Really? This is fascinating. Did you choose simple living after she grew up or has she always rejected it along the way?

(I ask because I'm curious how my kids will look back on our choices.)

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There are a lot of things I would love to do, but financially aren't feasible right now. I would love to use solar and wind energy to run our house. I would like to have another water cistern (we collect our rain water and use it to water our garden). Just little things like that are what I dream of.

It is fascinating to watch our kids turn out different from each other and different from us. We like to think that our values are the strongest influence in their lives. In some ways they are, but outside influences are very, very strong and genetic tendencies are stronger than we realize.

She is my oldest and was different from me from day one. She was not a snuggler as an infant. Had no nursing urges. Constantly pulled off the clothes that I put on her and by 2 was very dramatic and even fashion oriented.

So, as I moved toward simplicity as she grew up, she clung to her need for things and security in a way that I didn't. By the way, in personality, she very much resembled my mother - genetics.

After her rebellious teens, we have grown closer. She is now mature enough to know that battles aren't worth the cost. And I have learned to use her talents in decorating.

Cathleen

Me too! I'm really trying, but there always seems to be something that comes up and ruins my plans. I'm not giving up yet though!

I am slowly getting there. I still have a lot of "stuff" in my house that I would like to get rid of. I am having my first garage sale this weekend. We just planted a lot of vegies (tomatoes, squash, and corn) in our garden so I am excited about that. We have several fruit trees. I am making a lot more foods from scratch now. I am noticing that our kids are a lot more relaxed than other people's children. We went out to a family dinner tonight and my brother made a comment about my 2 year old being "so chill." It was more that he was starving and ate his whole meal instead of screaming and whining (like my nephews) but it felt good to hear that anyway.

I am working on this too. If only I could figure out how to get rid of more stuff and stop shopping. I keep procrastinating, thinking we'll have a garage sale. And that I have invested so much in some stuff, I should try to sell it on ebay or something. Maybe I'd feel better if I just got rid of it. We did some of that last summer, just put alot of stuff out with 'free' on it. It felt really good to have all of it gone. Now we just have more.

No, we have too many toys.

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It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

I'm getting there, as melsb said, it's a work in progress
I've been able to simplify my shopping and cooking habits successfully and that was a major hurdle and feels great. My next step is to buy a breadmaker, then I will be making almost all of our baked goods myself. I've decluttered a lot and have a found a place for everything in the house, if it doesn't fit, then something has to go (that includes toys, I finally found a good balance).
I have found a way to keep our daily life active, yet simple at the same time. We still head out for an activity almost every day, but are back by lunch and then just have time at home for the rest of the day, ds spends time in the yard playing every day. My ds seems more relaxed than kids who are always on the go. Our down time is so important, I think many kids are missing out ( I have a friend who goes out before and after nap every day, she will have 2 playdates in one day! her ds always seems a little frazzled)
I'm really looking forward to this summer when we have more flex time as a family, just enjoying what summer has to offer us.

No. We've made alot of changes in the last couple of years, but we are still far from our ideal "simple" life. We are making baby steps every day, though.

i am about 75-80% there now....its a bit slower then i would like but i hope to be there by the end of the year.