambunctious boy so I think he needs that outlet to know what to do with his crazy energy I’m a deep thinker and academic and artistic so I will teach him in that way and then watch to see how his brain thinks If he’s more athletic then I just have to accept it I’m not going crazy with the sports though I will pray that God leads us to the particular activity that he will excel in Thank you
This was so timely for me. We are finishing up a Fall Sport season and have been planning to have our children participate in a church based basketball program in the Winter. I have not been able to complete the registration because I felt like it was too much for my family. I have felt too rushed lately and even though it is a good program, I am feeling like we all need to a break to reset. Thank you for encouraging and making a point to say it is not too late.
We are the same...we LOVE being home! When we "go into town" after a half hour away from home, my littles (7,5, & 3 years old) are asking to go home🤣👍Totally agree with playing sports...we also use the Charlotte Mason Method and we love it! This is the first year for formal lessons with my son (first grader) and my 5 year old daughter does little pre-K things cause she wants to be doing what her big brother does but nothing formal😉 Love a simple life.. Blessings, Rosalie
I’m so thankful for your channel. I gotta say, before I began to watch your videos, I was not a fan of the thought of homeschooling . I guess I just never believed that homeschooling was something I was capable of doing. It makes so much sense,and I’m so thankful that I feel differently about it now. Even some of the other singles at my church are desiring to take this approach when the time comes. They all follow your channel by the way. Including my Gina A . God bless you!! Thanks for being that Titus 2 women
I love hearing about modern day families slowing down and refusing to cave into the cultural norms of being over scheduled and worn out. Keep up the great work!!
Much of this is very similar to our philosophy as well (not exactly, but similar in several ways). 🙂 Our children are never bored; probably haven’t even heard the word. They will literally play for hours doing just one thing, and love it. They also love to work even more than they love to play, because we’ve had them working alongside us since they were wee little ones! And yes, all of this has created an environment that fosters deep thought and rich conversation. We love it! How do you deal with their friends being raised very differently, though? Obviously we all raise our children differently and that’s a GOOD thing- I just struggle when it confuses and influences my children. A friend will come over and rather than answer their questions or play together, gets up in their faces, acting crazy, hollering insane foolishness and yelling quotes from the last movie they saw and asking my boys why they haven’t seen Cars 2 or whatever... my boys are rambunctious but I’m talking about over-the-top boisterous, over-stimulated, ADHD behavior. And of course, it rubs off on my children, because children are imitators. Same with food- my children aren’t picky and eat whatever we set in front of them, but then they hear their friends saying, “I don’t like that! That’s yucky!” and mimic them. These are church friends, too...
Love it!! I find for myself and my children that a simple lifestyle develops a well rounded mind and character; whereas a hectic lifestyle causes uneasiness in mind and distraction from character. When things are simple, we're more intentional with our self discipline and training of our children. When things are simple, we're more appreciative of the little details- which then add up to the larger purpose. When things are simple, we're more productive and efficient with projects. One thing your video brought out to me is that 'simple' can look different from family to family and can't be determined strictly by the number of activities going on. I'd say that a simple lifestyle is one where we don't feel distracted from living or too busy to enjoy the things that we find to be most important. Of course, there are always seasons of busy-ness and days that may be more busy than others. But for our family, pursuing a peaceful, simple life is our norm and not the exception!
I love your lifestyle, your such a role model to me!! You have helped me decide to homeschool my 2 kids and one on the way! I love being home and I will be stopping working as a nurse very soon! We do gymnastics once a week and that’s it! I love having time and doing so much home fun and park fun.
Thank you for this! It was very encouraging and incredible timing, felt like you knew what I've been thinking the last few days. My son is 3 and I feel I've slowly let more of what I don't want happening seep into our days. I need to be more focused on the little moments more than once in awhile. Also, I think a little bit of your nature walks would be a fun video to see 🙂 thank you for your channel, there's so much good here!
Julia Carlson I’ve been trying to think how a nature walk series would be fun to watch and not become too redundant. I’m so passionate about it but don’t want to bore everyone...but someone asked so you know I’ll do it!! Haha
Its rhe same around the world. Lets keep them busy to avoid letting them do bad things like drugs...honestly in the 80s kids used to have a lot of free time to just play, be creative and interact without an adult all the time around. We were happy, most of us became sociable, inteligent and creative adults. I dont get this obsession with fill all the free time with activities, always running from one place to another and be strassed all the day just to make more money to spend on this stupid race. Personally i avoid all this and choose freedom over money. To spend time with friends and family is a lot more important than fit in this new cultural styles.
