Welcome to Part Two with Milly! Yesterday, (Part One: Faith t0 Let Go) she shared how she leaned on God to truly let go. Isn’t it so true that when we take that step of faith, not knowing what may be around the corner, we settle into his plan and rest in the assurance he is in control! It is always better than our way. I love how Milly honestly shares the struggle of letting go. We all experience a sense of control over our families. At times, this control becomes a grip indicating an inability to truly give our lives over to him. Once we do, a sense of peace overrides that firm hold and frees us to be the mom God has called us to be. Today, Milly shares the beauty of simplifying life through the summer and shares a bucket list that will inspire you to create your very own with your family. Letting go allows the for a less complicated life and leads to embracing God’s plan for your family. Milly, thank you for the challenge to let go and simplify in our roles as moms! Again, welcome!

 

Milly is a Christian, wife to John, mom to 3 young boys and a veterinary technician turned reluctant homeschooler. She has embraced the role of full time mom and homemaker for the last 7 years. They live in the beautiful town of Fergus, ON. Her days are spent dodging nerf bullets, searching for 30 minute meals and trying to impart some level of academic wisdom to her boys. You can often find her at the beach or in the van on route to the closest Kawartha dairy for ice cream. She shares daily wins and cute brother moments on Instagram and sometimes Facebook. 

 

 

♥♥♥

Simplifying our Summer

 

As Christian mothers, we all have generally the same goals for our children.  We all want to raise God fearing, self-assured, confident and successful kids. When it comes to success, we may differ on how we define what success looks like in the lives of our children.  Maybe your child’s success comes through an athletic gift they show at an early age.  Maybe your child’s success comes through helping others and serving or maybe your child is very driven, disciplined and shows promise in some sort of academic endeavor, applying themselves daily to be better.  The good news is that regardless of the different ways we can define success for our children, there are some key principles that can help us get there in the early years.  I want to focus on simplicity and wonder for now.

 

I’ve been spending some time looking into minimalism.  I don’t mean emptying my house of all furniture and only living with one plate and a spoon for salad, but I do find stuff stressful.  I find it mentally difficult to manage everything I see around my house.  If it is there, it needs managing, doesn’t matter how neat it is, it’s still there, in my brain, in the house section and likely filed under “why do I have this and what is it doing for me and can I throw it out?”.

 

So what does my stuff trauma have to do with your child’s success? Well, a lot. Research has shown that less is more with kids. In a world where children’s toys abound and marketing tells you that you’re not a good mom unless your kid has the latest trendy toy, it is tempting to think that our children couldn’t possibly succeed with less.  The truth is, they actually thrive on less. Simplicity is key with kids and there’s a reason that wooden trains and dolls have stood the test of time for generations, they are simple. In the early years, our children need most to feel loved, to see that we are trustworthy and to understand that family is their security and safe place. Excess stuff in our lives will obviously never provide these needs for our kids but they also will require time and energy from us which in turn means less time spent on them. Personally, we still own some plastic and battery powered toys, and some are quite useful for our youngest child with a speech delay, but we do try to pick wisely and keep it to a minimum. 

 

Early this year I rapidly read through The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie (www.readaloudrevival.com).  One of the biggest takeaways for me was learning to help my children keep the sense of wonder that comes naturally to them when they find themselves with nothing to entertain them apart from their own imaginations.  That sense of wonder takes them to a fishing boat in the middle of the ocean where they land a never before seen deep sea monster found in the piles of sofa cushions.  Or maybe it takes them up into the trees into a magical fairy land up on the top bunk.  Maybe it’ll take them on an archeological dig in the back corner of the yard that has yet to be weeded or mowed. These moments of wonder and imagination allow our children to de-stress, learn valuable coping and problem solving skills and spend time just being kids. Ultimately, these moments of wonder contribute to the confidence and self-assurance we all want our children to have.

As we approach summer break, or in my case, a lighter homeschool schedule, I want to offer some ways that we can give our kids an exciting summer, that will encourage that very valuable sense of wonder without costing too much mental stress. For the past few years we have spent some time creating a summer bucket list.

 

It’s all the things we (realistically) would like to do this summer.  My oldest son would love a ride on a fighter jet but I had to break the news that this’ll likely not happen this summer, but maybe in a few years!  We fill our bucket list with already scheduled things like soccer, summer church day camp and our yearly cottage week.  Then we fill in the rest.  Some of our bucket items are as simple as going to get ice cream or riding our bikes.  The reality is, most of the things on our list are simple.  We swim, we go to the park, we stay up late and watch the stars, we roast marshmallows and we have movie nights. And you know what, my kids have a blast.  They never complain that the stars weren’t bright enough or that the ice cream melted too fast or that the park was boring.  They don’t complain because they are engaging that sense of wonder through simple but highly enjoyable activities. They don’t know and don’t care about the latest toy available at Walmart because they’ve been caught up in imaginative play. Likewise, I don’t complain because these things are simple, they don’t cause me stress from days of planning and hundreds of dollars and there are no annoying fights over a new and noisy plastic toy. Best of all, we are making memories together, spending time together and having simple fun. We are helping our children to succeed. 

 

If you’d like to look further into simplifying parenting and creating an environment that supports wonder and imagination, these two books below have been quite helpful to me

 

 

Read Aloud Family

Simplicity Parenting

 

 

 

 

2 responses to “Seasons of Motherhood Part Two with Milly Cowle: Simplifying our Summer”

1. So pleasant to read what this lovely mom is seeking to do-Simplifying life for everyone’s sake in the family. I hope this message gets out -families need less stress… great start. Ox

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   • I love the concept of simplifying! We all can do that on some level!!

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