PPP105: The Blessing of Routine

13Aug 2018 by Shelly Davis

The Blessing of Routine

We all know what a routine is. We follow a routine, whether good or bad, every day. Get up at a certain time, get ready for work or school, the route we drive to get to those locations.

The Miracle Morning and The FlyLady are two well-known websites geared to help establish good routines. Have you used these?

Listen to the full episode here

Summer - a blessing and a curse

I love the free time with a loose schedule, staying up too late, sleeping in. However, the reality of summer is that I get less accomplished. If I don’t “have” to do it now, I tell myself I will do it later but really it doesn’t get done.

The beauty of a routine or schedule is that things get finished, not pushed back.

School = Schedule

When school starts in a few short weeks, we will get back on a more predictable schedule. We know what will be happening Monday through Friday and what needs to happen after school.

There is no room for procrastination. Homework must be done each night or it will compound and be even more overwhelming.

Supernanny - too many bosses

I watched this episode of Supernanny on YouTube the other day. The parents of these five children were well-intentioned but they were distracted by their own interests and lazy when it came to instructing their children.

They had plenty of help with a grandmother and nanny on their team. Instead of helping, this added to the problem. There were too many bosses but no one was really in charge.

Supernanny’s outside perspective helped them set things in order. She reminded the parents of their responsibilities and helped them learn to set up routines and delegate responsibilities and clear expectations to the other adults on their team.

This resulted in less chaos, less stress and more order. Everyone was happier; especially the children who now spent quality (and quantity) time with their parents.

Decide NOW

Now is the perfect time to sit down as a family and determine what your fall routine will be. Assign responsibilities together and setup routines that help everyone fulfill their duties. Be prepared and get things set up BEFORE you are tired or stressed or just ready to do the easiest thing. Routines help make decisions ahead of time so getting things done becomes the easiest thing.

Allow your piano kid to help make the decision ahead of time.

Talk about their schedule
Teach them how to budget their time
Assign age appropriate chores to help children learn to take care of their home and contribute to the household.
Depending on their age, back off and give them room to make mistakes and deal with the consequences.