Seeking Simplicity

I read an amazing book at the beginning of the school year, Simplicity Parenting.  It was written by someone with a Waldorf background, but it ties in beautifully with what I am trying to accomplish with Montessori.  I was so inspired that I decided to redo Turtle's room (in the midst of preparing for her first friends-at-the-house birthday party).  It was elegant, it was beautiful, it worked, it was short-lived.  Because of course after the birthday party, we had more toys to accommodate, which I hadn't planned for when I redid her room.  Now we are back to chaos.

It seems to be a recurring pattern for me: seeking to streamline and simplify, but instead managing to over complicate. I do it at home.  I do it at work.

Recently my sister and I had a Christmas planning session & we decided that THIS year we WILL keep the celebration simple.  Simple menu, lots of time for outdoor fun, streamlined gift giving.  I shared the plan with DH.  He laughed.  Apparently there is some doubt in our ability to keep the menu simple. (I blame all the shiny holiday magazines that brazenly stare at me in the checkout lanes!)

Where does this longing for simplicity come from?  How do I stop the "you know what would be a great idea"  from getting in the way of reaching simplicity?  What is simple these days anyway (asks the woman who is blogging from her laptop)?

While you ponder these deep questions, I'm off to read another chapter of Little House in the Big Woods to Turtle  :)