If there is something in my house that keeps its members more or less sane they are the routines. Thanks to them, the kids know what they are playing today and what we still have to do. We do not mark all day with them, they are rather general guidelines, a minimum agreement between the different family members. For example, it is marked when you can watch TV, when you eat or when you go to bed and with what rituals (stories, milk, teeth, etc).
In this way we are surviving the long winter months, etc. But What do we do with the routines in summer?Do we still keep them on vacation?
The school: The great absent in summer
Or the nursery in case of the little ones. In those who go to courses, centers or summer camps you can go making a adaptation, since these are not usually as rigid as the "other school", and their schedules are not as extensive, so that there is no radical change between the "school period" and the month of August or the holidays themselves. On the other hand, we have those who have a vacation like "before", those of three months. Do you remember what three long summer months were like with nothing better to do than play? Me for half of those vacations right now MA-TO.
As I said, in these cases the routines are usually affected by the change of environments, caregivers and the decrease in stimuli. Even those children who are cared for all year by their grandparents or by a parent, notice the arrival of summer.
We ourselves do not behave the same on these dates
We are lucky to have a very sociable culture and a favorable time to socialize. We are going out, to stay with friends, family, to enjoy that sun that we have been waiting for so many months and it is just that sun that will mark the new routines. The sun and our clear geographical location, that you will not deny me that one does not do the same things in La Coruña than in Córdoba (to see who is the ready to go for a walk in Córdoba before 9 at night).
We get up and go to bed later. It is clear that one thing links the other, and these days they want more stay a little later in the street, even though we have to keep getting up to work. And one day we had dinner an hour later, or we have to stop at the burguer aid, small changes that are happening.
Relaxing routines does not have to be a bad thing
They arrive the holidays all together, which give a radical turn to our day to day, and it is all these changes in the routine of the little ones that usually affect them making as their days go by summer their rebellion and their mood swings increase without apparent sense. So you see yourself planning certain routines again so that relative peace returns. In my view, even if we use some routines again, it is facing these changes in the security of their day to day life that helps them see that life is not something rigid and that change is something positive.
We must try to maintain a certain order
It is clear that the changes affect the smallest ones, but we can minimize their negative effects and enhance the positive ones. So for example, on a day at the beach we can prepare a "picnic" so that if at home the eldest puts his cutlery on the table, here he continues to do so. If we then take a nap we can always reinforce that we can sleep with dad or mom. We can even make our own sand bed.
We need to keep in mind that not all children support schedule changes the same. It is possible that we will see children staying up late without this fact appearing to affect them and yet ours wants to go to sleep or begins to show those unequivocal symptoms that they need to sleep. We must not forget that even on vacation they continue to grow and adequate rest time is necessary.
How do your children carry the change of routines in summer? What do you do with them?
