Thank you for sharing this inspiring story! I don't know 'Ugliest House in America' at all but the transformations are amazing so many thanks for the discovery, it's the kind of show I like to watch when I feel like settling down.
At home, so in my converted van, I also try to follow the principles of minimalism, getting rid of useless objects and keeping only what is really important to me (utility and/or joy).
But in my story, what interests me most is how you and your wife managed to integrate your children into this minimalist lifestyle, especially in this age of overconsumption. Are these values that you were already starting to have before the children?
I don't have any children, so I don't realize how difficult it is, but all around me, I see families who can't refuse their children things as soon as they go out. And yes, it must be difficult to refuse something, but at the same time, my values are far removed from this consumer society. So I'm really interested in your opinion.
Yes, my wife and I had already started a bit of a minimalism journey before having kids. She had done a major purge or two by the time our first sone was born and I had done most of my purging shortly after the second was born. It took me a little while to catch up to where my wife was with it. I still have a slightly different view about minimalism than she does. I don’t mind certain collections (vinyl/records, books, technology stuff) whereas she’s a bit more on the strict side (she reads a book and puts it in a donate pile the next day).
Our kids did have a lot of toys when they were little, but we made a point to them about all the toys they had but never played with. They understood that and got rid of stuff they didn’t need. Since I was the only money earner in the house, we never had money to just spend on getting things for our boys when we were out shopping so they learned to be okay not getting things every time we were out pretty early. The hardest part was convincing family members not to just get them a whole bunch of stuff for birthdays and Christmas.
This is super inspiring, thank you so much for this feedback. I find it really adminrable that you managed to instill these values in your children from a young age, making them understand the importance of not accumulating unnecessary objects.
I think my vision of minimalism is the same as yours: there are no strict rules to follow, but rather an approach that can be adapted according to each person's needs and interests, without falling into extreme accumulation.
For example, I'm a fan of pocket knives (EDC), and it's impossible for me to get rid of them because they mean so much to me and represent who I am.
Coming back to your children, as I said, I don't have any yet, but these are values I really want to instill in them. And indeed, I think it's hard to resist the social and family pressure to give lots of presents!