Held By A Ritual
On finding rhythm and connection through everyday rituals with young children 🕯️
When you’re raising small children, the passage of time begins to blur — an exhausting haze where days and nights no longer have clear separation, and weeks slip into months, then years, in the blink of an eye.
But when you live closely with your children, you begin to notice the seasons — not just on the calendar, but in your home. The shifting light, the evolving rhythms, the ever-changing needs of your children — all of it unfolds right in front of you.
Where I live, winter is long and harsh. The cold settles in deep, and thick snow blankets the world outside for months at a time. Then, at last, summer arrives — warm and golden, with long stretches of daylight that linger late into the evening. And because we’re home together, free from fixed schedules, our days are able to evolve right alongside the seasons.
🌼 In summer, we live outside. We marvel at the world around us — taking slow walks, talking to the trees, smelling every. We blow bubbles, draw with sidewalk chalk, have picnics in the shade, and spend long mornings barefoot in the grass.
But in winter, we draw inward. Our days are marked by slow, cozy rituals — a roast in the oven, muffins rising in the warmth of the kitchen, bread dough softening under our hands. We watch the snow fall quietly beyond the window. We paint at our easels, we curl up with blankets and books. 📚
The ability to shift and adapt — to move with both the seasons outside and the seasons of my children’s growth — is one of the great gifts of this time at home. But even in the midst of all this change, I’ve found we need a few things that stay the same — small, repeated rituals that gently root us to our days.
They’re simple things. Not performance. Not perfection. Not elaborate routines. Just moments that return again and again, quietly giving our lives a sense of shape and softness.
☕️ Every morning, my toddler helps me make coffee. He knows the steps. He knows which buttons to press. It’s a sweet moment of connection, tucked into the calm before the day speeds up.
Every evening, we light candles at the dinner table and leave the overhead lights off. The dimness calms us. It warms us. It signals that we’re here — together — and that this moment matters. 🕯️
At bedtime, I support my children to sleep. Right now, that means nursing and rocking my baby, while my toddler listens to a story and cuddles close before bed. As they grow, the rituals will change. But the meaning will stay the same — a pause, a gentle end to the day.
These rituals offer a familiar shape to our days — for them, and for me. They serve to keep us grounded, rooted to one another. I’ve learned you don’t need a perfect schedule. You don’t need to do it all right. Maybe you just need a few gentle rituals to hold onto — rhythms that help you feel like yourself inside the beautiful swirl of motherhood. ✨
✨ Want to keep walking this path together?
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