Book Review: Rhythms, Routines and Schedules
Do you have a new baby at home and you are totally working on mombie mode? (mom +zombie = mombie. It’s a real thing, I promise.) Or are you struggling to get your no longer toddler child to adjust to a preschool routine and expectations. Even better, do you have small children and have a new one to integrate into the chaos?
I’m going to go on record as being a schedule hater. My husband, an orderly Type A person who once had the job title “Scheduler” knew this before marrying me. But everything about being a slave to the clock made my skin crawl. That being said, I’ve been around kids, and I know that they need some level of predictability in their life in order to feel safe, so when I had my first I embraced the concept of routine vs. schedule. If you are a schedule lover this may sound the same, and this book will still serve you well as it lists out soothing sample schedules complete with suggested time frames and activities. There are even printables that you can put in a plastic sleeve and check them off if that type of thing gets you going. Not gonna lie, I skipped most of the lists as they make me nervous.
What I did love was the suggestions of general routines, such as sleep, feed, play for baby. That makes sense, and you can start it whenever your child feels like startling awake. That can be adjusted for when your child is sick and the energy level isn’t the same, or when the time change screws with all parents of young children. It doesn’t dictate that I go shopping in the afternoon or have to have lunch by 11am. My children dictate that, but that’s a different topic.
This also works for some of you building your family in other ways, such as foster and adoptive parents, or for those of us who have special needs children. In fact, my oldest gets warm fuzzies whenever we talk about schedules, because quite the opposite of his skin crawling like mine, he literally requires them to function. His little brain needs the boundaries. I would hazard to guess most little brains need the boundaries, and his is just an extreme manifestation of this, but part of being a mom is meeting your children where they are and adjusting to their emotions and learning style, wherever that comes from. So even though my children are outside the age range of this book, we still embrace the rhythms and routines of life, and use those to keep us sane. Did I mention summer break starts next week?
If you bought the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2016 you already have this book, and what a great deal you got! Go absorb and incorporate it! If not thanks for clicking through my link to buy it!If not there is a flash sale June 1 & 2 - it is your last chance to get this book, my ebook, and a huge resource library for homemaking and motherhood! Don't wait!
Please note, while there may be affiliate links or payment for reviews, all opinions are my own. You can't buy a good review from me, people. I am way too mouthy for that.
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