How to recover the routine of children after Christmas

Therefore, if we want to help our children to resume their routines in the most adaptive way possible, there are some keys that we cannot lose sight of.

Make way for the routine before going back to school

One of the strategies that we can carry out to facilitate the return to the routine of children is to start progressively implement small actions, for example, adjust bedtime, take a nap (if you can’t do it at school), start talking about returning to the routine …

The psychologist Úrsula Perona emphasizes that “let’s talk a lot with them to detect with what spirit they face this new stage, and if there is something in which they need support (fear of rejection, of separating from us …). As usual, be available and close it will create a climate where it will be easier for them to tell us if something worries them. Let’s not forget that children, in general, count for little, but have a complex and rich emotional world”.

Motivation to return to the routine

It is very important that we motivate our children to get off to a good start in January. And for this we must avoid reproaches: “Let’s see if this year you study more”, “I hope to see you more focused this course” … because we will achieve just the opposite.

“It is more convenient, and our son will appreciate it, if we return a positive view of himself and what we know he is capable of: “I know that this year you are going to study a lot”, “I am convinced that you will enjoy studying more”, “I see you much more responsible”. If we have a teenager, we must understand that he will be lost in this complex stage and overwhelmed by his emotions, so he will need unconditional support and that we see him with all his potential: give him that look back. Let him see through your eyes the person he can become”, Says Úrsula Perona.

Implement routines through play

As you already know, the game is one of the best tools that we can use as allies in the education of our children, also to implement routines and rules.

For example, the psychologist Patricia Ramírez told us that playing early in the morning can help children do their routines: “In the morning when I get up and make breakfast I already start playing with my children. My son is a bit lazy. So I put my stopwatch and say: Pablo, I’m timing the time it takes you to get out of bed. And the time it takes to get dressed, and the time it takes to wash up and go down to breakfast. And when it goes down I give it the times and pretend to write it down in a notebook to compare it with other days ”. This strategy of educating by playing allows children to do their routines on time, to see it as something fun and not as martyrdom, in addition to helping to foster a relaxed and friendly family atmosphere since early in the morning.

The example we mothers and fathers set

As in all aspects that surround the education and upbringing of our children, the example that we give is fundamental. We cannot forget that children do not learn from the orders we give them, nor from what we tell them to do, but rather they learn us.

Therefore, it is important that we ask ourselves some questions: How do we behave in front of our children? Do we go to sleep every day at one hour? Sometimes we have breakfast and other days we don’t? If we want our children to comply with the routines that we tell them, we also have to do our part and not skip what we force our sons and daughters to do.

4 keys to facilitate the return to the routine of children:

The psychologist Patricia Ramírez also points out other keys that can help our children to return to the routine after Christmas:

1. It is important that your room is tidy. You can also change some of the decoration, put a new poster that they choose, change the location table, throw away the material that does not work from last year. You want to sit down and do your homework.
2. Take care of your expressions. Do not verbalize that it is a bore to return to work because they will copy those comments and use them against the school.
3. Let him know that he has your support, that he is going to learn new things and that he is growing, not only in height, but as a person.
4. The first days pay special attention and encourage communication on his teacher to know what impression he has, of the classmates, of the subject, of the homework or if something worries him. And above all, let him talk about what he likes. If you start questioning him with what he eats, how much he eats, if he behaves well… he won’t want to talk to you about school.