Life as a SEN mum

Is there anything quite like the school holidays to remind us how important routine is? I’m not sure about anyone else, but by the time we approach the end of the summer holidays it’s sort of a bitter sweet moment. Torn between the freedom and also the need for the routine.

It’s not just the kids, it helps me as well; something I never really realised until having kids, was how much I need the routine to stop from becoming too overwhelmed. Of course it doesn’t always work, but it does help massively in helping us all to regulate.

Surprisingly, James is the one who deals with a change if routine the best, so long as he knows roughly what to expect from the day, he’s able to cope reasonably well with the change to routine. I suppose given that we’re so busy all the time, bed times don’t really change, which is possibly a contributing factor. Charlotte on the other hand very much needs the structure of the school day, and don’t I know about it. I don’t know if it’s so much the doing the same thing day in day out, as there are certain parts of her routine she’d happily do without. But I think the not having to worry about what to wear and what we might be doing/ where we’re going brings a sense of certainty. Which generally means less arguments.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I actually feel physically better as well when we’re back in routine. It makes it so much easier to plan meals, and to be make sure we’re all eating a balanced healthy diet, and that nothing goes to waste, as opposed to the chaos of the holidays when it seems like I’m skipping meals or just making do, even when I’m still cooking for the kids, just because I’m too exhausted by the end of the day to want to eat.

Whether it’s to help you balance work, stay healthy, or just help stay regulated. Or just the knowledge that your kids will be able to better regulate, I think we can all agree that routine is extremely important.