Attached below is an article by Denaye Barahona at Simple Families. In my opinion she is another blogger who always has well researched, useful things to say.

Her advice in this article can be distilled down to something very simple, yet so hard for many of us: Less is More. We should leave our children to themselves more. And still love them. Not give them more to show our love. Its a deep-rooted thing, this concept of more – being equated with love.

This is an area which is very tricky for me. I sometimes wonder if I am hanging on more to my girls or if my girls are demanding more of me. She ends the article by asking: What are you doing less of to help your kids get more out of life?

Lots of gentle trials coming up for me trying to find a new balance here. I am familiar with the concept of experiences being more important than things. I am familiar with the idea that my children would rather have me – being present – than gifts.

But putting these theories into practise means braking with tradition, facing up to my love language which is gift giving, and stepping out into the unknown. It definitely seems worth a try. I will possibly struggle with no. 4 – refereeing less.

Here is the full article.

How to Parent Like a Minimalist – by Denaye Barahona at Simple Families