Book Review: Minimalist Parenting

This Minimalist Parenting book review is Part 2.

Read Part 1 HERE.

Minimalist Parenting

In Part 1 of this two part series, I painted a picture of the pressures put on both moms and dads.  I’ve felt it myself in varying degrees throughout the thirteen years I’ve been a mom.

Often there’s the nagging feeling that I’m not doing enough, or maybe I’m just not doing “the right” things, whatever the experts or well meaning friends may think is right at the time.

Minimalist parenting operates on the knowledge that right now, you have everything you need to live the family life you want.  You have enough time to fully engage in parenting while still caring for yourself, your work, and your relationships.  You have enough expertise, enough love, enough stuff, and enough confidence to give your kids a remarkable childhood and a running start on a happy adulthood. (p. xiii)

Those are encouraging words for tired moms and dads.

The authors go on to talk about how we have so many choices in parenting today.  I’ve recently been thinking about that and how different things were a hundred years ago.

Why was life simpler?

Maybe it has a lot to do with all of our choices?

I’m sure it’s more complex than that, but I think choices play a huge role in overwhelming us.

Choice is good, but the sheer magnitude of choice we face today is overwhelming, even paralyzing.  Minimalist Parenting is our prescription for how to handle too much of a good thing.  (p. xiv)

Minimalist Parenting is an extraordinarily practical book.  It’s like having a mother or a good friend come alongside you and guide you through this journey of having children and raising them up into adulthood.

The voice of these writers is not pushy.  They realize that every family has a unique dynamic.  It’s not so much about following a long list of parenting do’s and dont’s; it’s more about simplifying and not being afraid to buck the expert’s advice and do what works for your family.

a few of the topics covered in this book

• home
• finances
• education
• time management
• meal planning
• simplifying the school year
• vacations
• meal time

At first, for a “minimalist” themed book, the ideas and principles laid out seem like a lot of work; however, getting to the place where we can live more simply, enjoying our family and our days, is worth a bit of work to declutter our homes, our minds, and our schedules.

A Little About How We Parent

My husband and I are pretty minimalist parents.  I’m not sure we ever set out to be one type of parent or another or if our personalities and circumstances just lead us in one direction.

In some ways, I think we had to keep things simple and “minimalistic” for our own sanity.  We really didn’t have the advantage of living near family and the grandma’s when our children were small, so we had very little help.

We taught our kids to be independent.

I’ve never been much of a helicopter parent.

My children have friends whose moms are helicopter parents.  It seems to work for them and give them a certain level of control and peace.  It stresses me out to no end.  It’s just not my personality.

If you’re interested in reading some of our “parenting stories”, here are a few you may enjoy:

Haunted by a Kazoo – Why moms should never hide noisy toys.

Mommy Super Powers – You’ve got them too, I know you do!

My Kid’s Loose Lips - I still can’t believe she said that.

Mothering Mishaps – This will make you feel much better about yourself.

What sort of mom or dad are you?

Does a philosophy of minimalist parenting sound attractive to you?

Have you read the book?

I really enjoyed it and think it’s best suited for parents of small children or parents who need to reevaluate how they’re parenting.  It would make a great gift for a new  or expecting mom.

* I am an Amazon affiliate, so all Amazon links on this blog are affiliate links.