Simple Families

If you’ve been around the podcast for sometime, you will be happy to hear I’m bringing back the “Journey to Simplicity” series. In this series I chat with both friends and members of the Simple Families Community. We talk about what a simpler, lighter life looks like–and spoiler alert! It’s always imperfect and a work-in-progress. Find Jillian on Instagram // Link from Jillian to learn more about...

Sometimes the road to self-improvement can also lead us toward self-doubt. Things that we previously thought we were doing okay on, we suddenly start to think we aren’t doing well enough. This especially happens in parenting. I hear from parents all the time that they want to “say the right thing”–but there is no clear wrong and right when it comes to parenting. You are doing better than you know....

Saying ‘no’ can feel hard—especially to people we love. But if you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, you might benefit from saying no more often. We have to take ownership over how we spend our time, money, and energy. If we don’t, we will end up burned out, exhausted, and broke. It can be hard to say no, whether it's saying no to our kids, to obligations, to other adults, it's challenging...

We are nearly one-year into a global pandemic, therefore I’d say we are far overdue in talking about therapy. Therapy: Who needs it? How do you get started? Maybe you are interested in exploring therapy but you have decision fatigue—there are far too many options and you don’t even know where to begin. Today I’m going to try to simplify some of that for you.  Resource for finding mental health sup...

Bedwetting and accidents can be taboo to speak about as our kids get older. However, we’ve been challenged by these things in our home so I understand the importance of this topic first hand. I’ll warn you, my guest Dr. Steve Hodges and I are going to talk about poop and pee a lot in this episode, but I think you will enjoy hearing a new perspective.  Dr. Hodges Books: Bedwetting and Accidents Are...

Maybe you don’t consider yourself an outdoorsy person. Maybe you have a kid who isn’t into nature. I totally get that. The truth is that nature can be uncomfortable. It’s often: Too bright.  Too hot. Too cold.  Too windy.  Too loud. But we are all nature people, in fact—we need to spend time outdoors for our health and wellbeing. If you don’t think you are an outdoors person, let’s talk about why....

Our family recently downsized in a big way. I’ve had many people ask why we sold our lovely home and the short answer is: It’s complicated. My husband, David, is joining me in today’s episode for a candid conversation about the perils of homeownership and moving towards simplicity. The post Downsizing appeared first on Simple Families.

Let’s talk about kids who hit. Let’s also talk about adults who hit. This kind of behavior is taboo, especially as kids get older. We aren’t as open to talking with friends about it, and sometimes we feel like we’re the only parent facing this problem. There’s a lot of self-blame that goes into this as well. I know this because I have a kid who hit and occasionally still does hit. Hitting can trig...

In today’s world, we are inundated with information. Whether it be about parenting, cooking, art projects, gardening…the world is quite literally at our fingertips thanks to Google.  The result is that we often feel like, if the information is available to us, we should consume it. And we should be able to put it into action. If you saw a meme online with 10 things you should say to your kids (I u...

We are knee-deep in the holiday season, so let’s take a moment to talk about over-gifters—these are people in your life, or especially your kid’s life, that give more gifts than you’d like. Generally speaking, these are good, well-intentioned, loving people. The last thing you want is for them to walk away, feeling hurt, alienated, or confused.  Yet, you may also wish to see change, especially if...

We have different expectations for our kids’ behavior based on the type of environment that we take them into. Perhaps you feel at ease when you pull into a playground, and your kids can jump out to just run, yell, and play. But what if you have to take them to a department store to make some returns? Or to an upscale restaurant for Grandma’s 90th Birthday dinner? Sometimes we have to take kids in...

There’s so much empty space left to fill during the holiday season. That emptiness often leads to discomfort. But, as humans, we have a way of filling those voids without pause. It’s true; there’s so much missing this holiday season. It might feel slower and more open than you intended or hoped. The post What’s missing this holiday season? appeared first on Simple Families.

