Where’s the missing piece???
25
Aug
Do you think that  DAILY ROUTINES are compulsory to keep a household or a person sane/ effective??
If you HAVE the answer – please COMMENT NOW !
If you are still unsure about the question – read more here:
I am a very organized person – that means my STUFF is organized…..my house….my shelves… but NOT my schedule!!
Having a tidy, uncluttered environment works for me – WONDERS !!! But that’s me.
Organizing our activities and daily routines will affect all those around me ! But – it is somewhat chaotic trying to get my kids on bed same time every day
Some days dinner is ready at 6
…. other days at 7 or 8.
Some days I exercise
…and some days I don’t!
Some days I take vitamins
…and some days I don’t!
So – it is EXTREMELY difficult to keep track of what is happening around me!
I think that keeping ROUTINES – same time to bed each day, same old story each day – will help everyone to get to what we are suppose to do in a day ! And be GOOD CITIZENS of our own health and performances !
But – my FEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…is to become one of those old people one day who can’t come visit because they have to have their “hair” done on Tuesdays…
or those people who yawn at a party because they usually go to bed at 10pm and now it is already 11pm – my goodness?!
or they can’t go for coffee…because this time every day they do spinning….
or the kids are running havoc because the hostess is serving dinner at 8 pm and we “forced” ourselves into eating everyday at 6 pm??!!
WHAT IF THAT HAPPENS??
What if we loose our easy-going, whatever comes, whatever goes type of attitude and become one of “THOSE” people???
THAT is what stands between me and seriously implementing the routines in this house.
I started implementing ROUTINES and STRUCTURE – I think that is the missing piece???
But I am SOOOOOo AFRAID that will ruin things in the long run??!!
I am so worried I will “over-engineer” this household.
CAN you help me out??
Is it working for you??
Tell me about YOUR routines or lack thereof and how it affects you and your life and OTHERS around you?????
PLEASE, PLEASE dont leave without HELPING ME OUT !!
The rest of my life depends on this decision I take today.
And you will be so happy you helped . Thanks.
I need it.
Ilze
Comments
9 responses to Where’s the missing piece???Leave a Response
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I dont know…I struggle with the same thing??
I believe being organized is good but being too strict on daily routines is not healthy. Especially for kids. Having some structure is great. But it should have some flexibility. A flexible lifestyle makes a flexible, open minded person. So school nights kids should have a bedtime and stick to that. But on weekends they can lax a bit – not too much. If they are off once in a while a it shouldn't be a big deal Of course make your plans and then prioritize and try sticking to them. But I will never get people who do the EXACT same thing EVERY day. Not normal. Life is too short.
Personally my kids have a bedtime that we stick to unless we have plans!! Dinnertime is usually at 6.30 but if dad's gonna me late we have it later, if he's not coming home at all we have it when we're hungry!! I know my exercise days but if something 'different' crops up, I take a break! I like having routine, but I don't break my neck or punish myself when I can't stick to it!
Routines are important in childrens lives – predictability allows them to focus on learning new stuff instead of "where is my shoe???" That said I agree with Esra – our kids need to be flexible – especially our nomads !!!!!! The big question for me is why do you have a routine??? Example – where do I put my homework – consequence I know where it is when I have to pack my bag and go to school. The example of dinner at the same time – why the same time???? are the kids hungry at that time??? I cook early on swimming afternoons because India is hungry- even sometimes I cook at lunchtime because then I can be with her instead of cook – but there's a reason to have that routine ! Other times we eat breakfast for dinner – pancakes and scrambled eggs – because we can, because life is about being spontaneous and laughing with your kids while you can. Routines need a purpose – bedtime seems logical to me- but only when the next day is school or something is happening – why have a bedtime for bedtimes sake???? Over the summer my kids were still eating in restaurants in Barcelona & Paris at 11:00 at night !!! What a life !!!! Maybe you need a few routines but don't change YOU – I know you and the reason why people love you is because you go for a coffee instead of the gym and like to do things by the seat or your pants !!!!!
I also struggle with this, as my life is infinitely more complicated with 2 kids with special needs. This is also the reason why a very 'set in stone' routine does NOT work for me. But I find if I start the day with a rigid routine that everyone commits to, then everything else falls into place. Everyone must be up @6am. Get cleaned up, dressed and polished, breakfast & supplements (big deal in my household), and then we usually rush off to the schools. The only thing I must still fit in here, is getting the 2 little ones dressed by this time, but that usually waits untill the school run is finished. Then just keep everything more or less planned in your head, keep an open mind for when things "come up", and Bob's your uncle ! Or rather, it works for me……
I think for young children, a routine is the answer to keeping order
in a household. Children thrive on knowing what is expected of them
and the discipline that goes along with it, and that goes hand-in-hand
with setting up a manageable routine (dinner, bath, book, bed, etc,
etc) and a consistent environment. I As they get older, variation in
the routine is inevitable – school, sports, friends, homework, all
come into play and can change the routine. To make it work, I try to
be flexible with the routine – but try to keep everything around the
same time – like dinner, bed, waking up, bath every night before bed,
etc, etc. It sounds boring, but the minute we get away from the
routine, there are tears the next day because the kids are so tired,
or someone is hungry and dinner is not ready, and the wheels fall off!
I look at our extended family, as they get older, the routine is
harder to break. But it is good in a sense that they revert back to the routine
type life that they had for sense and stability. – I've tried so hard to create that for my kids. I have been a
big believer in routine, and the kids have reacted well – on the whole
– to it. I think that a consistent life helps kids to know what is
expected of them, and how to behave within those rules. It has helped
w. everything from setting up healthy sleep patterns, to bedwetting,
to having more fun as a family because everyone knows what to expect.
Gotta run!
Hi my friend
Mmm, first of all, I have never been on a blog before! Kind of fun… and the first thought I had was "how do you get time to do this??" which brings us back to being organized or not! I started asking my children if they think we have a fixed routine or not and the response was "Yes"… and they started rambling it off
Here is my response: During the school year we are forced to have one… get up at a certain time, rushed out of the door to be on time for work/school, rush after school to do activities/grab snacks, start homework and try to have supper around 6pm. Our goal is to do devotion around 7:30 so that we don't rush through it – have time to chat about it and then off to bed for the little ones – goal is 8 but reality is 8:30… To cope as a couple we need some time alone so we work hard on getting them in bed (for us – a selfish act)… older two have more priviledges
Vacation time… different story but the kids still have to get up around 8, so I guess the word is BALANCE… so that you can cancel your hair appointment to have a cup of tea with a friend but same time have some control over your life…
Enjoy being and live life to the fullest 🙂 Enjoy and let us know what you have decided
I totally slack organizing stuff
Carien
I think that DAILY routine is not the answer… but it's very personal… You know I'm also very organized and try to do as much as possible out of my day, but I believe it's only possible by being flexible. With small kids it's difficult… having big troubles with NIcolas and will try to get more routine on his day… but as they grow older I think it's good to bring in more flexibility in their little lifes as well… Oh we have a lot of thinking to do here… let's do it and by the way show me how to use the great Benefit eye enlargement makeup! (your friend S)
Hi you! Ek dink daar moet 'n basiese roetine (opstaan, eet, huiswerk, bad, slaap, ens) weeksdae wees sodat ons ma's darem kan survive en almal weet wat van hulle verwag word. Sport, ens het 'n groot invloed op ons weeks roetine. Naweke is ons baie losser en nie strict nie en reel "roetine" dan volgens ons naweek program.