I have frequently heard that statement made here - that all
babies/children/families benefit from schedules and routines. I don't think
it is true.

Well, I find they make me tense. I don't know what it is about me, but I
find a predictable routine makes me feel trapped, unhappy, etc. At least two
of my children seemed to be the same way. It worked best for us (and still
works best) to eat when we are hungry, sleep when we are tired, go for walks
when we feel like it, etc.

This may be just me, but I know it drove my mother crazy when I was young
and she tried to get me on the schedule that the doctors of the time
recommended. And I suspect I was pretty miserable, too. I know that even the
routines of school were very hard for me, and I did all kinds of things to
break them up and give myself more "unpredictability."

I don't know what I would have done with twins or triplets, though!

Anyway, just to throw in a reminder that while many babies, children and
families might like or do well on schedules and routines, there are others
of us who don't.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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