Do you know what the number 1 objection people had when we first started talking about living in a Tiny House?
Space! Families need space they said.
Admittedly it was something on our mind too. To one way of thinking we were looking to Tiny Living to improve or solve a lot of our problems. My stress trying to keep up with cleaning. Our ability to save and do something to improve our future. As well as the time we could spend together. There were definitely aspects that made me nervous however!
One of the things I was really nervous about were relationships. What happens when you cram a whole family including all of those various dynamics into a small footprint. My fear was literally “Aren’t we all going to go a bit nuts?”
Well I’ve been doing some reflecting this week. We’ve been living Tiny for 6 months and its been super interesting thinking back on the time we have spent in here.
Well a couple interesting things have happened.
Lydia who suffered really badly with separation anxiety after an interstate move at 18 months has come in leaps and bounds. She was still sleeping in our bedroom when we moved out but she has transitioned to her own space beautifully. She is confident and an amazing communicator. She thrives on the closeness and knowing Mummy and Daddy are RIGHT THERE if she needs us.
Abi is 1 soon and just adores her big sister. She loves crawling over the walkway to go visit her big sister in her room. I’ve really loved watching them play together. They play in our little lounge room actually better than they do in a big lounge room generally. I think there is something amazing about the adaptability of kids and their ability to invent games.
Small spaces have also forced our family to communicate.
We spend so much time sitting around our family space with a hot drink talking. Normally the kids will play on the floor, I’ll get comfy sitting on the stairs and Jeremy will sit at the table. We naturally spend a lot more time just talking. Maybe because there isn’t so much stuff cluttering our time and energy?
There also literally isn’t the space to go sulk or give each other the cold shoulder. Sure we still have disagreements (we had one on the weekend) and this is something we are always working to improve on. Sometimes we need to spend time thinking it over before we talk about it and hug it out. Honestly though I think we communicate a whole lot better than we have in a really long time.
Meals and evenings are far more of a family affair again.
We eat at the table and night-time TV habits have really changed as we don’t have a TV in here. Sure, sometimes we will pull the laptop into bed and watch 30mins of something together after the kids are asleep but the habit of zoning out infront of the TV every night has been forced out of our lives. It was an easy habit to fall into during the build as we were both feeling tired, stressed and overwhelmed as we faced the huge learning curve and challenge of DIY building and downsizing drastically.
6 months in and I’m still learning.
We are still adapting our space and learning how to adjust to different phases of life.
Honestly I don’t think I could ever live in a huge house again.
I love the closeness.
I love the togetherness.
I love the small space and the fewer possessions.
DIY building and the huge downsize bought a lot of hurdles and struggles to work through. Its been worth it though.
Our Tiny Home has made us strong.
Sarah
Ps.
Make sure you are in our chatter group to hear first all the new stuff I have coming for you guys! Its gonna be epic!!!