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No furniture, thank you

I’m sitting here on the rug, fidgeting around to try and get comfy. My back aches (we had a marathon feeding session at bed time), my legs ache (we walked to the park and back yesterday and I carried DS on my back and the rucksack on my front), and I’m shattered. We have this great big space and no furniture to fill it – but I like it this way. It’s great to have the space for the littlies to run about in, to spray their toys everywhere, to not feel cluttered or taken over by giant lumps of furniture that break up the room and create pockets and places for things to hide or become hidden in. This reminded me of some posts I’d read a while ago on the Nutritious Movement blog, so I headed over there for moral support and ideas about how to justify this a “thing” rather than it being because we just don’t have any furniture.

It really makes sense to me that creating a space that enables us all to move around is generally better for us. Coming up the stairs just before starting to write this post I was struck by how the wide open floor reveals so much of our day, and also how much easier it is to tidy it up! We don’t have places to make or hide piles. The ends of sofas were terrible for that in our last house. Then I think of all the running around that takes place – how there’s room for puzzles, paints, stories, and ride-ons (like DS’s new car toy, which he loves!)

As well as suggestions for ways to live closer to the floor – so you’re standing or floor-sitting, not slouched in a couch or chair – I found some great posts about how and why to get us lazy humans moving. Katy advocates that walking is the most important activity we humans can do – and I agree with her. Never mind gym time or workout time, just incorporating walking into your day and doing it deliberately, as well as working on walking with your kids so they build stamina for walking too, is great for your health and theirs. I’m aware that we’re not walking as much as we used to but because DD has a great base she still has great stamina and often surprises us with just how far she can and will walk when she’s in the mood. Even though she’s 3 1/2 we always take a sling so she can have a rest, if needed. She usually walks until she’s tired then hops in the sling when she’s truly beaten. Respecting her rhythms mean letting her decide when she’s had enough and it seems giving her the option to rest when she needs to often gives her the freedom to carry on just that little bit further. On our short walk to and from the lake yesterday we stopped for rocks, bugs, snail shells – you name it! – then she ran around for an hour before walking 1/4 of the way back before finally throwing in the towel. I know, from hanging our with friends’ kids, that her stamina levels are pretty unusual for her age, except for when we walk with other kids from homes who have a similar mentality to us and who have been walking with their kids from a very young age, giving them the freedom to literally find their feet. Buggies are the devil’s own work! DS will be walking soon too, so that’ll make our outside adventures more fun for him – and less carrying for me.

If you’re wanting to get walking and moving more with your kids – or are ready to consider chucking out your furniture and buying some pretty rugs instead (I do feel the need for more rugs) – I recommend checking out the 10 posts on this page of the blog. Given it’s the holidays and we have long days to fill I’ll be using some of Katy’s ideas for getting us all moving as much as I can. And in between I have some cushions to sow up so that we can get comfy in the absence of comfy chairs. Then I just have to figure out how to accommodate my parents when they come to visit in May. They think it’s bonkers not to have any furniture and because they’re not used to floor-sitting they’ll find it quite difficult. I can hear the whinging already so will have to get something “normal” for them to sit on. And maybe concede to meal times sitting properly at the table that’s buried under a mountain of boxes downstairs.

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