Bringing Up Normal Kids

HowTo Bring Up Normal Kids

1. Argue in front of the kids and, ideally, get divorced
2. Use the TV as a full time babysitter
3. Keep your emotional distance
4. Say ‘no’ then give in.  Also use bribery
5. Don’t worry about routine
6. Give them sugar and processed food daily
7. Resent their needs
8. Put other things first, like you career and free time
9. Put them down and criticise them
10. Send them to a ‘good school’ focused on exams

How To Raise Unnormal Kids

1. Marry someone who loves you and work at your marriage every day
2. Both of you stop working full time after the first kid is born
3. Throw the TV out the window
4. Live in the child’s world and engage
5. Slow down to their pace
6. Put them first
7. Move where you can be outdoors.  Eat healthy.
8. Choose a school that nurtures their whole personality
9. Respect and talk to them
10. Let them be themselves

Clothes

I come to you, oh Goddess of Simplicity, with humility, to confess that I, a weak and feeble Westerner, am guilty of hoarding clothes.  

I know of your great and liberating wisdom because when we travelled on the road in 2010 I had only a few clothes and never needed any more.  My few clothes were quick and easy to choose, to sort, to pack, and I felt a whole lot lighter for simple living.  But coming home I have discovered an awful lot more in storage.


Oh Goddess, I have now made a list of what clothing and shoes I actually need in life, and I see clearly that ten T-shirts are not necessary, nor lots of trousers and the rest.  I am laden with T shirts and jerseys and old chinos and shoes, and boring shirts I don't really like.

I confess that I have kept 'special' belts and shoes and shirts in pristine condition by not using them.  I have kept old things 'in case I need to do a dirty job'.  I have been sentimental over an Australian T shirt my mother gave me, a top I wore at University (in the last century),  kept things because they 'are only small' and 'we have plenty of space'.

Please understand and forgive my weakness. I have slimmed down to what I need.  Give me grace to give away what replaces anything new.  Help me use and enjoy my clothes. Help me to remember to 'wear it or lose it'.

I have given away some bags to people who need clothes more than me.  And thank you that this feels good.  And, lastly, please forgive me that I couldn't help keeping back a whole lot in a suitcase to put back in storage "Just In Case...."

Stuff

Throughout 2010 we traveled as a family from Cape Town to Kenya and back.  Our home was an off-road caravan.  We were very comfortable and had all that we needed, and plenty to enjoy besides.  If I sat on the bed I could reach pretty much everything we had.  We used and appreciated it all.

Since arriving back a month ago we have house-sat at one house, now another and we will soon move a third time to a rental house.  Meanwhile I have been humping and hauling boxes out of storage.  Things we haven't needed or missed for a year.  Books, kitchen equipment, clothes, musical instruments, bicycles, electronic equipment, linen, craft, toys, more toys, more books, some furniture.  Load after load.

Consider that when we left Cape Town, over a year ago, we had thoroughly sold/ recycled/ thrown out everything we could, leaving only 'the essentials'[ for storage.  It was a wonderful, lightening feeling to de-clutter, simplify, be free of stuff.  Consider also that we would not want to think of ourselves as materialistic.  'Live Simply, Live Well'  is a motto for us.  And now you see that I am trying to come to terms with just how much we still have.  Nothing like a dose of carrying all your belongings up and down stairs to bring it home that we still carry a heavy burden.

So.. should I be thankful, or dismayed?  Should I draw up a list of 'things to take on the journey through life (and NO MORE)'? How should I feel about possessing material things?  

I am psyching myself up to start opening the boxes and get to the bottom of what we really need, really want and what we can dispatch !