Let’s talk about Santa. I’ll start by saying this is not a kid-friendly episode, because we will be discussing Santa from the perspective of a parent. If you know what I mean. If you have a child present with you—press pause and come back to this. With the Holiday Season upon us, I know many parents have mixed feelings about how to integrate Santa Claus into their celebration in a way that feels a...

This gift guide isn’t meant to literally click and buy (although I’ve included links for ideas). Instead, it is intended to make you think differently about gifting. Our kids may grow out of their toys, but they won’t grow out of spending quality time together as a family.  If we want to stay focused on what matters most around the holidays, then we need to consider the way we are gifting. Our kid...

Organization can feel like a false promise of more. If only you could be more organized, you could manage MORE stuff. You could handle MORE on your calendar. But the truth is, the sheer quantity of…everything…is inundating us.  My efforts at organization mostly lead me to feel like a total failure. I can’t organize my dresser drawers, they end up a heap of mess. I can’t organize my purse, it ends...

We all want our kids to eat well. We will try anything and everything to make it happen. But what if sometimes we try too hard and end up mucking it up in the process? There is plenty to be said about simplicity and feeding children–today we are exploring this topic more. Feeding a family can feel anything but simple. When you try to juggle health and nutrition with preferences and moods, not to m...

Today we are talking about upsetting our kids. Sometimes as parents, we have to make hard decisions for our kids. Decisions they don’t like. Decisions that upset them. We are talking about feeling that tension between what your child wants you to do versus what you actually need to do.  This tension can quickly turn into fear. Fear that they will whine. Fear they will be disappointed. Fear that th...

In today’s episode, Part III, we’re going to talk about how we can work to improve and better understand the challenging relationships that we have in our lives. We will cover setting boundaries, empathic listening, building connection, and communication patterns. Listen to: Part I Part II The post Challenging Relationships (Part III) appeared first on Simple Families.

In last week’s episode, we started talking about challenging adult relationships. I asked you to think about who that person(s) is for you. Now, this week we will talk about setting goals for those relationships and the impact of idealizing these relationships. In the previous episode, we discussed that some of the people who challenge us the most are those who have different beliefs, world views,...

We all have challenging people in our lives. Maybe it’s your brother or your mother or a best friend from childhood. Our goal is to try to start viewing this person through a new lens—so you can reframe your mindset and your attitude. This topic of relationships is incredibly broad and I want to narrow it down to focus better. So we’re talking, specifically, about finding peace in challenging adul...

Stress can lead to anger and irritability. In today’s episode, we are talking about how anger can spill over onto the people we love the most, including our partners and children. I’m sharing how we talk about this concept with our kids. In this wild and crazy year of 2020, there's no denying that every family across the world is facing stress and overwhelm. And this stress and overwhelm is going...

For the first 30 years of my life, I struggled with messiness. No organizational system worked for me. In this episode, I’m sharing about my natural tendency towards mess and chaos along with how simple living has changed that for me. Let's talk about messiness. I am a messy person by nature, and I do think that's a thing. I think there are many of us who are prone towards messiness based on the w...

One of the greatest, if not THE greatest, obstacle to simplicity with kids is FOMO. The fear of missing out. We worry about our children missing out on toys, experiences, and opportunities that they desire. We worry our children will be negatively impacted as a result. We fear they are going to miss opportunities. We also worry they are going to be mad at us. Or that they won’t fit in if they don’...

Today I’m sharing my best relationship tool. It’s called expansion and contraction. Expansion and contraction is a simple way to find the rhythm in your family. In fact, it’s probably something you do all the time without even noticing. However, once you bring it to your awareness you will be able to use it with more intention. You’ll find your days flow more smoothly and you view your relationshi...

Our family was on vacation recently–and my husband and I wanted to explore some new sights. We love to wander around and breathe it all in. My kids don’t always share this joy. In fact, on this particular trip, their legs seem to quit functioning altogether. They “couldn’t walk” another step but could miraculously ride a bike and swim with ease. Whining is very much a part of childhood. In fact, i...