The Super Selfish Slow Down

Let's talk about the overwhelm so many parents experience during school holidays - how families automatically fill breaks with activities despite already being stretched thin. I recognised my own relentless cycle of home education, work, and household management, which led me to launch the "Super Selfish Slowdown" initiative.

The core message is simple: encourage intentional living rather than being swept along by the never ending loop of demands. Here's a practical four-step framework:

Step 1: Create a weekly schedule divided by activity type - marking immovable commitments in red, potentially cancellable plans in orange, and flexible activities in another colour. There's often guilt around cancelling plans - the feeling you'd be disappointing others, letting them down, when actually you might be feeling equal feelings of disappointment.

Step 2: Evaluate each activity by asking: Can it be eliminated entirely? Can it be simplified (buying cookies instead of baking them)? Can it be enhanced (adding comforts like warm coffee)?

Self-care isn't selfish - it models healthy boundaries for children and enables better presence during activities that remain. Watch out for perpetuating cycles where children internalise constant busyness as normal.

If you're in the thick of a home ed slump right now, know that it happens to all of us - and that giving yourself grace to slow down is not a failure, it's a strategy.

We dig into this more over on The BIG Home Ed Conversations podcast — also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and follow along on Instagram and TikTok @bighomeedpodcast.

If you'd like some 1:1 support building in your own permission to slow down, find out more about working with me at kellyrigg.mykajabi.com.