Tidy Thoughts
Articles, tips and inspiration all about attainable minimalism for moms and families.
 New year, new you - like we haven’t heard that before. As a former ecomm marketing manager, that was a favorite catchphrase for January. Ironically, it gets old.
Instead of “starting over” for the new year, why not make specific changes that really WORK for you? Live a life you love, once and for all. When I discovered “minimalism”, and that it was OKAY to let go and make my home actually work for me and not against me, a lightbulb went off. Multiple studies have proven (love this one from Stanford - bewell.stanford.edu/a-clean-well-lighted-place/) that clutter raises cortisol (the STRESS hormone). According to the NIH, stress is linked to the six leading causes of death. If you’re stressed at home, frustrated with your environment and your daily life with kids is chaos, know that it doesn’t have to be that way.
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 Stop wasting your precious time, re-establish routine and create a beautiful, functional (and uniquely your own) home at whatever stage of life your growing family is in.
As a mom of two toddlers 13 months apart, I get the frustration that is a chaotic, cluttered and messy house. I’ve been there. I had already started on a path of minimal-ish living a few years ago but my “wake-up call” happened as a new mom when a close friend and neighbor had to watch our two month old as my husband rushed me to the ER with a medical emergency (minus one gallbladder later, I’m fine!). I had nothing prepared, no notes, and my house was a wreck - I had two bags of pumped milk in the fridge, dishes in the sink and crap all over my counters (even dirty toilets - yuck). When I returned home I knew I never wanted to feel embarrassed by my home again - something had to change. 12/7/2021 0 Comments Holiday Gifts for a Minimalist So what do you gift a minimalist… or at least someone who’s minimalish? I know, I know... "Don't buy anything!" (ha!) I FINALLY started my own Amazon wishlist - highly recommend it!
If I was buying a gift for someone working towards minimalist living, I’d consider at least one of these when I buy - can it stand the test of time, does it have multiple purposes, can it be used up / experienced or serve the family well in quality / usefulness. You know you’re an adult when a cast iron pan or a robot mop is a great gift (but seriously). #adulting 12/6/2021 0 Comments The 4(+3) Gift Rule Christmas is fast approaching and if you happened to see my last post, “buy with purpose” can be a serious challenge as time ticks down before 12/25.
One of my best friends recently told me about the “4-gift rule”. I had heard about it years ago, but never thought about it again. “Something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read;” as I strive for more minimalish living, I love this concept, and started thinking about ways to incorporate it this year and in the future. 11/22/2021 0 Comments Buy With Purpose Thanksgiving week is (already) here. After the grateful gatherings of family and friends and displays of thanks and gratitude (and the food coma wears off ), the day after we honor what we’re thankful for, we “celebrate” consumerism at its finest. Isn’t it ironic?
Don’t get me wrong - I do buy a few things on Black Friday. But, as I try to live a more intentional, efficient and minimalist lifestyle, I have made a conscious effort to adjust my spending habits and reevaluate my mindset as a consumer. I try my best to make deliberate purchase decisions, delay gratification and seriously consider the quality, purpose and benefit for my family of my purchases. When you shift your mindset, you bring less into your home, save time and save money. AND the items you DO buy are more…
How do you feel about Black Friday? Shopping in general? Any tips and thoughts?  SAVE TIME. SAVE MONEY. SAVE YOUR SANITY!
Let me help you take back control of your home with a virtual consultation. Tired of feeling smothered by all.that.stuff.? Sick of coming home to a mess, just to be stuck in the vicious cycle of exhaustion at the mounting task ahead so you avoid it all together? I GET IT. I’ve been there. I’m not a neat-freak, type A person - in fact, I’m actually a “normal”, messy person. Plus, kids, right? Two kids just over a year apart is no joke. I’m telling you, it’s possible to run an efficient, functional and beautiful home. Dump the clutter, use what you have, adjust your habits, and stop feeling like your home runs you. Get back time, energy, money and SANITY. My home isn’t perfect - it’s just A LOT easier to maintain since I removed excess clutter, implemented systems that work with our lifestyle and drastically improved functionality of furniture and decor in our home. I’m no longer scared that if a guest just so happened to stop by, I’d have to shove piles of stuff out of sight as quickly as I could. Want to have more time to spend with your family? Time to work on your small business? Time to relax in a place you absolutely love? Join me on a journey towards minimalish motherhood! We can chat one on one, or read more on my blog or follow along on Insta for lots of thoughts and tips about minimal-ish and simple living, decluttering for adults and kids, intentional shopping habits, home systems and improving your home’s functionality with thoughtful and beautiful decor and furniture. Tell me, what’s stopping you from dumping the clutter, calming the chaos and LOVING your home?  Excited to share tips about intentional shopping with Shawna and the @practicallyminimal community on the Practically Minimal blog!
