//SIMPLE LIVING//

Paper or plastic? Food from a tin can, or a glass Mason jar? White refined sugar, or local raw honey?
You don't have to browse more than a minute or two on the internet to see some sort of topic involving "healthy choices", "good for the environment", or "crunchy". As a young mom, I feel like there are more choices to make than ever before; of course, I have only lived in this generation so I may be wrong.

With my first baby, I tried baby-wearing; she was not a fan of the uncomfortable sling and disappointed as I was, I didn't pursue it further and just gave up that romantic notion I had of grocery shopping with a cuddly little baby sleeping on me. I then found a used, standard carrier at a yard sale for $3 when I was pregnant with my son, and was so excited to think of grocery shopping with TWO kids, this time with one surely sleeping cozily on my chest. He actually did enjoy the carrier for a little while, probably more than I enjoyed the annoying straps and clicks and weight on my shoulders.

Little did I know, that I was doing it ALL WRONG. I was part of several Facebook groups, and came upon an article that more or less said, "Be kind to the mom who is baby wearing in the wrong way! Smile! Give her a break; at least she is trying!" I am sure the author did not mean to discourage anyone reading, but here was my first realization that I was doing it all wrong. I had the wrong kind of carrier, I didn't have him in the right position, I was surely causing future injury to my sweet little baby by doing it all wrong.

Well, we are expecting our third baby in March, and you'd better believe that I have my fancy pants Ergo carrier all ready to use and maybe I am even excited about grocery shopping with THREE little crazies. Maybe I'm the crazy one.

I choose to live simply rather than go green or natural or crunchy. To me, Simple Living is not about doing everything in the most natural, healthy, organic way possible, all the time. Although baby-wearing is supposed to be natural and simple, sometimes simple means we break out the stroller to go to the mall; sometimes I am even tempted to push around a baby-less stroller just to carry all my belongings.

Most of the time, simple means that I cook from scratch with the food we have in the freezer and whatever groceries I bought that week, because cooking from scratch is usually cheaper, and healthier. But sometimes we let it mean that we grab a pizza and bread sticks for dinner on a Sunday evening so we don't have to spend more time than necessary in the kitchen.

I have boxes and boxes of canned tomato products in my mom's basement right now, but we are still squeezing our ketchup out of a plastic bottle because it is just easier. And I am sure that SOMEDAY I will bake the perfect loaf of bread, and my husband will declare it the best he's ever eaten, but until then, we do what we can with the $1 loaves of bread I stock up on from the discount grocery store.

When "doing it all" gets complicated and stressful, not to mention expensive, it just isn't worth it to me for my sanity, and the sanity of those who live with me.

I do what I can with what I have, and do not think less of anyone who does things differently, and I try not to think less of myself when others do more than I do.

Simple Living is a journey I am on; sometimes dragging my family along with me, sometimes on my own in ways that make sense for us now. Living Simply might mean something completely different for you, but I believe that it should be the goal for anyone who values their time and time with their family. Cutting out unnecessary commitments is incredibly freeing.

Living Simply also goes hand in hand with Taking Delight. Although it took years for me to learn this, sometimes I say no to something just for the simple reason that I know I am better off missing out than to stress myself out giving away my time and energy. I think it is hard to understand that sometimes in the culture we live in; it is hard to say no to social activities, it feels uncomfortable to say no when someone asks for help, and it is certainly not easy saying no to a great opportunity. But I know myself well enough to know when to say no, to let myself take delight in the things to which I say yes.

Life is about to get busier than ever for us. With moving, renovating, adding another little human to our family, I expect there to be more shortcuts taken than usual. We will do what we can to make it through the next year, surviving and delighting, by hopefully keeping things simple.

Whatever helps you to enjoy your day to day more fully, I hope you too can make choices to //LIVE SIMPLY//.