10 Odd Things We Do Not Own (episode 13)
as a family of 6 trying not to overcomplicate life (+ some favorite reads and links)
Every other week, we have a fun, lighthearted newsletter and podcast episode where I share with you something fun and then provide you with some recent favorite reads, links, etc. This is just that! Thank you for spending your precious time reading.
The voiceover above is just the first list of things we don’t own! The rest is exclusively in the written format!
Hi friend,
Happy November. I write this while sipping my morning coffee, cozied up on my couch. It sounds peaceful until I also add that I can hear my three oldest children talking upstairs about how it’s not 7:00am yet so they should wait to come down. It is 6:03am. They will be talking about this for a while.
We turned our clocks back two days ago for daylight savings and I will never understand why we insist on dysregulating our internal clocks twice a year, intentionally. Alas, here we are and I can now hear the babe babbling away too.
This is the life of a mother, always stealing minutes.
Honestly, there’s a kind of adrenalin rush in minute thievery. One eye on the keyboard, the other eye on the stairs door, expecting it to swing open and for you to be caught red handed.
Here is my trick—avert the crisis with a slam of your computer lid and a quick, “Ready for breakfast?” Children are always fooled by the fox who offers food.
Anyway, I thought I would make a fun list today naming some odd things that we do not own.
Because I’m now thinking about breakfast, let’s start in the kitchen.
10 Things We Do NOT Own (That Seem Weird To Some People)
Enough kitchen table chairs for our entire family— Don’t worry, we can still all sit together at our table. Our current kitchen table is a 4 chair table. The baby is in a booster seat on an add-on chair we pull up to the table. When my husband is home for a meal, or when we have guests, we have two stools we can pull to the table that are the perfect height. This works for us right now but our plan is to have bench seating on two sides of the table at some point!
Fancy coffee maker— Ya all, I didn’t think this was weird but the last few houses I’ve been in all have some fancy espresso maker and I feel like we missed the memo. We have a regular coffee pot. We do, however, also have a french press but only use it approximately four times per year, typically when coming home in an afternoon after being out of town and wanting just a cup of coffee but not having old coffee in the coffee maker to reheat. Yes, I said it. Normally we make a pot and drink it throughout the day. We reheat it in the microwave. All is well. Apparently I am not a coffee snob though I would beg to differ because I do, in fact, think Folgers tastes disgusting and I have an exact science to the quantity of cream I add to my Aldi coffee.
Top sheets— We will probably never own a top sheet that is used for anything besides fort making. Unless we own a guest bed one day. For a guest bed, I would add a top sheet. My husband was the one who turned me on to the no top sheet trend back in our younger days and together, we’ve never looked back. Honestly, they just end up bunched at the bottom of the bed and are a hassle in the bed making process. Comforter only for the win. It hasn’t been much of a dilemma for us to have to wash the comforter / comforter cover like a bed sheet.
Kid bedding— We don’t have fancy kid bedding. The kids have fitted sheets and pillow cases. But that’s it. They use a throw blanket sized blanket to cover themselves. When they “make their beds”, they either just lay the blanket flat on their beds or they fold it at the bottom, their choice.
Extra shoes for kids— I personally think we have a lot of shoes. But apparently we “hardly have any shoes” according to the kids’ friends. Our kids typically have: one pair of tennis shoes (and our oldest has gym shoes at school), one pair of rain boots, one pair of snow boots, and one pair of crocs. If they have anything more, like an extra pair of “fun” shoes, this is usually because someone gifted them a pair. I see kids change up their tennis shoes every day and I honestly think this luxury should only be afforded to humans who stay in the same size shoe for more than 6 months.
Fun backpacks— Our kids each have one plain colored Jansport backpack for school. I prefer the ones with a water bottle pocket and a “folder” (laptop) pocket. We get them a fun patch and sew it on each year. They do not get a new backpack each year. They do not need a new backpack each year. Our daughter’s backpack is on its fourth year of use. I wash it twice a year and it looks hardly worn. I’m hoping to make it at least 3 more years. When she hits middle school, she can either get a new backpack or cut off all the “little kid” patches.
