Savannah Kuney, Marriage and Family Therapist Associate
Children are more likely to thrive at school and in their friendships when they have a safe and secure home life. One effective way to help a child feel safe and secure is through creating routines.
Routines around getting up and going to school, coming home from school, and going to bed are simple ways to help a child know what to expect which leads to feeling safe and knowing they are cared for.
Routines that can be important for child are:1
1. Getting up in the morning for school – finding a routine that works and repeatable is important, sometimes it calls for creativity and trial and error first.
2. Saying goodbye to a parent or guardian before school- being able to have a consistent goodbye and I love you before school is very important.
3. Transitioning from school to home- Children (most all people) need some way to move from being outside the home with peers and other authority figures, and schedules back to home life, parent/guardian, and home expectations.
4. Reconnecting after school and work- Coming back together can be a struggle for many families, this in an important time to build a routine of checking in with each other and knowing what happened in each of your days.
5. Family traditions such as dinner together or game night- Children need positive and fun activities with parents/guardians and siblings- these build bonding, which helps children feel safe; child they are more likely to be cooperative if they feel bonded and safe.
6. Bed time routines- A routine that accommodates healthy sleeping habits such as no caffeine before bed, getting off electronics 30 minutes or more before bed (electronics before bed can cause difficulties sleeping), a good night tradition for the family (hugs, kisses, tucking in, coming to check on them and saying good etc.) all done relatively at the same time or in the same order.
Signs children could be struggling and in need of a routine:
Change in eating or sleeping
Spending more and more time alone or on technology
Having difficulty paying attention or concentrating
Unusually irritable or crying more often
Having temper tantrums more often