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Home » Blog » Modern Minimalism » Simple Living

10 Benefits Kids Gain From An UN-BUSY Life

Published: Apr 22, 2016 · Modified: Dec 28, 2019 by Erica Layne · Post may contain affiliate links

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Life should be taken at the pace that suits you and your family. Embrace an unbusy life today. Enjoy these ten benefits shared from Life on Purpose to living slow (and purposefully) with your kids.

10 Benefits Kids Gain From An UN-BUSY Life: Life should be taken at the pace that suits you and your family. Embrace an un-busy life today. Enjoy these ten benefits to living slow (and purposefully) with your kids. *Loved this post! Such a good read for parents.

I sit with feet stretched out in front of me, bark chips in my sandals and the sound of playful children in my ears.

It's been twenty minutes since school got out, and already it's only my three kids and a few others left on the playground.

When a public park sits right in between your elementary school and the parking lot, you have a prime opportunity for people watching. Five days a week.

Every day I watch as parents gently prod their children past the park, their kids throwing longing looks over their shoulders. (Swings must look exhilarating when you're five years old and headed for a booster seat in a dark SUV.)

Plenty of parents let their kids burn off some energy before heading on, and some stay long enough for their kids to get immersed in a game of tag while they chat with fellow parents.

That said, not many of them linger past the half-hour mark; they have places to go.

But a lot of days, I stay, my feet planted in the bark chips as I push a soaring child on the swings or cheer another one across the monkey bars.

We have time to linger. We've got no reason to hurry.

Maybe you're the same kind of parent, soaking in the sun at a park five states away from me. Or maybe you tend to keep a full schedule and are curious about doing life and parenthood another way.

I believe everyone should take life at the pace that suits them, and the pace that happens to suit my family is a slow, purposeful one. If you too would like to embrace an un-hurried life, here are ten benefits I've noticed in my own kids from living at the pace we enjoy.

10 Benefits Kids Gain from an UnBusy Life

1. They have more time for unstructured play, more time to tinker.

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. — Fred Rogers

2. They spend more time in nature than busy kids. 

I want my children to know nature—to feel the crunch of dried pine needles under their shoes, to take in the view from the upper branches of a tree—so that they can grow to love it. For us, that simply means making the time to get outdoors.

3. They have time to follow their curiosity. 

10 Benefits Kids Gain From An UN-BUSY Life: Life should be taken at the pace that suits you and your family. Embrace an un-busy life today. Enjoy these ten benefits to living slow (and purposefully) with your kids. *Loved this post! Such a good read for parents.

4. They are less entitled.  

I'll be the first to tell you that our family fights entitlement in other places; I think all parents do. But my kids don't expect to be signed up for the next sports season before the current one even ends. Expensive art classes or private music lessons aren't on their radar. In this sense, their entitlement meter is blessedly low.

5. They have less agitated parents.

When we rush our children from one activity to the next, we sacrifice the ability to be in the moment. Worry and agitation build. A slower lifestyle often translates to calmer parents and calmer kids, and I think calm and content parents is one of the greatest gifts we can give our families.

6. They sleep better.

A brain that is firing from one thing to another has a harder time settling into deep sleep. Children included.

7. They're familiar with boredom.

You've seen it, right? Boredom carves out this amazing space where kids can draw on their own resources and get creative with their time. Plus, kids who are familiar with boredom often develop rich inner lives.

And someday, they will be excellent at waiting to grab their luggage and de-plane.

8. They're free for playdates, any time. 

How rare is that these days?

9. They don't feel rushed to grow up.

With fewer outside influences in their lives, kids can remain kids just a bit longer.

10. They come to value simple living. 

Someday in the not-too-distant future, my kids may start asking for more activities, more lessons, more museum trips, more social engagements. And when they do, I'll follow their lead—but with caution. I know myself and my kids, and I'm more than willing to set up boundaries that allow us plenty of down time, plenty of white space for our souls.

My hope is that when they're grown, they'll remember dozens of afternoons at the park across the street and hundreds of evenings with toy lightsabers, pink scooters, and neighborhood friends out on our front lawn.

10 Benefits Kids Gain From An UN-BUSY Life: Life should be taken at the pace that suits you and your family. Embrace an un-busy life today. Enjoy these ten benefits to living slow (and purposefully) with your kids. *Loved this post! Such a good read for parents.

They'll remember complaining to their mom about being bored and then finally giving up and getting lost in the world of Harry Potter on the top bunk.

They'll know that their mom did her best to find a pace that suited her—and them. 

And they'll build lives of their own, with an awareness that pace and contentedness go hand in hand.

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Let Why LeadErica Layne is a sunset chaser and a mom of three living in the San Francisco Bay area. She writes Life on Purpose, a place for wholehearted women building wholehearted families. She’s passionate about living fully and filling her family with love and belonging—and helping other women do the same.

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If you enjoyed this post, Erica would love to send you a copy of her Top 16 Resources for Wholehearted Women (4 TED talks, 4 podcasts, 4 blogs, 4 books), which comes with each quarterly newsletter. The next edition goes out next month: Sign up here!

Be sure to also check out these great posts:

  • 9 Ways to I Reduce Noise in My Life
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  • 24 Self-Care Practices for Mothers

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10 Benefits Kids Gain From An UN-BUSY Life: Life should be taken at the pace that suits you and your family. Embrace an un-busy life today. Enjoy these ten benefits to living slow (and purposefully) with your kids. *Loved this post! Such a good read for parents.

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning.” Fred Rogers

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