I talk about helpful ways to adjust your shopping habits, how to use tools to help you avoid over shopping, and my "4 Qs" technique that I use often to help me make definitive and intentional purchases. Head over to the @practicallyminimal blog and let me know what you think. I hope these tips help you as we approach the holiday season - over shopping can be hard to avoid with so many sales and deals, plus gifts to buy, and getting stuck buying "just one more thing". I love a good deal and gifting so this season is especially challenging for me. What's the most challenging thing for you when it comes to shopping during the holiday season? Don’t let your pursuit of minimalism interfere with your gratitude.
If you’re trying to live a more minimal-ish lifestyle, holidays and gifts can make you nervous, anxious and fear that clutter will enter your home. As we start talking about the holidays, especially in relation to children, this is your reminder that gift-givers love and appreciate you and your children and want to spend their hard-earned money to demonstrate that. Receiving gifts gratefully and appreciating the thought behind the gift and thanking the giver is much more important than fearing that it could contribute to unwanted clutter. If you’ve already fully decluttered your home, you’re starting off ahead of the game and a few new things won’t “undo” any of your efforts. If you haven’t started and have clutter in your home, a few new things won’t contribute much more than you already have. You’re also not obligated to keep what you were gifted forever! If your family and friends are like ours and ask for gift ideas for you or the kids, I have a few tips coming up that will help you gently guide them in the right direction!  Why limit toys, books and what’s accessible to kids? In addition to lessening the clutter and keeping your home a bit more tidy and organized, studies show that less toys means higher quality play. The University of Toledo in Ohio studied 36 toddlers (ages 18 to 30 months) in free-play sessions with either 4 or 16 toys. In the groups who played with only four toys, toddlers played in more varied, advanced ways for longer periods of time.
I believe that both active (with batteries) and passive (without batteries) toys are a personal choice for each family and all toys have a place. Some that drive me to a place of crazy, but yes, they still have a place. One last tip - don’t keep out what you don’t want to clean up. Is one toy a shape sorter with 10+ extra little pieces? Put it in rotation when you have other large, single toys out so it’s more manageable to gather little parts. When I do this, cleaning up is less overwhelming. 🎶 "Welcome to my learning farm..." 🎶 IYKYK. Although I am SO tired of this song, the learning walker toy has been great for my son over the past few months - sitting for long periods, crawling/pulling towards it and working on standing; I can't complain too much. Do you have a least favorite toy as a parent? Tell me so we can lament together.  My kids are two-ish and one-ish. When we moved from the east coast to the west over 4 years ago (woah!), I really started realizing how I wanted to own less, spend less, and feel less suffocated. Moving will definitely remind you of all the stuff you have that you really don’t need (and haven’t touched in years!).
As they grow and get older, I hope to teach my daughter and son that: 📌 You don’t need stuff to remind you of good memories and experiences 📌 Your brain functions better with less choices 📌 It’s good, helpful and kind to learn to let go and give something a second life; someone else will love it just as much as you That doesn’t mean they don’t have toys, books, games, etc. I just take extra steps to limit what’s available to make it easier on them, their brains and our house, too. It’s never “too late” to help teach your kids to let go, although as they get older it can be harder as they’re more aware and curious - you’ll just have to help them through the process. Even though my daughter is a tiny toddler, I let her know what I'm doing when I rotate toys, clean up and out, etc. We’ll be talking about kids, gifts, shopping, upcoming holidays and all that fun stuff over the next few weeks - hope you’ll join me and let me know what you’re interested in seeing and what you need help with in your home! |
CategoriesAll About Babies 0 To 12M Cleaning Consumerism Decluttering DIY Family Feelings Food Gear Holiday Season Home Home Systems Hosting Intentional Living Minimalism Montessori Motherhood Organization Routine Sustainability Tidying Tips + Tricks Toddlers 12M To 5Y 
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