It’s sometimes hard to remember that our children are our people. They are the ones we are tending to now as small children, and the ones too we’ll want to spend time with later, as adults. And, though it’s hard to remember sometimes, in the thick of early parenting, our relationships with them as adults will be for a whole lot longer than our relationships with them as children.

This realization is one of the very founding reasons we created Slow Family Living. Our goal is not to tell people how to parent, but rather to offer ideas, tips, tools  and inspiration for finding ways to build that sustainable connection with your children; with your people.

While Slow Family Living is about offering lots of ideas, it is not about offering more dogma. It is not about supplying one way of doing things.

It is about slowing down long enough to find ways to build connection.  And it is about encouraging families, parents, children to see that family life can be enjoyed, not merely endured. Here is a very simple list from our Slow Family Living workbook of what we think Slow Family Living is…

• Continuously asking “Is this working for us?”
• Finding ways to live the life you love
• Knowing you have choices
• Consciously making decisions
• Doing things because it feels right for your family
• Taking into consideration each member of the family and their stage of development
• Making the family unit your priority
• Sometimes taking a stand against the status quo
• Possibly doing it differently than the way it was done for you
• Trusting that what you have to offer your family is enough
• Seeing, hearing, appreciating each other as individuals while seeing the family as an entity
• Believing that there is no right way, just the way that feels right for your family

Sometimes it’s about checking out. Other times it’s about joining in. And it’s always about slowing down, connecting, and finding ways to enjoy family life, now and for the life long haul.

Last December I was on a walk in New Jersey with a few of my 8 siblings. We were all in town for a tribute at Manhattan College to my dad, post mortem, for his athletic excellence. It was a great gathering, all of us there from all points of the U.S. and beyond, sans kids and partners. And this winter walk through our childhood streets was a great part of it.

We passed a great SLOW CHILDREN sign. Not your modern day bubble head sign, this one was a relic from our own youth. Complete with knickers! My brother got a picture as a nod to Slow Family Living.

My friend Lauren photoshopped FAMILY over CHILDREN and voila, the Slow Family Living sticker is born! I love driving around with this emblem on my van, telling all the world, we’re taking it as slow as we can. Taking the time to connect and really enjoy family life in whatever ways we can. You can get one too if you want. To tell the world there’s a Slow Family in that car.

The end of school that is. And with the end of school comes a crazy amount of activities. At a time when I think most parents are realizing all the things they need to get done, the amount of time and energy that is required of them on the school front reaches a fever pitch. Awards ceremonies, class plays and concerts, teacher appreciation events, class trips, and more are added to the calendar in a somewhat scattered arrangement. For anyone trying to scurry to get things done before the kids are home, or at least before everyone is on a new, random, summery schedule, it seems there could be less demand on parents.

I must remind myself to slow down and try to achieve some presence which can come so sparingly when we are rushing from event to event. Scheduling less doesn’t seem too possible right now so I try to at least add spaciousness to the getting to and fro. It at least helps take away some of the panic that can ensue when I am rushing from thing to thing.

And I have on my schedule this week to set some intentions for the coming months ahead. If I don’t do it now, the panic will definitely prevail!

Future Craft Collective has posted the first of its summer long series for Craftzine’s Virtual Summer Camp. This one is all about getting intentional and finding inspiration within the family. Sound like a familiar Slow Family theme? Here’s a teaser below. From there you can go to Craftzine and get the rest of the project…

It’s that time of year, folks, when the classroom parties hit a fever pitch, the volunteer coordinator at school has you on speed dial, and we, as parents, start to spiral into a little bit of a panic about the season that is ending and the season that is about to begin. Don’t get us wrong, we love summer with its opportunities for sleeping in and its carefree nature. It’s just the transition that can be a little tricky. This is our kick-off project for summer “campless” camp and we are totally excited for a summer full of projects. With this project, it is our greatest intention to help ease you and your kids into the transition, while simultaneously helping you get intentional about the open-ended summer months ahead. Read more…

Intentions and Inspirations Banner

People ask us that all the time.

Our tag line explains it somewhat. Slow down. Connect. Enjoy.

But what does that mean even? Here’s the break down as we see it.

Slow down. Be present. Schedule spaciousness. Pause in your activities and your breathing and your body and your mind. Check in with yourself. Take time to look around. Recognize the value of the being versus the always doing.

Connect. Ask yourself first, “What am I needing, wanting?” By becoming present with yourself you are then more able to be fully with those around you. See, acknowledge and allow the feelings and needs and moods and wishes and wants and hopes of those around you. Make time together.

Enjoy. Simple. Make it fun. Fill it with play. Appreciate each other and the joy will follow. Do the things you love and if you have to do them, find pleasure in the things you don’t. Ask yourself on a regular basis, “Is this working?”

When we are spacious and present and connected and appreciative and loving and playful we can live the slow family life we truly want to live.