A Movement towards Simplicity Parenting

A manifesto for protecting the grace of childhood, Simplicity Parenting is an eloquent guide to bringing new rhythms to bear on the lifelong art of raising children, offering inspiration, ideas, and a blueprint for change.

Parents are facing unprecedented challenges in these times. Many of us are stressed-out and overwhelmed by the busy-ness of life, the demands of city living, and the work/family balancing act. All of this has been compounded by the last two years of lockdown, working from home and increased anxiety levels, putting incredible strain onto families. Conversations amongst parents are so often about how we do not have enough time to do anything well enough, and are sad that we are not being the parents we had hoped to be. How to manage our lives and feel like we are coming closer to succeeding in our parenting task, is a question that many of us are asking.

I was introduced to the work of Kim John Payne’s Simplicity Parenting by our Playgroup Teacher when we first joined the Michael Oak community. What his work offers is a new perspective on our children and our family life. He offers that within the chaos of our modern busy lives we risk losing connection with our children. In essence his work focuses on regulating the family system, starting with ourselves as parents. He offers the key importance of modelling for children the kind of behaviour we are seeking in them. If we are strung out, we are unable to support our children in finding calm and re-orienting. When we find our own centre and ground, a little bit of magic happens and we create a more balanced environment in which we can connect more deeply with our children.

Kim John Payne speaks to how modern day families have become deluged with an onslaught of “more” and how they can discover a shift towards less. It is evident that children in these times are becoming more anxious, struggling with emotional and social issues, and many are being diagnosed with behavioural problems. Simplifying the environment of the child in all aspects, helps us make a turnaround in our family life that can spare our children from this trajectory into psychosocial challenges, a culture of entitlement and in many cases diagnosable disorders and endless treatment cycles. My work as a Creative Arts and Play therapist sees my practice full of children disoriented by the disconnection brought about by the relentlessness of overscheduling, the neurological and behavioural impact of screen addiction, and overwhelmed parents at their wits end not knowing how to cope. 

This is what has brought me to the work of Simplicity Parenting, to join a movement that can serve to address what has fast become the norm in our society with over-reliance on screens, overscheduling and materialism.

I hope you will join me next month to learn, as a community, how we may simplify our parenting task, and support each other to create a healthy environment in which to raise our children. Parent groups are the most impactful and cost-effective way to learn the Simplicity Parenting approach. The course involves video teaching from Kim John Payne, and facilitated exercises and discussion.

The next course starts at Michael Oak on 11 November 2021.

Visit  www.presenceinaction.co.za/simplicity-parenting  to find out more.