An Introduction to Family Rhythms
How to get started with family rhythms to simplify home life
In my opinion, creating a family rhythm is one of the most important things you can do in the early years and beyond. A family rhythm has certainly helped my family move from complete overwhelm towards joyful days.
It took me a while to realise that parenting didn’t have to be complicated. I used to make life extremely difficult for myself by overthinking and over-doing.
A moment of clarity came for me when I was trying to get my children involved in a craft project: they were just not into it and I was frustrated because I was trying to do something nice for them – didn’t they care at all?
Well the answer is, no, not really and moreover why should they either? Because when I started to really do the research, I discovered that independent, child-led play is much more engaging than a forced fun craft project ever would be.
Then, when I got sick when pregnant with my third child, things really came into focus in a big way. Suffering from low iron levels that left me dizzy in the third trimester and then getting Labyrinthitis afterwards, I found myself laid up on the couch far more than I wanted.
Part of my own parental overwhelm was around alternate feelings of boredom one day and exhaustion the next. We had no consistency to our days which made it difficult for me to achieve anything for myself. When we introduced a gentle daily rhythm which placed a large emphasis on outdoor play and independent play, I found that I was more able to make time for myself.
I am not in anyway suggesting that it is a magic wand and I know self-care can be a bit of a contentious issue. But for me personally, I noticed that when I started to adjust our rhythm in this way, I could have some ‘me-time’ without it being just another thing added to my plate. This has also given me more energy to go all-in on the other areas of my day too.
In fact, when things get hectic (which they often do around this time of year) I always reassess and come back to rhythm.