A Vision Splendid » Simplifying

10 Tips for Reducing School Morning Stress

visionsplendid — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:07:00 +0000

Tips for reducing the morning stress.

1. Have all clothes ironed and ready the night before.
2. Put children’s clothes in a place where they can easily access themselves. We put our boys clothes over the same chair every day so when they go to get dressed everything is there.
3. Prepare notes the night before. We have a thin folder for communications between school and home
4. Have lunch boxes out ready to be packed. Depending on what foods you include, some can be prepared the night before.
5. Have an early bed time. Reduce stimulation well before bed time – have quiet music, relaxing baths, turn of TV, read aloud etc
6. Start early in the morning. Don’t leave everything until the last minute when you have to run around madly.
7. Have children do their ‘morning jobs’. Kids thrive on rhythm and routine. Depending on their age they may be able to do their own jobs such as making the bed, tidying their room etc.
8. Get yourself ready early. Get up before your children so you have a head start on the day.
9. Take the time to have a good breakfast.
10. Turn off the TV in the mornings. Time always go slower when the TV is off.

If you can implement these things it will bring peace to a very busy time of the day.

Our Simple Life

visionsplendid — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:02:00 +0000

In keeping with Rhonda at Down to Earth’s challenge, I am writing a post that summarises our approach to simple living.

The whole basis of our lifestyle is captured in my blog tag ” – Live Simply, Live Joyfully. Follow the old paths, they are tried and true”. The ‘Vision Splendid’ is the ideal that my family and I are trying to move towards. We are far from it, but the journey is a lovely one.

There are four of us. Me, Hubbie, and two sons aged 6 and 9. I work outside the home 4 days per week and hubbie is now the stay at home Dad. Because we avoid commercial TV we find that we live in a parallel universe. We have no idea about trends, sales and gadgets! We think it is quite funny.

Our underlying philosophy comes from old fashioned living as we saw with our grandparents.

We LOVE the sustainable way of living in the 1940s. We often chat about how our families were ’self sufficient’ without really knowing it because everybody was ! They had their own water supply, grew everything, raised their own meat. cooked everything from scratch and never had a garbage truck come to collect all their rubbish each week!

We believe that there is a lot to be learned from the old ways. By applying this philosophy we keep our lives simple and joyful. We have jumped off the treadmill of constantly acquiring stuff to make ourselves feel better and then constantly having to work to keep up. We have less income now but more savings because we don’t need ’stuff’.

In practical terms this means the following:

1. Living within our means in a small house with no debt

2. No commercial TV

3. Cooking from scratch
4. Finding old ’sturdy’ items second hand rather than a constant supply of cheap ‘made in china’ items that need replacing every 12 months
5. Spending quality family time together
6. Baking our own bread
7. Brewing our own beer
8. Fixing things ourselves
9. Growing what we can
10. Doing our own renovations
11. Using the town library as a resource
12. Buying local produce
13. Composting our food scraps
14. Minimising plastic packaging on foods
15. Avoiding petrochemicals in products
16. Work on a completely cash budget
17. Changing all lights to CFLs
18. Line dry the washing
19. Menu planning
20. Buying Australian grocery items where local not available
21. Stockpiling

22. Managing my home in a single binder

23. Getting ahead by applying the 6P principle

24. Having a planning day once a week

25. Having a cooking day once a week

26. Work hard at ’saving’ through the year for an annual holiday

27. Using old fashioned items and remedies – e.g. washup with sunlight soap, put eucalyptus oil on your hankie if you feel a cold coming.

28. Wear an apron to keep your clothes clean
29. Turn the TV off and read out loud to my children
30. Wear hand me downs
31. Avoiding food additives and chemicals

We also formulated our own family eco-challenge after watching the Carbon Cops series on the ABC last year. Here are the areas we focused on:

1. Energy

a) Turn off lights when not in use

b) turn off appliances at the wall

c) Have shorter showers

d) install energy efficient light bulbs

e) use re-chargeable batteries

2. Water

a) shorter showers and water saving showerheads

b) catch cold water when waiting for hot to come through – use this to fill water bottle and kettle

c) wash up in the small sink

d) flush when necessary

e) install water tanks

3. Transport

a) Ride bikes to school and work
b) Limit trips to town – by planning and grouping trips

c) Get Dad to ride motorbike to town for smaller items/ errands

d) Walk

e) Find cheaper fuel, drive more economically

4. Garbage

a) Compost Food Scraps

b) Stop Getting Plastic Bags

c) Buy items with less packaging

5. Consumption

a) Don’t buy unnecessary things

b) Work on a cash budget

c) Use things sparingly-

d) Do instead of buy – make it yourself.

This is an ever growing and changing list.

Restoring The Vision Splendid

visionsplendid — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:02:00 +0000

I have been doing a lot of reading lately on a number of topics – green living, frugality, additive free eating etc. I have said this before…… whichever way you turn it comes back to the same thing for me….. live like it’s 1940.

