Permission To Live Slower: Our Story

We need to tell you something important.

Every family faces pressure to do more, be more, achieve more. The timeline that says your child should hit milestones by certain ages. The expectation that busy equals successful. The belief that if you’re not constantly improving, you’re falling behind.

We, too, have felt that pressure. Too much. Somewhere in trying to help Kim fit in and contribute typically in a world she doesn’t always understand, pressure crept in. Pressure to fit our square-peg family into round-hole expectations.

So we decided our life had to look different. We aren’t a typical family. We never will be a typical family. Coming to terms with that is a freeing feeling. Not the easiest, but freeing.

I once told our church congregation that even though our American Dream looks different than what I expected – or what others have – we will choose to live our best version of the American Dream. Not the one society prescribes, but the one that actually fits our family.

Ultimately, here’s what we learned: every family needs permission to live softer.

The Pink Bear Truth

You may have heard the pink bear story. How as a toddler Kim got a pink bear from her grandma, and latched onto it. Among all her piles of stuffed animals: bunnies, brown bears, even a stuffed snake, she chose the one that was different. She chose the pink bear wearing a calico dress. The pink bear went with her all over the house and “played” side by side with her all day long.

I realize now that the pink bear was more than a security blanket. As I look back on that memory, it takes on the significance we missed back then. In her quiet way she was saying, “this matters more than you think; this bear symbolizes me.” She had no idea a pink bear was odd, and so no one else did either. We all accepted the pink bear as part of the family.

And honestly? We could all use a pink bear.

What Slow Living Actually Looks Like

Slow living isn’t about being weak or giving up. It’s about having the courage to honor what actually works for your family, even when it looks different from everyone else’s version of success.

In our home, slow living means:

Learning happens at Kim’s pace. Some days that’s fast and eager. Some days it’s slow and careful. And maybe some days it doesn’t happen at all, and that’s okay too.

Comfort objects are welcomed. Whether it’s Kim’s pink bear, my grandmother’s scrapbook of taped-in newspaper poetry, or your child’s special blanket – if it brings peace, it belongs.

Failure isn’t the enemy. When Kim struggles with something, we don’t immediately look for interventions or solutions. We ask: “Is this struggle necessary for who she’s becoming, or is it just the world’s expectation of who she should be?”

Connection comes before productivity. Our kitchen table conversations matter more than our to-do lists. Always.

Different is celebrated, not fixed. Kim sees the world through a lens that often amazes me. Why would we want to change that?

Permission You Might Need

If you’re reading this, you might need the same permission we’re giving ourselves:

Permission to:

Trust your instincts even when well-meaning people tell you to try harder, do more, seek additional help.

Let your child set the pace instead of pushing them to meet timelines that feel arbitrary and stressful.

Choose gentle over efficient in how you organize your home, your schedule, your expectations.

Preserve what matters – family recipes, handwritten letters, quiet traditions – even if they seem old-fashioned or inefficient.

Permission to live softly in a world that often demands you live hard.

What Permission to Live Slower Means for kimenink

We’re not abandoning everything we’ve created. Our recipe keepers, first year baby calendars, and cottage core printables matter more than ever in this direction we’re going.

Instead of tools to optimize your life, they become invitations to slow down and savor it.

Rather than systems to fix your chaos, they become gentle frameworks to honor your family’s unique rhythm.

Instead of products to organize your mess, they become beautiful reminders that life is meant to be lived, not perfected.

The “Permission To Live Slower” Community

We want kimenink to be a place you come when it feels as if everyone is telling you to do more, try harder, push through. This is the family that gives you permission to live slower; to trust what you already know in your heart.

Maybe you have a child who learns differently, loves differently, contributes differently. Maybe you’re the one who feels like a square peg in a round-hole world. Or maybe you’re just tired of trying to optimize every moment instead of actually living them.

Either way, you belong here.

A Letter from Kim

What’s Next: Permission to Live Slower

We’ll be sharing Permission Slips – gentle reminders of what you’re allowed to be, do, and choose for your family. Real stories about living softer. Behind-the-scenes glimpses of how we navigate a world that often doesn’t understand our pace.

And yes, we’ll occasionally share beautiful tools that support this softer, slower way of living. But only as they naturally emerge from our stories, never as the main focus.

Because you don’t need another system to organize your life.

You need permission to live it.

Welcome to the softer side of kimenink. We’re so glad you’re here.