Written by guest contributor Renee Tougas of FIMBY.
Change is a part of life. We give our children an amazing tool when we teach them to adapt to change.
Sometimes we undergo a personal or family transformation that calls for major upheaval in our lives. Mom or Dad takes a pay cut to have more time with the family. You downsize your belongings and house to live debt-free. You choose to adopt a child, rescuing them from poverty and extreme suffering.
Life-changing beliefs and convictions call for life-changing decisions.
In just three short months our own family will be trading our current life for another one. We are leaving our home and moving out of the country. Downsizing our belongings and living with family for a season. And then making home again in a province where we don’t speak the dominant language.
You can read the whole story here at FIMBY. It’s safe to say, there’s a lot of upheaval in our family life right now.
Photo by Renee Tougas
We are making this move during a stage of parenting where our children are not just tag-alongs.
Our children are eleven, ten and nine, well beyond the years of “pack the crib, toddler beds, and toy bins.” In order to maintain a peaceful, happy and contented home we need them on-board with our plans.
You might not be making huge life altering decisions right now; you might just want to live more simply and with greater intention.
Whether you want to cut out stressful extracurricular activities, de-cluttter the kid’s rooms, or are just trying to eat dinner together every night as a family, if you have children past toddlerhood you need everyone’s participation to be successful.
Here are the techniques we have used to help our children embrace lifestyle changes, both big and small.
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