You read it everywhere, children love routines. And you know it is true and you keep the days more or less the same. Then, one day, you (you + your tot) have a cold, it's a depressing rainy September day, so you decide to stay in because the dog wouldn't want to walk in this weather anyway and you want to keep your son warm and dry. The more the afternoon shifts to the evening, the more anxious your child gets, he takes more trips to the front door and he starts saying "brm brm" more often (his word for everything with wheels, in this case for his motorbike). Suddenly it hits you. He needs his afternoon trip outside. So you start getting him dressed, you can see in his eyes the contentedness that he was understood and there is no change in his day-rhythm.
For some reason he didn't want to ride on his motorbike, we carried the motorbike all the way, but he seemed happy, at the end he requested going to the playground where he got all wet and sandy. So much for keeping him warm and dry. Even if it is not raining, the child still needs to wear his water-proof clothes.
My point is that he seems to love the routine and he doesn't like it to be disturbed. He seems fine with different routines when we are out of home, but he wants the days to be the same when we have nowhere to be.
But maybe it wasn't even about the routine, but he simply wanted to go outside? ;)
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Montessori doesn't consider routine a must, but child's free choice to do whatever he choses..
I can confirm, that kids need routine. I have the same with my kids. If there is any change in the routine, that kids are different and it is clear they want their normal schedule. I think kids need routine in order to feel safe - because they know what to expect.
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