Setting Boundaries: Part 3 Routine: Setting Your Child up for Success
Generally speaking, the goal of raising a child is for them to be successful members of society, and what that means to every parent varies greatly, but for most, this means preparing to do well in school.
Now we all know that there are a specific set of expectations for every school setting, your child is expected to follow directions, a routine, and interact well with others.
You as the parent are your child’s first teacher and if you want them to succeed it is your responsibility to set them up with the tools they will need.
Let’s talk about how we can start this process.
More on the topic:
Having Realistic Expectations
It is important to have realistic expectations for your child, think about their temperament and how they do with change. A toddler won’t typically have the ability to get dressed on their own or do their hygiene routine alone.
So you’ll have to guide them through it. Now, this doesn’t mean that you should limit your child but having them do things on their own requires you to introduce them and slowly give up your control of the situation.
Brushing teeth for instance, at first you may do hand over hand, guiding your child, then you might allow them to start doing it on their own. The same stands for any activity you want to include in your child’s daily routine. It is your job to introduce the expectations of the activity and verbally and visually guide your child.
Be Positive
We are social beings, a typically developing child learns to read social cues in infancy, if you are agitated, and stressed while interacting with your child then they are more than likely going to reflect those feelings right back creating a stressful interaction.
You should aim for being relaxed yet assertive, think no yelling, but I’m letting you know this is what we’re doing. If you keep in mind that your emotional state is reflected in those around you it’ll help you be more mindful of your interactions with everybody in your life.
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Be Organized
In your expectations and environment, think about the logical order of things that need to get done and the space in which your child will be completing these tasks.
Will your child wake up and play or do they need to get ready for the day? When cleaning up does your child’s items have a place to go and will that spot always stay the same? When it’s time to eat does your child have a specific spot where they know they can sit and eat?
These things are vital, it is not just about creating a routine but about the components that will make that routine successful. As a parent or caregiver set things up so that your child can associate what you expect of them with a location or action.Now that we discussed the basics, next we’ll talk about setting up a routine.
Now that we discussed the basics, next we’ll talk about setting up a routine.
