Start Slow

Language Development
One of my favorite classes in college was Language Development. It was fascinating to me to learn how children (and adults) learn a language, and learn to speak and understand language. Generally, infants first pick up the sounds of the language most often spoken around them, and they begin to attempt to make these sounds from a very young age... even just a few months. As they get older, they begin to understand some words and commands, and by the end of their first year, most infants can say one or two "words", which may or may not sound like actual words to those outside of their normal circles (ie. to anyone other than parents or grandparents). Technically speaking, the term "infant" refers to those "without language," so a child officially becomes a "toddler" when they start walking, and start talking.

By the middle of the second year, most toddlers can understand the meanings of hundreds of nouns (cookie, cow, chair, garbage, etc), as well as many adjectives (slow, fast, tall, short, blue, etc) and verbs (run, walk, sit, stand, etc) and are beginning to understand more abstract concepts (wait, help, etc). These toddlers are also beginning to string together their own two-three (or more) word sentences.

My 19 month old with her baby brother. She recently started using a couple of phrases including "look-at-me" and "I-lub-it." For this picture she was telling me "look-at-me I hold Ben!" and "I-lub-it baby." 

So, after a year and a half of exposure to a language, toddlers can understand quite a bit, but are just beginning to express themselves using the language. And they mostly express themselves in areas that are most important to them, usually related to food, fun activities (my 18 month old loves to yell "Go!" when it's time to go anywhere), or interesting objects (ball, plane, cat, etc).

My 5 year old, who recently learned to say "zebra" instead of "zebwa"(finally).

By the time most children are 5-6 they speak in complete sentences, use mostly correct grammar, have an estimated 6000 word vocabulary, and are mostly considered "fluent." Even after this point, children, teens and adults continue to add to their vocabulary (though the rate slows), and most college graduates have a 20,000 word vocabulary, which continues to expand through adulthood.

What does any of this have to do with living simply?

We cannot expect to become experts in simple, organized living overnight... it takes a LONG time, and we need to start slow.

Step 1: Observing
Our first step in becoming fluent in simplified living, is to observe. We watch others who live the way we want to. We keep our eyes open for homes or displays or showrooms that have the feel we want. We need to become familiar and comfortable with the atmosphere we are trying to achieve, the same way a young infant observes, and becomes familiar with the basic sounds of the language they are learning.

Step 2: Practice the Basics
Try organizing & simplifying one cupboard, one drawer, or one shelf. Work on keeping it that way.

Step 3: Try Combining Basic Principles
Just as a toddler starts to form simple sentences, you can combine basic organization and minimizing principles to form simple systems and routines.

One of my 3 1/2 year old boys wearing his sister's pink ice princess pj pants, because we got behind and all of his pjs were dirty. 

Step 4: Build Fluency
This doesn't happen overnight, but as you continue to build your organizational "vocabulary" you become more familiar with how systems and routines work for you, and you can learn from your early "grammar" mistakes. Very slowly, you will feel more comfortable with your simpler lifestyle.

It takes a child 2-5 years to get a good grasp of their first language. You wouldn't be able to learn a foreign language overnight, or even in a couple of weeks. Start slow, and give yourself time to learn.

PS. As I wrote this post, and prepared to publish it, I realized that the same is true of our children... organizing and simplifying is a foreign language to them too... it will take them time to learn, so we need to be patient and encouraging, and set a good example whenever we can.