Does life occasionally seem a bit too messy? Sometimes, adding firm structure to your day-to-day routine can help ease stress. This isn’t just true on an individual level—many families who introduce a weekend routine can grow even stronger bonds and enjoy more of what life has to offer. Creating familiarity and structure for a child aids in lessening anxiety and improves overall mental health. It can also help us keep up with tasks that maybe aren’t our favorite, such as brushing our teeth or doing laundry.
Weekend routines look different for each family, so get creative to find what kind of schedule would work best for yours by setting goals. Some of these goals could look like supporting your child with improving at a sport or passion, getting chores done, or it could be something like spending more time together and learning how to better communicate with one another. As your children grow, these routines and goals will too.
Try having part of your weekend set aside for fun outdoor activities (for ideas, check out our last blog post: “Mental [and Physical] Health: The Benefits of Getting Outside With [or Without] the Kids – PLUS Activity Ideas!”). Getting outside together is a great way to start your day and getting plenty of Vitamin D, and exercise promotes overall health.
When children are old enough, signing them up for sports, lessons, or other extracurriculars can be a fun way to explore new hobbies, practice social skills, and enhance time management. Who knows—maybe you have the next Mozart under your roof!
Another great habit to make space for is one-on-one time with one or both parents, especially if there are multiple children in the house. Having specific time set aside for each child can help grow your relationship and help them see how important they are as individuals. Try having a special movie night with dad, spa morning with mom, or a brunch date at your child’s favorite restaurant.
Spending time indoors makes it easy to rely on TV and phones. Finding the appropriate amount of screen time for your kids can often be tricky so try setting firm boundaries and expectations to limit frustration with this rule. Creating a routine can look something like screen time only being allowed between specific hours with a movie night, Sunday morning cartoons, or whatever works best for your family. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry suggests different amounts of allotted time for kids depending on their ages. To read more about this, click here: https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Watching-TV-054.aspx#:~:text=Between%2018%20and%2024%20months,limit%20activities%20that%20include%20screens.
Sleep may be one of the most important routines to keep up, even for adults! Though it may be tempting to sleep in on the weekends, doing so for more than an hour can begin to shift your circadian rhythm which will make waking up on weekdays more difficult. Bedtime is also a great time to practice healthy habits and learn more about why hygiene is important. Keeping up with practicing good hygiene and getting a full night’s rest can reduce sickness and increase self-worth.
If you’re human, there’s a chance that you use the weekends to be productive and get things done that you may not have had time to do during the week- things like laundry, grocery shopping, meal prepping, deep cleaning, or fixing that thing you’ve been putting off for months. How many of these can easily become family activities and shared responsibilities, part of a weekend family routine? Check out our “Chores for Kids” post, which thoroughly covers age-appropriate responsibilities.
If you do not currently have a family routine and you’d like to start one, we suggest making the shift gradual. Don’t feel like you have to change or create a rigorous schedule all at once—this can become overwhelming. Instead, try starting with a basic and loosely structured day to allow for change. Over time, start to build up what a weekend routine looks like for your family. Be sure to ask your kids for input on things they would like to do. While at the end of the day, you are in charge, giving them options such as which activities you’d like to do together or which story to read at bedtime can encourage creative thinking and boost their confidence. If you are looking for extra assistance with childcare on the weekends and would like to find someone who can help set a routine for your family, email us at info@nannyauthority.com or visit nannyauthority.com today!