Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your family?
I am Ronia the owner of Milan Kids Boutique which is a kids concept store located in Ottawa, Ontario. Our family consists of my husband and I and our little boy Milan who is 4 years old. Some things I am passionate about are reading, health, minimalism, and sustainability.
What inspired you to incorporate slow living, sustainable practices, and environment awareness into your family’s lifestyle?
It all started when I moved to Canada in 2015. I started hearing words such as “Sustainable”, “Green”, “environmentally friendly” and started asking questions and educated myself more on the subject as it really captured my interest. I was also vegetarian for a few years (2016-2020), and I chose to be vegetarian not for dietary reasons but rather environmental reasons including what I learned about animal farming and what it does to the environment. It really came full circle when I had my son in 2020, I took on the mission to raise my little family with much awareness and thoughtfulness and a slower pace.
What are some activities you enjoy doing with your children that promote slow living and mindfulness?
We enjoy reading books. Our favorite book at the moment is about fear and worries and it teaches kids to self-reflect, think, breathe and really just slow down.
I am a big advocate for zero screen time when it comes to kids (not to say our consumption is at 0 but it is really the goal). When you eliminate screen time, kids are forced to be active, forced to be present in their environment, so we do lots of outdoor play, independent play time and even just allowing boredom into my son’s day to day and accepting it and not fighting against it and labeling it as bad or negative.
How do you encourage your children to appreciate the present moment?
Parents are kids’ role models, so I think it is crucial for parents to practice appreciation and show gratitude to things around us on a daily basis. Human mind is naturally negative, and it takes a lot of practice even for adults to have that shift in their mindset and to be in the present moment and appreciate it for what it is regardless of the worries you have for the future for example.
I think gratitude should be taught to children at a very young age. One practice we do is that I ask my son daily before bedtime about his favourite part of his day. I think that helps him reflect on his day and focus on the positive.
How do you incorporate sustainable practices into your daily family life?
- Try to generally consuming less of everything
- Being more conscious about materialistic things we buy, the food we consume, and the products we use daily.
- Reading labels and identifying harmful chemicals
- Shop local as much as possible, and support local businesses
- Avoid Single-use plastic products.
- Avoid trends and fast fashion.
How do you teach your children about the importance of caring for the environment?
Incorporate books that teach kids about the environment, our planet and speak about harmful things humans do that hurt our environment. Explain and let kids be involved in decision making when it comes to grocery shopping for example, let them know how you feel about bagging your vegetables in single-use plastic bags over bagging them in reusable bags. When kids are older, you can let them be involved in community initiatives that are focused on the environment.
How do you involve your children in activities such as gardening, composting, recycling?
Unfortunately, gardening is not my area of expertise, but my son got the chance to plant a lavender plant at school which we picked and gave to the school. So sometimes by choosing which school or camp to enroll your kids in, can help bring a positive impact on your children in areas where you are not able to bring much impact.
How do you incorporate nature into your children’s upbringing?
We are so lucky to live in Ottawa, Canada. Lots of outdoor activities, parks, hike trails during spring, summer and fall. Outdoor time is always incorporated into my son’s daily routine even in the winter time and he loves it outside regardless of the weather.
Can you share some of your favorite outdoor activities you do as a family?
We enjoy taking long walks, biking and hiking. My son loves playing in the water and with sand. We also try to do family picnics on the weekend.
How do you use outdoor time as an opportunity to teach your children about the environment?
Noticing details around us. It goes back to taking time to be present and in the moment to take notice of the environment around us. Sometimes picking up trash thrown on the road can model to kids the importance of proper trash recycling and keeping the community nice and clean. Also encountering animals like squirrels, cats, dogs, insects…etc can help teach kids about animals and help connect them to the natural world.
How has your family life changed after incorporating environmental practices and slow living into your day-to-day?
We are just happier overall. Living consciously, sustainably and incorporating slow living into our daily life has just given us the opportunity to enjoy the present moment together much more, and it created the space and the time for us to make wiser and healthier choices.