One of the best things you can do as a parent is provide a daily routine for your child. Imagine being a young child where virtually every minute of every day is a learning experience. New and different things are coming at you all the time and you are bombarded with stimuli that requires processing. This is a big job for a little kid! As an adult, most of the stimuli in our daily lives is familiar and known to us. We have already processed it before (such as operating the toaster or coffeemaker in the morning, driving a car, knowing which roads to take to get us to work, and so on.) But for a very young child nearly everything in their world is something new, including their own bodies. They must learn language, motor skills, and toilet training, to name a few. What they most certainly do NOT need is more uncertainty brought on by the disorganized and hectic lifestyles of their parents. What they do need is routine, structure, schedules and rules. Children thrive on knowing what their day is going to be like. A daily routine for your child provides them with something they can count on, something that is constant and steady in a sometimes scary world. When a kid can count on the important parts of his day (mealtime, bathtime, bedtime, etc.) always being the same, then he doesn’t have to worry about what’s going to happen at any given time and is free to spend his day learning and exploring his world. Conversely, when there is no routine for a child (as, for instance, when he sometimes goes to bed at 7:30 pm and sometimes goes to bed at 11:30 pm, or he sometimes eats dinner at 5:00 pm and sometimes not until 8:30 pm, then he spends his valuable learning time wondering whether or if he will eat when hungry today or be able to sleep when tired tonight.) Chaos in a household is a waste of time for everyone. Having a schedule for the routine things frees up time for everyone in the house to do things that are more important, and more fun. Having and sticking to a daily routine for your child allows him to feel safe and secure in the knowledge that the important things are taken care of for him, and that there will always be things and people he can count on in an otherwise unpredictable world.
3.)You’re a Parent, Not a Friend
5.)When a Routine Life Isn’t Boring 6.)Don’t Deprive Your Child of Discipline
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