Writings by me

I want to talk about time and routines.

When I became a parent, everything became entirely focussed on timing, tummies and having a set  routine. Much of this is totally essential, but also falls under the ‘necessary evil,’ category. Necessary because the wrath of the Witching Hour is real and evil because of the danger of becoming obsessed. If you do not flex up every once in a while and skive from recommended routines, you can feel like you are doing the same thing day in, day out and this does not a happy mama make.

In fact, skiving from routines is one of the sweetest things in modern-day parenting. I still remember the first time I skived from best practice parenting, when we decided to stay out all day with our four-month-old, winging it and eating at Wagamama’s.

For us, there is the promise of more spontaneous times ahead; as my youngest is now 2 and a half, the routines are slowly becoming more flexible and less subject to meltdowns if they are not followed. If we have something scheduled for the afternoon, I no longer worry that he will suffer from not having his afternoon nap, which is liberating after five-ish years trying to cram all the fun into a tiny 2-hour window between school drop off and elevenses (…aka a toddler’s lunchtime).

Nor am I obsessed with making sure he snacks enough but not too much that he will ruin his (closely followed) dinner. It is with this attitude that I am actually looking forward to the summer holidays this year; what better time of year to be freer and easier with time than when the evenings are light until almost 10 and it’s too hot to be rushing.