You may see the title of this post and say, “let me get this straight- you are building a 3 story house with more rooms than you can count and you’re writing a blog about how love grows best in small houses?!” 🤔

That is correct.

You see, for the last 3 years we have lived in a 1 bedroom house. For real. With 10 people. 😳 And yes, we are very much looking forward to the day we get to move into our new bigger house, BUT there are a few things that I will actually miss about this small house and I believe our family has grown closer together through living in such a small area. Here are a few reasons why I believe love grows best in small houses:

FEWER WALLS = MORE INTERACTION

Let’s face it- with few walls there are not many places to have a whole lot of privacy. While this can be irritating at times, it can also be the reason that we find ourselves visiting with each other rather than isolated in separate rooms. There have been times when a child is upset about something and they have to talk to me about it because there is not a room to run to to hide and cry.

LESS STUFF

When you have 8 children living in a small area, ‘stuff’ can quickly overtake the entire house. So, to manage this each child has a few under bed storage bins for their toys. Before Christmas and before birthdays we do a toy purge and get rid of broken toys and give toys away that are no longer played with. I know in the next house there will be more room and they will likely have more toys, but they have never complained during the last 3 years in our small house that they don’t have enough toys. Instead they use their imagination and make up games with the simplest things like a string or a ball, they color, swing on the indoor swings (<—best idea ever), and they play outside a lot. Less stuff frees their imagination and keeps our little home free of clutter.🙌

IMPROVED CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS

Our kids are literally next to each other all the time when we are home. If there is a squabble there is no way to run away and slam a door. They have to face the conflict and resolve it. I was noticing the other day how there are few times when an argument rises to the level where I need to get involved. 90% of the time the kids figure it out and come to a resolution on their own. I just sit back and listen to them come to a resolution. I really believe that a lot of these skills are a result of living so close to one another and having no choice but to figure out a way to work it out.

LESS TIME ON CHORES= MORE TIME WITH FAMILY

Would you believe that in our little house that it takes me less than 10 minutes a day to put laundry away?! This is because there are not 10 closets for all of us so we have a ‘family closet’ concept. All of our clothes are in one location and we keep clothes and shoes to a minimum. Since this task takes me less time in the evening I am able to spend more time with my favorite people. I could write a separate post on the family closet for big families, but the idea is sort of genius!

BEDTIME DISCUSSIONS

At night before we go to bed we can hear the kids visiting with each other from their beds. They have the sweetest and most random/hilarious conversations that we get to hear. Sometimes we lay there and listen to them giggle and ask each other questions as they fall asleep and it is seriously heart warming and the perfect way to wind down the day. When everyone has their own rooms and we are going to bed I will definitely miss this the most.

As I write this post, we are a few months from moving into our big house. I have 2 kids cuddled up next to me, 2 kids coloring by my feet, 2 kids having quiet time, and 2 playing a game together downstairs. These sweet moments when we are all together simply enjoying eachothers company are moments that I will always associate with living in this beautiful small house.

Until next time,