Parenting: Holiday routines: How much should you bend?
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Should parents keep school-time routines during long holidays?
happy holidays from 702 let's walk the talk it's 11 minutes after 8 o'clock time for us to talk parenting and this morning we're asking the question is it a good idea to keep your child's routine so during the week things are pretty organized dinner's had at a certain time homework is done at a certain time bath time is at a certain time bedtime is at a certain time because it also just makes things a lot easier to manage also make sure that your kids aren't late they get school on time They get enough sleep, et cetera, et cetera. But things then change. They're a little bit different over the holidays, especially holidays, these long ones. So kids are at home for quite a number of weeks over the festive season and the beginning of the year.
And so should you be keeping the routine that they are usually in during the year when they're at school? Or do you allow for a holiday routine? Do you bend the rules a little bit? I'd like to hear from you if you're a parent or a caregiver on how you approach routines and schedules over the holidays. Give us a call on 011-883-0702. Send us an SMS on 31702 and your WhatsApps on 072-702-1702. Joining us on the line now is family and parenting coach Susan Grego Harlan to talk to us about your child's routine and holidays. Susan, thank you so much for your time. Welcome to Weekend Breakfast. Thank you so much for having me. So let's start here. Before we talk about, you know, why routines could or could not be adjusted in holidays or during the holidays, let's talk about why a routine or a schedule is so important.
Why is that so crucial for children? Why do they need a routine?
Well, first of all, a routine, I mean, you know, when we have our babies, the first thing we want to do is get them into a routine. Because as you said, you know, at the beginning, is that it gives children structure, it makes things predictable, and it keeps them safe. It gives them a sense of security and a sense of safety. Okay, I know this is happening. I know what's coming next. There's no sort of surprise, you know, we're doing this now. That makes children feel secure, which is very needed. It's very needed. Once a child feels secure, then different developmental things can start to happen. If a child feels insecure, you know, then you get that attachment syndrome, you get all those sorts of things.
But it also teaches children time management. it teaches them a beginning, a middle, and end. So it teaches them how to manage their day. So without us even knowing, that's what we're trying to get our children to do. And later on in life, when they leave us, they will be managing their time. They will be managing their day. It prepares them for the world. It prepares them for school. It prepares them for their work world that they're going to enter into without us even realizing that's what we're doing. So it's vital. It's important.
But
Much like adults, do you want to follow your routine in the holiday? Do you want to be going to them at 5 o'clock in the morning? Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. You know? And so to relax a little bit with their routine is also important because by letting them relax, It allows yourself to relax because who runs the routine at home? Parents do. The caregivers do. Parents. Exactly. So when you relax a little bit with the routine, you're teaching them the difference between, okay, there is work time and then there is relax time. And you get them prepared to sort of step into that mode because when there is routine, you are almost always in work mode. And so we need children to understand that there are times where you can relax a little bit.
I'm not saying forgo the routine completely. I'm not saying let your children not bath for three weeks. Not at all. But you're allowing them to, okay, take a breather. It's safe to take a breather. And the routine will come back. So I always say it depends. You know, just before, about a week before school starts, get them back into the routine again. So that by the time school starts, it's not a fight. So it's a gradual releasing of letting go of the routine and then it's a gradual getting back into the routine.
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