FTC Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Arkansas Better Beginnings. I was selected to be a brand ambassador because of my shared commitment to their mission of providing our children with better beginnings. Everything I write on my blog are my true sentiments.
One piece of advice that I have often heard over the 4 years that I have been a mom is that children thrive on routines. And I believe it! Prior to becoming a mom, I served as a professional nanny and as an early childhood educator. I saw firsthand that children respond to having a routine. Even if they may rebel at some aspects of your routine (I know I am not the only one whose child suddenly needs to eat,play a game, read a book, or anything else that comes to mind when it comes down to bedtime), it actually makes their lives (and ours) run a lot more smoothly when they have some type of order to their day.
This was such a simple concept to grasp when I was getting paid to take care of other people’s children. It was part of my job. However, as a parent, it has proved to be a bit more challenging to enforce. Especially since I am a WAHM. It seems so much easier to just say that we will go with the flow. After all, what is the point of having a flexible schedule if you still have to have a schedule? Being honest, I fought against it. I thought that establishing a routine was not necessary for us. I also think that time management is just not something that comes naturally to me. It is something that I have to actively work at.
However, I am finding that it is worth it to work at it. Things really do run more smoothly for both of us when we both have an idea of what to expect. So, for all of my fellow mommy rebels out there who believe that life should be spontaneous and schedules are for the birds, I encourage you to at least try it. You don’t have to have every second and minute of your life planned out (that would drive me bonkers), but try to do certain tasks at the same time each day. Have a scheduled time for meals, naptime, playtime, and bedtime. That has been a good point for me to start. If you work from home, have set office hours where your child knows that you will not be available. I have found that if you stick to even these small changes, it can reduce your stress by quite a bit.
If your family is like mine, and bedtime is the most difficult routine to establish, here are some tips from Arkansas Better Beginnings that I hope will help.
http://www.arbetterbeginnings.com/sites/default/files/pdf_files/Bedtime.pdf