Routines are important. Daily routines help us get through the day. Children thrive on routines. The predictability of knowing what comes next, that comes with daily routines helps them feel safe and secure. Adults also benefit from daily routines, as you don’t have to think about what you’re going to do next but can just do it.
Routines help us achieve what’s need to get done, can help maintain healthy & not so healthy habits and can help with time management. Routines help children with the concept of time and can get them used to having chores.
Helping Children with Daily Routines
As I’ve said children like the predictability of daily routines. This doesn’t mean that they can never change but just knowing that, for example, after dinner we normally clean our teeth, have a story and go to bed; can help children know what’s coming next. It can help decrease some behaviour issues as they know what to expect.
When my children were younger part of the daily routine was to have a story before they went to bed. However we went to my parents house for dinner once a week and they knew on those nights that we didn’t have a story before bed as it was often a little later than normal.
For very young children it can be useful to have a picture chart of the morning or daily routine on it. Children can not only see what’s coming next but also learn to start doing the next thing for themselves. A routine chart can be very useful on school mornings so children know what they need to do in order to get ready for school. Also have a chart for afternoon & evening routines can be helpful.
Growing up my brother & I used to have our Saturday morning jobs. We had a list of 3/4 jobs each and would alternate week about which ones we did. Part of my children’s daily routines was for one to set the table and empty the dishwasher. The other had to take the bins out and fill the dishwasher. These were swapped week about and lined up in some way with who got to sit in the front seat of the car for the week.
What ever routines you start or children initiate can become the daily routine for many years. My daughter became afraid of the dark about when she was about 3 years old (quite common once imagination kicks in). Anyhow, she used to like to leave her lamp on when she went to sleep. This continued for many, many years. My son used to like me lying with him for “2 minutes” (or as long as he could stretch it for), just before his light went out. This was a practice he wanted continued until his early teenage years.
If children have become accustomed to certain daily routines they usually don’t like it when they change. Giving a warning that tomorrow is going to be different because of ‘x’ can be helpful in preparing them for an out of routine experience.
What other ideas do you have to help children with daily routines?
Daily Routines as Adults
As we are creatures of habit we all probably go through daily routines without even realising it. We probably all have routines for when we get up in the morning, what we do during the day and evening routines.
When we were first married I was quite surprised that my husband would get up and have breakfast before doing anything else. We are both evening shower people but I used to like getting dressed before breakfast. Now mostly I have breakfast straight away like my husband.
Pairing activities can also help with creating a healthy habit. For instance after I go for a walk in the morning I do my sciatica stretches. This way I remember to do the stretches and it helps stop my leg from becoming sore.
Laura Vanderkam writes a lot about time management and suggests keeping a time log for a week. After this she suggests looking at the patterns and see where you can make tweaks and changes to your existing daily routines to fit in what you want to achieve.
What things do you include in your daily routine?
Routines with Housework
In my head I have set days for set household tasks but it doesn’t always work out that way. Some people like to do the household chores all in one go, I like to do a little bit each day.
When it comes to laundry I do certain loads on certain days. My mother also did this, so this is what I was taught. Sheets get washed on a certain day, towels get washed on another day, clothes get washed on certain days.
What’s your preferences for household routines?
We are creatures of habit and often fall into patterns whether we think about it or not. If you think about it you can be more intentional about what you do and don’t want to include in your day.
Have you thought about your daily routine for yourself or your family lately? Is there anything you find particularly helpful about your daily routine? Is there anything that you’d like to to tweak or change?