A lack of energy has made us all sit down and look at the resources we have available within our household and look at the division of labour. I wish we had done this years ago, in fact before we got together because it would have simplified our lives, our expectations and cost us a lot less than it has over the years.
Ok so what was it about, it was about looking at what needs to be done in our household, what each person can do and likes to do, bearing in mind their age, their health, their stamina and their hopes, goals etc and comparing it to what are our family's joint goals. Be sure to ask your children as well and communicate.
Families used to work together from their homesteads, dads had small businesses, mum's stayed at home, kids had chores, the elderly were given jobs and what they made up in wisdom, they lacked in energy. We lack both in today's culture. Our elderly are in nursing homes because we are to busy to care for them, our babies go into nursing care because we are too busy earning money. What we earn in money, we lose in relationships, closeness and generally learning who we are, where we come from, what matters to us and how much we are loved by our families.
To simplify our lives, I urge you to listen to what your family says, what you all want together and start to create your vision. It might be a scary thought, but together you stand a better chance of creating that vision than fragmenting in different directions....its time.
If we all look at the resources we are using within our families, our homes and our communities, we might also get an understanding what the real cost is of chasing time, money etc and what we feel is missing in our life, it can be easily discovered when we stand still and try to ' be'. Try to schedule time.
Its time, make time and listen to the people around you.
2 comments:
I can't tell you how many times a day I say to my children, "I need help," or, "I can't do this on my own." The two oldest, at 6 and 4, are old enough to help around the house. The problem is, they are spoiled. They grouse when asked to make their beds or pick up their toys. I've tried chore charts. I've tried reward systems. Nothing seems to work, and I feel my own energy being severely depleted.
Curse the TV and media, and curse my husband and me for not saying NO enough. They have too much, and yet they expect more. I look at the clutter in our house and think, this is seven year's and three kid's worth of mostly junk. But how do we get back to what is simple?
Truly, less IS more in my opinion too.
I started with simply not indulging other people's kids with gifts that added to clutter, such as cookie mixes etc and giving experiences, time together to get back to some sense of what was important. Why add clutter to other people's homes. When it came to birthday parties, I simply said no to them and told the kids they could invite some friends round for lunch and afternoon play which worked out well. My kids love technology simply because I do too. When I get told, I need something, I ask them why, how do they know they need it and inveariably the reply is due to media coverage. That is the frightening thing. What is actually being put in our kids' head. My kids are older but when they were smaller we cooked together, let them put the washing in the machine, sorting socks and made it a play thing. one of them still likes to hoover around. If you make it sound like a game, it might sound like fun. It could simplify your life. By the way I am on expert, I am still working on it.
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