Tonight I'm leading an introductory Simplicity Parenting workshop in town and was contemplating how I was going to share my most uncomplicated journey - ha! Where did this parenting business begin? Let's start at the very beginning... at that couple's yoga workshop in 2003. There we were in partner-assisted elephant's trunk pose... Or how about I just fast forward to my pregnancy stint with Edie?
Hanging out with a friend when I was pregnant with Edie she mentioned something that made my pregancy-enhanced bionic hearing ears perk up: I take the lazy mama approach to parenting. Intrigued I asked her to tell me more for as you can see by my ragamuffin appearance in that picture up there, even brushing my hair back then cut into my slack lining time.
Through this friend I was exposed to the world of home birth (no need to get off my lazy soon-to-be mama butt to drive to the hospital), co-sleeping (no need to lug out of bed to check in on munchkin throughout the night), and extended breastfeeding (so much easier just to pop out the boob!); you know, classic attachment parenting fodder.
Funny enough those two words, lazy and approach, were what attracted Craig and I to the concept of permaculture where one works with nature to grow food by maximizing output with zero waste and minimal labour. You use plants and animals to do the work for you. Simplicity Parenting is kind of like permaculture. Instead of chickens though you have children.
Attachment parenting served well in helping me get much sleep and couch time as I slipped into my new role of Mama but then four years later when Kale was born there were some other principles I embraced that helped the transition from being a mama of one, to being a mama to two.
It took me some time but by then I started becoming aware of how we all thrived with keeping the toys, kid stuff and general clutter down to a mimimum at our home. Intuitively, the lazy mama in me realized that less stuff equals less of an investment in time and energy to tidy up at the end of the day.
Through trial and error the whole family thrived with a distinct rhythm to the day. This spoke my lazy mama language by releasing me from the mental energy of deciding what to do and when and was an effective means at keeping meltdowns to a minimum. Same applied with minimizing, and mostly eliminating screen time for the kids.
And then when Kale was born it become imperative that we keep close to home as much as possible, so I we kept our scheduling commitments to a minimum. We literally stayed home for forty plus days as we wallowed in the vibe of a fresh baby in the house and kept the environment as peaceful and rhtymic as possible; allowing Kale's own internal rhythmic pulse to settle to a strong, steady beat and for Edie's into this special status of being a big sister.
Though a neighbour confided in Craig that in his opinion it 'wasn't right' that I didn't want to leave the property for that long, it felt right and that, in a nutshell, is my interpretation of the premise behind Simplicity Parenting and what I hope this series will reawaken in the parents participating.
On that note, later this month I will be sharing with you my plans on bringing this workshop offering to you! So you can take it from the comforts of your own home, in your pajamas, eating bon bons on your couch...