Kids vs. Time- The Epic Battle
Happy Thursday!
One of the most consistent day-to-day annoyances I hear from parents is about their family’s relationship with TIME. The hardest moments occur when time constraints require everyone in the family to move with the same sense of urgency when clearly some members of the family didn’t get the memo.
A perfect example of this happens for many of us on weekday mornings. While lots of adults have a pretty firm grasp on what needs to happen before school and work, kids can seem blissfully unaware that there’s any time pressure at all on weekday mornings– even when we tell them in no uncertain terms. One family with two working parents described to me the painstaking slowness of their young child carefully chewing each and every bite of her breakfast and taking dainty sips of juice while the adults rushed around the house preparing to shoot out the door the minute she was finished eating. Another parent described to me how her child becomes engrossed in exploring something random every single morning while the adults become increasingly frantic about their lateness. This plays out over and over in a hundred different ways, but often ends the same: the grown-ups yelling and the children crying.
There are some really good reasons why this challenge exists, which I explore in my latest blog post: Kids vs. Time- The Epic Battle. But if you want to skip to the solution, here it is:
The most important thing we can do for our children is create reliable routines.
Some kids need a morning or evening to-do list taped on their bathroom mirror, others do well with time-based daily schedules to help them stay on track, while many benefit from a weekly overview to help them know what is happening on what day. The scope and style of the routine can vary greatly depending on the needs of your child.
Whatever level of support your kids need in understanding how time works, it’s ideal for the person or people who are going to use the routine to take part in creating it. Even if their ideas aren’t as efficient as yours, participating in creating routines, lists of expectations, and timelines is the best way to begin understanding how time works. There is no better way to understand how much time things take than to experience it for themselves.
Tip of the Week: Check out my new blog post with more details about how to create structured yet flexible routines that meet the needs of your family.
Resource or Activity of the Week: Want to SERIOUSLY nerd-out with me about how time works? Check out this short clip!
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Want to explore how I can help you one-on-one or in a group setting? Schedule a free call today to discuss your parenting goals.
Warmly,
Cari
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