Happy Monday my friends! I hope you had a nice and relaxing weekend! We had some plans cancel on Saturday, so it turned into a relaxing weekend, which I LOVE!
Today’s post is about something I feel super drawn to – that being a more traditional way of living in our household. Sometimes I sit back and reflect on my childhood and compare it to my kids. The amount of times I’ve told them, “when I was a kid, I used my imagination a TON and didn’t need guidance or instructions to play” – recently are too numerous to count.
Don’t get me wrong, modern day technology and living is pretty amazing. We’re able to get almost any items we need on our doorstep the next day, we can order groceries online and pick them up at the store or have them delivered within hours, we have access to countless food choices and can also have them delivered at our doorstep, we can access information at our fingertips and be aware of what is going on with family, friends and the world around us on a minute-by-minute basis. All that sounds amazing until you really think about it.
Technology and those modern day conveniences without limitations are negatively affecting us parents, our children and home structure sometimes we don’t even realize it.
I’ve already witnessed the addiction YouTube has on kids. Opening surprise toys and watching others play has become all the rage – messing with a child’s psyche and their own way of play. Tik tok (which I refuse to have) is another addicting platform that is awful for kids self esteem, their youth, mental well-being and should be banned entirely in my opinion.
The fast food convenience craze upsets me a bit. Now, obviously I love a good McDonalds Coke or Burger King fry once in a while, but constantly eating out just makes it easy for our children to form bad habits (I.e. what they want they get right then and home food is boring) and doesn’t give them the real nourishment they need. They will no longer want the “bland” (I.e regular fruits and veggies) and will crave all the processed sugars, sweets and junk they normally receive. Being able to cook and eat at home allows me to control what’s in my food, have my kids try things (even if they don’t like it) and enforce healthy eating habits and emphasis on such for my kids.
If there is no limit to technology and modern day conveniences – the core fundamentals of being a kid (using imagination, building self esteem and confidence, patience, exploring outdoors, enjoying the simple things in life) and a family unit will slowly be destroyed and our children will have a lack of understanding of how important these core values truly are. It’s my job as mom (and obviously Andrew as Dad) to show them, share with them and be the example.
Our kids today are so used to getting things “now”. They don’t have to wait a whole week for a new episode of their favorite show to come out – they can just binge the whole season in an afternoon. The lack of patience I’ve noticed with my kids has become alarming to me. They struggle to allow themselves to be bored. If it becomes to cumbersome to work through, they find something else to do not allowing the best type of play and learning to come alive.
Kids at school rave about all their new toys, smartphones (yes in 1st grade!) tik toks and YouTubers that unbox toys mess with our child’s psyche and become addicting to watch.
Recently, I’ve been trying to flip the script on “modern day motherhood” in our own home. I find myself drawn to all the traditional things.
Nightly meals around the table are extremely important to me. I love when we are all around the dinner table – it’s our chance to catch up and talk as a unit.
I also enjoy making home cooked meals. Not only does this save a bunch of money, I want my kids to remember some of their favorite comfort meals when they grow up and pass that along to their kiddos.
I try my best to avoid the hustle and bustle of today’s activity push. I see so many people stretched thin – running around to multiple activities per week and honestly it exhausts me! The kids are still little, let them be little! Someday soon they will be strapped on time – running around to do all the things they find joy in. I want to cherish this precious time we have with them by just being at home or together. I love being able to go for a family walk or to a playground on any given week night after dinner. That flexibility is so freeing to me and something I find myself craving.
I’m far from a traditional “homemaker”, but find myself envying the simple ways things used to be. My husband and I have been discussing this a lot recently. Our phones, TV, iPads, work, etc. all serve as major distractions from us being happy in OUR present. Right now, while we have the chance and are home and together – I’m trying to teach responsibility and skills in the home (I.e little chores, baking, yard work, writing letters to friends, saving money). We’re spending less time worrying about everyone else’s life and focus on what’s in front of us. There is a balance here.
Insight from this past weekend: Our kids don’t need a big ole trip to Disney (sure they would absolutely LOVE it!) – they can experience pure innocent joy by hitting up the local hotel downtown and staying one night away from home. I found so much joy in that simple little getaway. It was nothing flashy, but they had the best time ever.
I guess what I’m getting at is this. Less is more. We’re seeing how this phrase applies to just about everything in our household today. Less mess, less toys, less activities, less technology, less wasted time, less stress which ultimately leads to more family and togetherness. Providing a nurturing home, calming lifestyle and being more present in it shouldn’t be considered a traditional way of life, but a necessity once again in today’s modern world.
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All of this is one HUGE reason why we turned to homeschool as well. Our boys didn’t have cell phones until they were in their teens (and never asked for one since their friends didn’t have them either– my 15 year old’s best friend just got one before Christmas at his mother’s insistence). I don’t think we’ve eaten at a fast food restaurant (other than subway/ Panera which I kind of count as somewhere in between fast food and traditional restaurants) in probably close to 8 years unless their grandmother has taken them. We eat our or get take out very infrequently as I cook dinner every night and we have always all eaten together since my kids were involved in very few “after school” sports/ things. Since they didn’t have friends that played they didn’t show any interest. Most of our activities were held during the normal school day and their friends were scattered throughout several local towns. Technology though has been one struggle right along– that push/ pull between wanting them to know it but not rely on it for everything still existed but none of my boys have ever used social media like Tik-tok or Instagram or anything (yet anyway but at 15, 16, & 18 I feel pretty confident that we’re passed the addiction stage even if they did start using it… but maybe I’m wrong?!). It is tough to go against the grain but it can be done and I feel like my kids had a pretty old fashioned childhood much more like my own than their contemporary peers.