Here’s what I mean. If you decide that you are going to approach things from a green living perspective then you might group your trips to town to save petrol, shorten your showers to save water and money, save electricity, grow your own food, buy non processed foods, buy foods with limited packaging, buy second hand, not use disposables etc

If you are approaching life from a frugal perspective you will cook from scratch, work on a ‘cash only’ budget, make things instead of buying them, not spend money on non-essentials, barter or share with friends etc

Whenever I read these ideas for living I think that it all comes back to how people lived in 1930 or 1940. It seems that they had things pretty well worked out!

My Grandmother built a house in 1936 which was made with solid concrete using sand from the creek. There were two water tanks at the back of house, for rainwater or water from the well on creek bank when there was no rain. There was a well which was spring fed and crystal clear. My mum tells me it tasted better than bottled water. There was a big tank that was put up in the 1950s. It was for watering the garden and was filled from the well

All vegies were home grown as were the fruit trees and grape vines. All excess fruit and veg were preserved and made into jam and pickles.

A sheep was killed about once a week or maybe a fortnight for meat. Beef was shared with the neighbours. They also had ham and bacon which was salted and smoked in a square tank with sawdust. There was also chooks for meat and eggs

In so far as rubbish is concerned, nothing left the property. All scraps went to pigs and dogs. All packaging that was re used. My mum tells me that there was also newspaper in the dunnie!!!!

So… in today’s terms you would call it ‘ self sufficiency’, ‘green living’ ‘frugality’ ‘the Good life’ etc. I call it 1940s.

I think we can all learn something from this way of life.

Nurture

visionsplendid — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:52:00 +0000

See them jump when I announce ” who would like me to scrub their feet in the bath?” It works so much better than screaming ” get in the shower NOW !!!!”

I light the candles, set the mood. They lay back, relaxed, and enjoy the pampering. I scrub their feet with a peppermint scrub that’s crunchy and smells great. They love the attention. Little do they know I am hypnotising them, slowing them down, preparing them for bed. They get out, we read together and they go to sleep so easily and quickly. Little do they know of the hypnotic, soothing effect of light and water. I think I will try it myself.

Reading Aloud

visionsplendid — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:38:00 +0000

At the moment we are reading the Spiderwick Chronicles. The boys are really enjoying it. As I was reading to them last night I had ‘a moment’. We were tucked up in our queen size bed, me in the middle. Each boy had hold of my long hair and were twisting it through their fingers. This is something that they have done since they were babies. It still amazes me that Number One son will be ten in August and he still twists my hair {(:>) joy of joys!}

As we sat reading I remembered back to my training as a school teacher. There was something called the nuerological impress method of learning to read. It’s where an adult reads aloud to a child and the child tracks or follows along with their finger. There were studies at the time that showed that kids really responded to this style of learning and picked up reading quickly. They also learnt all the intonation, that is the ups and downs in your voice, or the expression.

But… you know what I reckon teaches children to read ? ……

LOVE. Snuggling them up, taking the time, immersing them in rich stories, that special togetherness that probabaly can’t be studied scientifically. It’s probably called ‘modelling’ or ‘osmosis’ but to me it’s the love quotient. – making reading a fun, intersting, magical world of escape rather than a punishment, chore, or something you have to do so you don’t get in trouble for missing your homework at school.

Teach them to LOVE it. Reading can take them on many adventures in life.

What Is Simple Living To Me ……Thinking Out Loud…..( Thinking Allowed)

visionsplendid — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:23:00 +0000

This is Hubbie’s sister’s property in NW New South Wales.

I have really been thinking about what I mean when I say that we live a simple life. Simplicity is different for every person. For some it may be as little as a way of thinking or philosophy whilst for others it may mean complete self sufficiency. We are all at different stages and phases in our lives and no one way is correct. So my question to you is…. if you say you live simply, how do you define it ?

Over the years since our first child was born we seem to phase in and out of our simple living mode. It seems that we are on track for a while then slowly drift off the path until we have totally lost the plot and then we have a giant revamp and get it all back on track again.

When we first started trying to be more frugal and live a bit more old fashioned I used to joke about how I could close the front gate and feel as though I was on 30,000 acres. We used to laugh and say our family motto was “peace, love and vegetables”.

Over time the idea of simplicity has changed somewhat, particularly as the children got older. When I think of living simply now I think of the following things that suit us as a family:

1. Cooking from scratch – for that ‘old fashioned feeling’, less food additives and much cheaper and healthier.

2. Working with a cash budget

3. Planning Menus

4. Not watching commercial TV – minimising advertising exposure

5. Playing together as a family

6. Living in a home that we own – not living beyond our means

7. Working part time

8. Growing what we can

9. Reducing belongings and clutter

10. Eating locally where possible

11. Having a grocery stockpile

12. Making our own bread

13. Composting our food scraps

14. Riding our bicycles instead of using the car

15. Thinking before we buy anything

The list goes on. I guess the biggest thing for me is a sense of control. Not feeling as though we are adrift in the ocean being knocked around by every wave that comes in.

