I can't be the only nanny who has noticed the lack of a schedule for children in recent years. Back when I started, children had regular mealtimes, naptimes, and bedtimes. The last 5 years or so when I go on interviews all I hear is little so and so has no schedule and in the very next breath they talk about how hungry, cranky, or tired the child is all the time. Well gee! I wonder why that is? I'm not one for overscheduling. For example I don't think a child needs a sport or class every day of the week, but there is something to be said for dinner and bed at the same time every day!
6 comments:
I'm not a schedule kind of person, but I do believe in routine. So even though lunch might not be at 12-noon every day, it is usually somewhere between 11:30am and 12:30pm and nap time follows thereafter. What does seem to be a trend is kids going to be later and later. My charges only go to bed at 8pm, but they have to be up at 5:30am to get ready for school and leave by 6:45am.
I absolutely agree that there is something to be said about a schedule!! I nanny for a 7 month old and he is like clockwork with naps and mealtimes...it makes life a lot easier! When it comes to planning our daily activities, it helps knowing when he naps and eats, most definitely. It is frustrating when everything is just up in the air!!!
We do not keep a strict schedule but do keep a good routine. One of the things that drives me craazy is kids who eat all.day.long. The kids I watch get breakfast, lunch, a snack, and then dinner. That's it. If we run to the library or out for a half hour/hour, we don't carry food. The late bedtime thing drives me crazzzzzy as well. That and kids who literally do not even HAVE a bedtime...sigh.
I actually never had schedules with my children (Bad Mom Alert!!) LOL.
But twenty years later as a working Nanny, I see many families follow schedules regarding meals, naps, even diaper changes. It keeps the day more predictable + smooth.
I didn't have breakfast, lunch and dinnertime w/my kiddos. I just fed them when they were hungry.
I think that schedules and routines are very important. It teaches kids that they have to wait and can't just get things on demand. It's also good to know for school and for the real world when almost everything has a time and a certain way of doing things. Of course it is also important to teach flexibility; a good balance is key!
I did schedules for my sisters oldest two when they were under 5 and then they'd stay a weekend with grandma and it'd be gone. Literally in one weekend it'd fly out the window. Then again they didn't eat as much during the day sometimes. a late breakfast or early lunch would keep them until dinner time depending on the day. Their mom also worked crazy hours so it was me all day cause dad worked nights, slept days and then ran errands. Sometimes with the oldest boy but it was harder for him to grab and go with someone still in diapers unless he was going to his moms cause she always kept spare everything for the grandkids. I wish I could youngest to take naps, her dad insists she needs them and then he puts her to bed at 8? I don't know what planet he thinks we come from but there is no way she falls asleep at 8 with a nap. She's not my first rodeo. He also shares custody with my sister so we don't know the truth. I think I'll ask if grandma makes them take naps :D
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