Tag: routine

Routines That Actually Work: The 10-Minute Reset

On By justmymomsenseIn Parent LifeLeave a comment

If your house feels loud, if your kids feel dysregulated, if you feel one small request away from losing it…

This is your reminder: You don’t need a perfect schedule. You need a predictable anchor. Routines aren’t about rigidity. They’re about safety.

For kids (especially anxious, sensory-sensitive, or neurodivergent kids) routines reduce the invisible “what’s next?” stress that drains their nervous system all day long. When the rhythm of the day is predictable, their bodies can finally exhale.

And here’s the part no one talks about:

Routines regulate us too.

When you don’t have to reinvent the day every morning, your brain rests. You stop decision-fatiguing yourself by 9:12 a.m.

So instead of building an Instagram-worthy color-coded schedule, start here:

The 10-Minute Anchor Routine

Pick one transition that’s currently chaotic:

  • Mornings
  • After school
  • Bedtime

Then create a simple, repeatable 3-step rhythm.

For example (after school):

  1. Snack
  2. 10 minutes quiet decompression (audiobook, coloring, Lego, swing)
  3. Review the plan for the afternoon

That’s it. No charts. No bribes. No overhauls. Just predictability.

And when it falls apart (because it will)? You don’t scrap the system. You return to the rhythm.

Consistency beats intensity every time.

What Happened to Summer?

On By justmymomsenseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I think something is wrong with my calendar. It seems as though we’re in the last week of August, summer is coming to an end and school starts next week.

It went way too fast. I had ideas for the summer, things I would be doing with the extra time we’d have everyday and most of those things didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, we had fun, saw friends for playdates, saw immediate family and some of our adult friends. At the same time it seems like we should have done more. But in the paraphrased words of Carrie Bradshaw, we shouldn’t “should” all over ourselves.

Let’s recap what I had hoped for from my pre summer posts.

  • Potty Training
    • Attempted, no success
  • A daily schedule
    • Written out, happened twice
  • A road trip to visit some of our friends
    • I can’t remember if I wrote about this one but regardless, it didn’t happen

Here we are at the end of summer. As I await details of ‘J’s’ class information, I wonder how his adjustment back into the routine will go. Monday and Wednesdays he’ll have Speech and OT again and Tuesday/Thursdays will be school. He went two days a week last year for about 2.5 hours a day. This year, he will be there for 5. I wonder which of his friends will be in his class again and my hope is that he’ll love it as much as he did last year. I know that won’t always be the case so if we cant hang onto it for now, that would be great. As for ‘Baby J,’ we’ll get back into a Mommy and Me class routine and I’m sure she’ll be missing her playmate around the house during the day.

A schedule is great but I want to hang onto these summer days just a bit longer.

Stop and Smell the Tulips

On By justmymomsenseIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Every May, our local park becomes so colorful thanks to beautiful Tulips.

When the kids woke up from naps on Monday, we went to check them out and of course stop by the playground. It had been a long week with ‘Baby J’ being sick, a few rainy days and another cancelled Chicago trip.

‘J’ has really been into Spiderman for the last month or two. He likes the Spiderman merchandise and books but he’s not that into the cartoons. On the way to the park he said he wanted to get a BIG Spiderman comic book. Then he started a conversation with his sister asking which comic book she wanted. He decided she wanted Minnie. We couldn’t resist the cuteness and after the park we headed over to the comic book store where he did indeed find a BIG Spiderman comic book, a Disney Princess comic book for his sister and the store through in some freebies along the way (including another Spiderman comic and Star Wars).

We came home and barbecued dinner. Being outside meant playing soccer, T-ball, chalk and bubbles. Once ‘Baby J’ went to sleep, we decided to make s’mores in our table fire pit. This was ‘J’s’ first time roasting marshmallows and since he can’t do dairy, it was more like a marshmallow sandwich. He loved every second of it. The night ended with his normal bath and movie routine.

All of these things happened in about 3-4 hours. Seems like a week’s worth of activities! We had so much fun and it was a great reminder that sometimes you have to just stop and go with the flow. It’s so easy to get caught up in the normal routine. We finally have some beautiful weather and we need to take advantage.

I highly recommend stopping, taking a deep breath and enjoying all the fun moments with your kids. It’s cliche but they really do change and grow so fast. The normal daily routine won’t make many memories, but days like Monday will.

It’s Spring! Don’t forget to stop and smell the….Tulips!

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Transitioning Back to a Routine

On By justmymomsenseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Last week was spring break here in NY which meant no school, no speech therapy and no occupational therapy. The week started pretty gloomy weather wise and we had 3 indoor days. On Thursday we decided to take a trip to Pittsburgh to check out the Mr. Rogers exhibit. If you haven’t been, I definitely recommend it! The Heinz History Center, where the exhibit is located, is great for kids in addition to seeing all the cool Mr. Rogers memorabilia.  More on the trip in another blog.

When I was working and would take time off for a trip, I would always make sure there was a buffer day when I returned. A day to come home, chill out, do some laundry, etc. before jumping back into work. Probably seems silly considering I was just on a vacation, but I never wanted to go right back into the normal daily routine.

‘J’ loves routine. If he doesn’t know the agenda for the day or if curveballs are thrown in, he’s not a happy camper. Of course after a week away from school and services, while doing a small trip away, there would be a readjustment period. It’s Wednesday and I think we’re still in it.

He’s had periods of acting out, two meltdowns during school yesterday and hesitation with OT and Speech today. I’m pretty sure he’s had a small cold the last few days as well, which I’m sure isn’t helping. But it all makes sense and coming from someone who needed a buffer day after a cruise, how could I not understand?

I’m hoping over the next few days the ups and downs return to more ups and less downs. I hate seeing him upset and affected by his surroundings. I know he does too.

 

Breaks from School, Snow Storms, the Flu, Oh My!

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‘J’ started Occupational Therapy (OT) in the beginning of February. However, due to winter break, our late season snow storms and his parents having the flu, there hasn’t been a great routine when it comes to OT.

We’re only a couple of weeks away from Spring Break. Hopefully after that we can get into a good groove. I’m happy he likes going. He’s comfortable with his therapist and has fun while he’s there. It makes it so much easier!

Last Monday we had our meeting with the School Board. He’s been approved for Speech and OT for the September-June ’18/’19 school year. I’m happy he’ll be continuing. The more help he can get at a young age, for his day to day experiences, the better!

Since the decision is made by the school district and is based on the school calendar, he will not have services over the summer. I go back and forth with how I feel about that decision. On one hand, I think it might be good for him to have a break and practice all the skills he’s learned. On the other hand, I don’t want him to regress from the progress he’s made. Starting OT later in the year, there may be a chance we could continue over the summer and luckily we’re close with our speech therapist so I’m sure we will see her in an unofficial capacity. I’m sure he would miss her too much if we didn’t!

Winter seems to be never ending this year. I can’t wait to get outside and play for the summer!