It’s that time of year again! I want to share my favorite Advent tradition, and this year I’d like to invite you to join us. Since Molly’s first Advent, we have celebrated every Saint Nicholas’ Day by  filling a sack of items to give to those who may need them more than we do. We Read more

The resounding question I am asked about children and minimalism is how to manage gifts from others, especially grandparents. It is unsurprisingly a significant source of tension for parents because it requires an example of genuine gratitude along with a firm commitment to an intentional way of living. A balance that should strengthen, rather than damage, relationships. Unfortunately I don’t have a tidy Read more

  A couple months after Christmas, we found ourselves in a familiar slump of managing the influx of stuff collected over the holidays. Everything had a place, but the room seemed perpetually full of toys, and our nightly cleanup was turning into a battle we didn’t want to fight. Adding to the frustration was the Read more

As the title of this series implies, a significant part of our goal in living a minimalist lifestyle is to raise children who are thoughtful people and consumers. Because of this, we engage our daughters in the process of downsizing and make a point to explain our decisions of what we keep in our lives and Read more

It seems to be the paramount parent question of our time: how do we control the outrageous amount of stuff that has become seemingly inseparable from having children? For us, the answer was simply by not accepting that it has to be this way. Unsurprisingly, the more children and experience parents have, the less they find necessary for Read more