Routine
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- Category: Blog Tuesday - Mrunal
One of the things I learned along the way, and quite frankly I have no idea where I learned it, is that kids love routine. I think I was told this before I had kids by some experienced dad who was trying to help me make less mistakes than he did.
Interestingly enough, I’ve found for my own children that there is much truth in it.
Children seem to have an incredible ability to be bored by things that adults find interesting and fascinated by things that adults find boring. They just think differently. Their ability to cry ‘again’ to the point of adult exhaustion is legendary.
Ethan our youngest will sit on my leg and do ‘horsey’ until my calf muscles are screaming for mercy. Yet try to get him to walk in the country and he’ll complain of tiredness before he’s out of his car seat.
We’ve found though that there are certain things of which our kids never tired. These things form part of the ‘routine’ from which I think they derive something of their sense of identity and security. Discovering and making the most of these things is one of the keys that helps us parent our children uniquely and consistently.
Let me give you some examples of routines that we have developed
- ‘Daddy nights’ - where dad takes each child out in turn has become a key time. Particularly for the boys, we can tell by their mood how ‘connected’ they are feeling with dad.
- ‘Games during dinner’ - where we play ‘i spy’ and other games (for ideas click here) Helps make dinner time a time of connection and fun.
- ‘Cooking with mum’ particularly for our eldest and youngest is a regular routine. ‘Come on mum, lets cook something yummy’ shouts our 3 year old.
- ‘Story at breakfast’ where dad tries to eat his breakfast while reading an inspirational story to set the day up!
- ‘Bedtime Horace’ where dad tells yet another story whilst trying not to fall asleep on the bed.
- ‘Sweetie shop after school - where dad (mondays) and mum (thursdays) enjoy a little treat themselves.
- ‘Waffle Wednesday and pancake Saturday’ - where dad motivates Ethan, our youngest, with news that the day can’t be that bad because it’s waffles or pancakes today
I’m sure you get the idea. It’s mainly about food or stories. I think though that the actual content of the routine doesn’t matter as much as that there is some routine. Our kids mark their week with the routines that they have and seem to enjoy life all the more because of it. What routines have you developed?
