As a family, we love to listen to the Little House on the Prairie books in the car. It always amazes me how much fun those girls were able to make from nothing! They lived adventure! And while many of their adventures are things I don’t wish to have to go through with my family, there are so many things we can learn from how they embraced adventure and made fun from, at times, literally nothing. The Ingalls family knew the power of keeping things simple and they reaped the benefits of a simplified life!
Life has been simpler since quarantine came in to play. Now, I’m not saying that shutting down the country was all good. I definitely have some thoughts on that, but a simplified life has been one of the good things that has come from this for our family.
I’ve observed a few benefits to a simplified life both from listening to the Little House books, and from living it because of the shutdowns and quarantines.
5 Benefits to a Simplified Life
- Gratitude—
Having things taken away makes you more grateful for what you have. Similarly, having nothing makes you more grateful when you get something! I think of Laura Ingalls and her sister receiving a tin cup, a peppermint stick, a small heart-shaped cake, and a penny for Christmas one year. It was the most memorable Christmas to them because they didn’t think they would be able to get anything since the creek was too high to cross. Imagine Laura Ingalls Wilder writing her books all those years later, and that memory of a simple Christmas stuck with her.
She considered her present so great because she compared it to getting nothing…and probably because their friend risked his life to get it to her.
Why do we feel we have to give our children so much? Why must we live in this constant state of excess?
How about for us? I am constantly asking the Lord for “more,” but all having more does is make me LESS grateful! Gross!
Taking things away because of shutdowns has made us so much more grateful for my husband’s job, which wasn’t shut down. He is so thankful to go to work each day. We are more grateful for family time; and for the few activities our kids are able to participate in. Getting to hold Vacation Bible School at our church felt like less of a chore and more of a privilege to serve at and for my kids to attend!
Sometimes, we need to strip away the excess in order to find the treasure!
- Imagination—
Having fewer activities to run to has allowed our children enough downtime to have to use their imaginations. I have fairly imaginative kids anyway—I attribute a lot of it to limited TV and no video games. However, someone else, through some form of organized activity, always keeps them busy.
This time has allowed them to use their imaginations. The results have been messy, but good! Our daughters play all sorts of make-believe games, which I love; our sons, on the other hand, use their imaginations to create things. One of my sons just spent the last few evenings tinkering in the garage, only to show me that he had built…a crane! And not just a small model of a crane—a four-foot tall crane. He engineered it and built it from start to finish. Without that extra time on his hands, he wouldn’t have done this.
- Focus on the Most Important Things—
This last week, our church held Vacation Bible School (VBS). On any given day during VBS, it is somwhat reminiscent of the days of Laura Ingalls and all of the other settlers who attended a small, country church. One year, we even got to have hayrides!
Several parents who attend a larger church in town brought their kids out to our VBS and many of them shared with me how much fun their children had. These parents loved the simplicity of our VBS because their children were able to focus less on the “entertainment” factor, and more on the “God” factor.
Hearing this surprised me. I shouldn’t have been, but I was. Because I used to attend this church, and for VBS, they had a “Go Big or Go Home” attitude as far as decorations and entertainment. I didn’t know how their kids would respond to a much simpler version of VBS…and it turns out that kids like simplified too!
When you take out the excessive décor, music that comes pre-choreographed, and the need to keep kids entertained, you can focus on the main thing, which is the Gospel.
This is true in our daily lives as well. We don’t need to keep our children entertained all the time with excessive things and activities. There is more room in our lives to see the Lord’s work and focus on Him when we take out the excess.
- Less Stress—
With busyness comes stress. And for me, with stress comes barking. When we take out some of the activities and commitments that are not essential, we can live at a slower pace. I have loved this! I have learned that I rarely bark at my children other than when we are in a hurry. When I only have enough time for five things, but I have to squeeze in ten, my children get snapped at and barked at.
When we don’t have be anywhere at a certain time, it takes so much stress out of the mix! I have the time to respond, instead of react. This is one of the biggest benefits of living a simplified life!
- More Time for Family Bonding—
I hope that you’ve seen that one of the benefits of a simpler life allows more time for family bonding and family fun! Our family fun challenge is coming to an end, and in my mind, that’s that. Then, last night, my daughter said, “Oh, we will have so much time for family fun this week!” And it dawned on me that the point was never to only have fun for a month. The point was to make a habit of being intentional and having fun with my family!
So, my plan is to try to keep this up through the summer. Maybe it won’t happen every single day, but I still think that I will shoot for that. If I set my sights lower, it’s too easy to give up! And I still want this to be the best summer ever for my children! I am so grateful for the simpler life we have been forced into.
My next challenge for you is to start thinking about what you want your life to look like, now that things have been stripped away. Are you itching to go back to your pre-COVID lifestyle? Think about your goals and the sense of balance you want in your life and your family’s life together. How will you make that happen once activities start getting thrown at you again?
Now is the time to prepare so that we have time to respond, instead of reacting. I’m definitely thinking about it and discussing it with my kids. Because I hope that after this month, you’ll be looking at family fun as a new “activity” that is worth more than any other enrichment activities your kids have participated in—and generally, much cheaper! The benefits just keep adding up!
Related: Keeping Priorities Straight