Cups— Okay I lie. We do own cups. Obviously it would be rude to have guests over and own no cups for adults or kids. BUT we don’t use them, not really. We use them maybe twice a month when the kids get juice. We also aren’t a milk drinking family aside from babies and young toddlers. We do have a milk cup for our little guy. But otherwise, everyone drinks water from their water bottles.
Excess water bottles— We each have one water bottle. The kids that go to school also own a school water bottle. The end. We do not have a cabinet overflowing with water bottles. I thought this was normal too, just like the shoe thing, but I am told that most people keep extras. Extras just sound like work for me to have to wash and keep track of that many water bottles.
iPads— Our kids do not have iPads. Okay I only kind of lie about this—we were gifted an iPad a while back from both my brother and a friend. But they stay hidden in a basket up high on a shelf where the kids have forgotten about them and we have “forgotten” to tell them they exist. Whoops. ;)
Decoration— Obviously our house is decorated. BUT we have items that serve a purpose (and are also cute). For example, we have fabric scraps that needed a storage solution. We thrifted a cute basket and put it out on a shelf as “decoration”. The kids needed a mirror to wipe their faces off after a meal. We thrifted a tiny cute, yellow mirror that is now on our kitchen wall as “decoration”. We had too many chicken eggs and needed a system for storing. I thrifted simple, nesting circle baskets that now sit on our counter filled with eggs and double as “decoration”.
Our family is minimal-ish, heavy on the ish. We have plenty of unnecessary items. When you really think of necessity, it’s actually quite difficult to define. We need only shelter, food, water, and clothing. So how personalized do we get with those things? How far do we take each need? We don’t actually NEED much. So the question becomes—at what point do you consider it a luxury? That is just a matter of opinion.
Anyway, I share this list just because it’s fun to get to know fun things about other people’s lives. I think it gives some real life perspective on how we live. I know I always make up what I believe other people live like. So I enjoy hearing pieces of information on how others live so I can have the smallest sense of their reality, one that I didn’t invent with the lens of social media and other influencers in similar shoes.
Listening to how others live is my favorite way of getting new ideas!
If you gain one takeaway from this list, it is that you should rid of your top sheet.
A few good things
I recently finished Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. Not a big fan of the talking to dead people. BUT what I did like about this book was how tragic it was. Sometimes you just need to read a book that ends like real life, in imperfect, tragic confusion. 4/5 stars.
“Embracing ideals that matter always come with a cost.”—Sally Clarkson via her recent podcast. I’ve been taking fall photographs for a few families and it’s been exhausting. Honestly ya all, I have a problem with disappointing people and I just poured out too hard for everyone. Understanding my limits is a constant battle. This podcast is encouraging in remembering your why and practicing your ideals, even when it isn’t fun. Looking forward to getting back to capturing my own family well.
These Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies are a HUGE HIT at our house. I’ve been making cookie dough and freezing it with this recipe the last 6 months ish. We pull six cookie dough balls out and bake them fresh some days and everyone loves this new recipe. If you do the whole sourdough thing, this is a good one.
This week’s lunch inspo:
Words to write on elementary school lunch notes:
Fun Fact—The earliest hockey pucks were made out of frozen cow poop.
Joke—Q: What do you call an alligator that wears a vest? A: An investigator.
Fun Fact— Did you know? Owls don’t have eyeballs, they have eye tubes.
Joke— Q: What’s a scarecrow’s favorite fruit? A: Straw-berries.
Fun Fact— An ostriches eye is bigger than its brain.
Bible Verse— You must follow the Lord your God and fear him. You must keep his commands and listen to him; you must worship him and remain faithful to him. Deuteronomy 13:4 CSB
Fun Fact— There is only one letter that doesn’t appear in any U.S. state name: “Q”.
Challenge— Kind words are free. Give away a compliment today.
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Alright, WELP. I better letchya go. Chat next week!
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so fun Tash!! I really like the idea of this list and same on the minimal shoes, one school bag to last as long as possible and no ipads!
Also team no top sheet! Co-sign your review of Buckeye. It was so tragic. :( And your kids' lunches look so good!