That’s why when people tell me that they’re considering minimalism, I tell them to go for it! But as a mom of four kids, I know how weighty a decision like this can feel. If you’re worried about how a lifestyle change will affect your kids, you’re not alone! Let me reassure you though: becoming a minimalist mom has actually brought me closer to my kids. If you’re on a journey towards minimalism, check out our blog on How to Become a Minimalist.

Being a minimalist mom is all about clarifying your values and explaining them to your kids. When your children understand the ‘why’ behind your decisions, it joins you together and you can empower them to join in on your process.

Creating Mental Rest

Being a mom inevitably means that you have a hundred and one things on your mind. The joy of minimalism isn’t simply about decluttering your space, but also decluttering your life and the ‘background noise’ in your brain! Becoming a minimalist mom starts with an assessment - not what parts of your life could be simplified, but what parts need to be.

Think about the life you want your family to have: What does it look like? What does it feel like? What things would you do, if you only had the energy (or the time)? As you shift towards becoming a minimalist mom, it’s important to keep your vision in mind. You are making changes for the sake of something you want to create.

Once you have a vision for what you are building, take a step back from your week and ask yourself – what decisions and activities are unnecessarily stressful for you? Where is your energy sapped? Take these as opportunities to simplify your life and begin to free up energy and create peace of mind, or mental rest.

Let’s dive into a few areas for you to consider on your journey towards becoming a minimalist mom:

Reducing Decision-Making

One of the things I’ve done in our family’s life is reduce the amount of decision-making I do around meals. We have the same salads for lunch most days of the week, and I know of many moms who cycle through the same meals for dinner every week too. It’s a small thing, but I love how all the energy I used to put into deciding what to make is now freed up for other things!

Another way I’ve created mental rest as a minimalist mom is through the clothes we buy as a family. If you follow us on Instagram, you might notice that we only really dress in neutral colors. This started because on the Skoolie, we only had room for tiny capsule wardrobes – so it made sense to be able to mix and match the whole wardrobe. Now we still do it because getting dressed in the morning is so quick for all of us - I love it!

Toys

If you have kids, you know that there are basically endless options for toys and gifts! Before we moved into the Skoolie, our house was stuffed with them. But what we found was that the more we had, the less we enjoyed.

(And that’s not to mention the stress from all the clutter!)

When we moved our six person family into a 250-square-foot school bus conversion, our kids understood that there just wasn’t space for them to bring everything with them. We gave each of them a box, and they could choose to fill the box with whatever could fit inside it. The rest was either put into storage (this was the minority) or sold or donated (much more common!).

This is one of my top tips for becoming a minimalist mom: involve your children in the process. Helping them to make decisions about what is important to them gives them agency and stops them from feeling like you’ve just stolen all their toys (a fear that mothers face!). Encouraging them to make their own assessment about what toys and belongings matter the most to them helps to cultivate the same mindset that you are growing in yourself: a way of life that eliminates the unimportant to focus on what really matters.

Toy rotation is a great way to keep that sense of excitement  you used to get through new purchases. Put some of your toys in storage, and cycle them out every few months!

Gifts

In our family, for birthdays and celebrations, we tend to emphasize experiences over physical gifts. When my oldest turned 13, we spent the weekend in San Francisco (a few hours away from where we live) just him and Gabriel and I. In a big family like ours, these one-on-one memories with our kids are priceless!

We’ve explained to our children that every family is different - that some families choose to buy lots of gifts, and that mom and dad have decided to use money for fun experiences and amazing memories. It’s important to us that our kids understand that all kinds of choices are valid - we don’t want to teach our kids to judge families who do things differently - but we also help them to understand the rationale behind our decisions.

Technology and Screen-time

The way your family engages with social media and technology has massive repercussions for your day-to-day life, and only you can decide what guidelines are right for your family. As a minimalist mom, think seriously about the role you want it to play in your life and the lives of your children. Remember, family culture starts with you.

Our kids aren’t old enough to afford their own phones, and so we’ve made the choice not to give them their own devices for now. They do have access to screen time in measured amounts, and they all have chores to do before they get to use it.

This is simply what works for us now - you may feel that screen time is only enhancing your family life and that there is no need to change. It’s important to remember that no minimalist mom is exactly the same.

Final Thoughts on Becoming a Minimalist Mom

There’s no formula to becoming a minimalist mom - and that’s because every family is wildly different. Whether you are looking to simplify your life in the pursuit of a specific goal - like we did with fitting into our Skoolie - or if you’re aiming for a more holistic change, the areas you decide to transform and your ‘progress’ along the way is going to be totally unique to you. Welcome to the journey!

On a journey of becoming a minimalist mom? Don't forget to check out our recent blog post about how to become a minimalist!

DID YOU ENJOY THIS BLOG POST? PIN IT FOR LATER...