I believe that when you are living a life authentic to your inner values you will experience a sense of peace. Once you have this feeling, it is easy to know when you go off the path and it’s great to have that sense of peace return when you are back on track.

I would love to know your thoughts on this. Drop me a line.

Joy Joy Joy …….down in my heart !

visionsplendid — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:50:00 +0000

The Christmas Season is over for another year. We had a really lovely day. We went to my Sister and Brother In Law’s house. They live on a property about 10 minutes from a little town in north west New South Wales. The weather was really kind to us in that it wasn’t too hot.

We had quite a lean Christmas. We made a real effort this year to buy our boys things that they could use rather than heaps of toys with thousands of parts that are broken by New Year. We also tried to avoid over priced licenced merchandise, you know the ones, where the price is doubled because the item has a picture from some movie. For the grown ups this year we did a ‘Secret Santa’ – where everyone’s name goes into a hat and you buy just for one person.

On Boxing Day we headed off on our holiday and stayed at Boambee Bay Resort at Sawtell near Coff’s Harbour. It was VERY relaxing. We really took the time to wind down. We also spoke about our goals and plans for 2008. Now we are refreshed and ready to tackle the new year. I love the new year time. It’s a chance to draw a line under everything that’s happened and start afresh.

New Floors Down

visionsplendid — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:13:00 +0000

The floors are down and the furniture is slowly going back to where it should be. The floors need to be polished a little as they are a bit flat and have a powdery coating.

The next step is to complete my ‘VISION SPLENDID’. My vision is of a well maintained, organised house with a place for everything and everything in it’s place. Clear of clutter and unused items. A place where our children can grow and learn in a simple environment free from the distractions that the world puts in our way (read consumerism!) I believe that when children have too much and are never bored, they don’t ever develop their imagination. It is the child who is allowed to become ‘bored’ from time to time who builds a cubby house, creates a ’shop’ or sits down to sketch and design.

So the task of decluttering, simplifying and creating peace continues.

Not A Vision Splendid

visionsplendid — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:39:00 +0000

Last night we had to move everything so that the timber floors can go down. FINALLY !

We have done a lot of work to this little house over the past few years. It has grown as our needs have grown. The latest project involved closing in a back cement veranda and reclaiming an over sized laundry for living area. We then updated the bathroom and combined the laundry with the bathroom because the bathroom is a good size and we use a front loading washing machine that doesn’t take up much space.

Now it’s time to put timber flooring down – all the way through the house except the bedrooms. Hopefully it will cut down on dust and will be easier to keep clean.

I am looking forward to putting things back and minimising all the clutter. I will create my Vision Splendid, that is, I will design it exactly the way I would like it to be !

A Facelift and A New Mindset

visionsplendid — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:53:00 +0000

You have all seen this picture before. I snapped it one morning when I felt that Spring was trying to break it’s way through the cold winter mornings. This is the main hallway in our home. You will notice that we have cream coloured carpet. It was a good idea at the time. Number one son was a newborn baby and we had no idea what life would be like in the future with cream coloured carpet and two young sons. My father-in-law suggested that we get black carpet and paint the walls black up to a height of four feet until the children are about 12 years old. LOL

Next week we are having the carpet replaced with timber. This is something we have been saving up for, for a while now. We are really looking forward to a total clean sweep of the house. Since renovating the bathroom and building a back room onto our house many of the normal spring cleaning jobs have gone out the window, so we a really looking forward to a re-vamp.

Part of the re-vamp involves a massive clear out. We are going to reduce our belongings dramatically. We have so many things in this house that we never use and the freedom that comes from decluttering is long overdue.

I was reading an article recently about setting up home for the first time. It listed things that are required for each room. As I was reading it dawned on me that we really don’t need too much else than what was listed. For example, under laundry it said:

___ Iron
___ Ironing board
___ Detergent
___ Bleach
___ Fabric softener
___ Laundry Basket
___ Stain Remover
___ Sewing kit
___ Hangers

What else do you have in the laundry that may not be necessary ? When we go away each year to our holiday unit we always comment on the simplicity of it. You open the cupboard and there are only 8 matching glasses, plates, bowls etc.

The cutlery is all matching, the second drawer only has a few important utensils. All so simple, so peaceful and so easy to maintain.

So…… a change of mindset…… simplify…… differentiate between needs and wants…….declutter and reduce belongings drastically.

Are you interested in a clear out ? Would you like to follow along and revamp your own rooms one by one with me ? Send me an email or a comment and jump on board!

P.S. One woman’s trash in another women’s treasure. I will post a link to my ebay site when the process begins. LOL