Friends in Manila will laugh ... but I'm talking about "routine," not the other "r" word against which the Embassy had a campaign.
A few months ago I wrote about dreading the change in "routine" and if a "routine" could ever really exist in our family since we basically have six months of mayhem from the pre-pack craziness, the pack out, the home leave, then initial settling in, the readjusting to a new pace of work, the (still anticipated) arrival of our stuff ("house hold effects or HHE in the FS lingo), all the way to the start of school in two months. We didn't need to go to the parent education gathering at Patch's new school this evening to know that kids crave routine. We can speak from experience that a lack of routine is driving them nuts.
Case in point. Wm has decided to take control routine where he can get it. By decree from my child-dictator, bed time routine must be: brush teeth, go to bathroom, get in pjs, (read story if not too tired), 39 pats on his back (yes, 39 precisely), hug only (no kiss), sleep. No variance permitted. With so much craziness and change, I can't blame him, even though, honestly, the degree to which he wants to follow this routine borders on compulsive, with dire consequences if it can't be followed.
I found myself telling a coworker today that I wished he could be a bit more flexible, so we could all go to a friend's house for dinner, for example, and I wouldn't have to stress out that we needed to leave by 7 or 7:30 at the latest so that I could avoid an evening meltdown from varying from the decreed bedtime routine.
My coworker's response? "Well, Pam, I don't have kids or a husband - so I'm no expert on these things - but if that's the only thing your son is telling you, considering you have moved him around the world every two years of his life, I'd say he's pretty flexible." TOUCHE! Thanks to coworkers for helping me keep things in perspective. And reminding me that when we can't have a big picture routine, the little routines become all that much more important. Even if I do find that "r word" bordering on burdensome.
A few months ago I wrote about dreading the change in "routine" and if a "routine" could ever really exist in our family since we basically have six months of mayhem from the pre-pack craziness, the pack out, the home leave, then initial settling in, the readjusting to a new pace of work, the (still anticipated) arrival of our stuff ("house hold effects or HHE in the FS lingo), all the way to the start of school in two months. We didn't need to go to the parent education gathering at Patch's new school this evening to know that kids crave routine. We can speak from experience that a lack of routine is driving them nuts.
Case in point. Wm has decided to take control routine where he can get it. By decree from my child-dictator, bed time routine must be: brush teeth, go to bathroom, get in pjs, (read story if not too tired), 39 pats on his back (yes, 39 precisely), hug only (no kiss), sleep. No variance permitted. With so much craziness and change, I can't blame him, even though, honestly, the degree to which he wants to follow this routine borders on compulsive, with dire consequences if it can't be followed.
I found myself telling a coworker today that I wished he could be a bit more flexible, so we could all go to a friend's house for dinner, for example, and I wouldn't have to stress out that we needed to leave by 7 or 7:30 at the latest so that I could avoid an evening meltdown from varying from the decreed bedtime routine.
My coworker's response? "Well, Pam, I don't have kids or a husband - so I'm no expert on these things - but if that's the only thing your son is telling you, considering you have moved him around the world every two years of his life, I'd say he's pretty flexible." TOUCHE! Thanks to coworkers for helping me keep things in perspective. And reminding me that when we can't have a big picture routine, the little routines become all that much more important. Even if I do find that "r word" bordering on burdensome.
No comments:
Post a Comment