Families look
forward to summer all year long – longer days, more time outside and family
travel. But how do less structure and
the lenient schedules of summer vacation affect kids who thrive on
predictability? Kids find security and
comfort in routine, and in fact, rely heavily on their schedule to be
successful in school and at home.
Many parents just
accept that routines will be surrendered during summer vacations. We recommend holding on to a few of the routines
that your child can depend on – like bedtime.
Research shows that children who get enough sleep are better prepared to
handle change, disappointment and adjust to new people and places. Resist the urge of “just this once”; you may
be getting some sort term satisfaction, but you setting yourself up for misery
later.
The American Academy
of Pediatrics guidelines recommends only one to two hours of
non-violent screen time a day for kids
over two. It is tempting to give kids
screen time between activities, or during “down time” on a vacation – but those
minutes add up to quite a lot of screen time!
Pack an bag with activity books, inexpensive games, books, stickers or
tattoos and pick a script like, “my phone is just for making calls”, I have a
bag full of different things for you to play with.” And be a good example, engage and interact
with the kids in the car, while waiting in line and in restaurants.
With a little planning you can create islands
of predictability wherever you are.
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