I was speaking with a mom this weekend about Slow Family Living. She was concerned because she didn’t think she could do it. “Do what?” was my question to her. “Slow things down in the way that you do,” she responded.
It’s not about doing it my way. Or a certain way. Or the way that some other family is doing it. Rather the whole idea of Slow Family is finding the way that works in your home, for your family.
The idea of slow is actually the idea that you and your family take a pause in all you do just long enough to ask yourselves, “Is this working for us?” From there you will find your solutions.
I wrote a piece this week in Rhythm of the Home about our Family Soccer league and how our experience with soccer was tweaked and retweaked until we had the perfect solution for our family. Not one big change overnight but a little by little variation until we had the perfect 
scenario for us. For the parents, for the kids and for our family as a whole.
Here are a few questions from our Slow Family Handbook to get you started on finding ways to build connection in your own family life…
- Think of a day, an hour, a moment even when you felt “ah, this is what family life is all about.” Describe it in detail…
- What were the elements or the pieces involved?
- What was the feeling?
- In what ways can you bring those elements into daily life?
If you want to do more, you can download the workbook and go through the entire process. In addition, read through a list of 100 ways you and your family can find ways to slow down, connect and truly enjoy family life a little bit more.
With so much of family life in transition, it seems like a really good time, to ask ourselves again, “Is this working for us?” From there we will find the answers. “For us,” being the operative term.
