How I’m Embracing Slow Living- Slowing down as a homemaker

Motherhood is a role that naturally keeps you on your feet. Keeping children safe, making meals, and caring for a home are jobs that take a lot of effort to maintain. From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a mother and have a large family, but I didn’t know I was prepared for what that would entail. Embracing slow living has been challenging but necessary to help with my sanity and attitude towards my role.

I have always had trouble slowing down. I lived in a very loud and busy home growing up, and I loved it, but it could be stressful as well. When our son was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia, it added inpatient stays, multiple appointments each week, and procedures to our schedule that we were not expecting.

Now that our lives have settled down a bit, we’ve been able to take a step back and calm down. As much as I enjoy staying busy, there’s a season for that, and it’s not one I’m currently in.  

How I’m embracing slow living

The easiest responsibility I’ve been able to eliminate from my life is the constant posting on social media. While I share our lives and updates about our family, I don’t feel the heavy pull to stick to a scheduled routine of posting. When I have something to say, I post it and sign off. No more doom scrolling taking up precious time, and most of all, no comparison to other mothers.

Writing has become an incredibly important part of my schedule. While yes, I started this blog as a way to hopefully create an income, it’s become so much more important to me. I feel like everything on social media is perfectly curated with a filter, hashtags, and the hopes of going viral every time you post. With blogging, it’s different. I can pour my heart out on my site and then move on with my day. It’s refreshing.

Saying no

I have no problem saying no to social events and leaving my home. Before embracing slow living, I felt so much guilt saying no to events. I am naturally more introverted and enjoy being home, but holding conversations can be exhausting sometimes. Even with the best intentions, sometimes talking about our son’s diagnosis and prognosis with others can be emotionally taxing. Being at home is most comfortable for me.  

Balancing responsibilities and accepting free time

This was an area I struggled with for a long time. If I had free time on my hands, I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. I enjoy having a clean home; it helps me think clearer and relieves stress. But at what cost? I had to learn how to balance constantly doing something with taking a step back and making time for things that bring me joy, too.

Maybe you struggle with the opposite. You want a clean home, but making time for yourself and what you enjoy is more important. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Learning to make sacrifices so you can balance your time between responsibilities and the things you enjoy may take time, but it’s worth it.

Here are some tips to help balance time as you’re embracing slow living:

Make a list of responsibilities for the day

I can’t stress this tip enough! Making a list of things I need to accomplish and things I want to accomplish has become a helpful tip for balancing my day.

Clean as you go

It seems pretty simple, but when I pick up as I see messes instead of letting things pile up around the house, it helps so much. I feel like I’m getting things checked off my list and it helps relieve stress living in a clean environment.

Turn off the electronics

Excessive noise stresses me out. I tend to check out and avoid my responsibilities. Putting my phone down and turning the TV off has given me so much free time for other things I need and want to get done in my home.

Embracing slow living is taking me in a new direction

In 2024, I plan to continue living a slower life and homeschooling with our children. It’s my favorite place to be. 2023 was a year of learning new skills, and I plan to continue that in the new year. Here are a few goals I am focusing on in 2024:

Gardening

We started a small garden in late spring, but it was not very successful. This year I aim to build a greenhouse and grow 3-4 types of veggies in our yard. I am excited to try something new and see what I can do! We don’t have a large yard, but we’ll make it work. Maybe one day, we’ll move somewhere with more land and expand to livestock.