A study was recently published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics that discussed the importance of routine in a child’s life to enhance their social and emotional health. Researchers with The Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University said kids with strong SEH even do better in school.
When kids go through a divorce, even when the parents are working together, it is a period of adjustment that can be stressful or confusing. How can parents provide that stability and routine the study suggests can make a difference?
Researchers noted that a routine doesn’t have to be big; it is more about the little details that count. It is the story that is read or the song that is sung before bedtime. It is the repetition in looking for monsters under the bed. Dinner may not be at the same time every night, but maybe it can always be together.
For one licensed marriage and family therapist, routine was about not getting “worked up” about the little things. When she doesn’t “get worked up, [the kids] don’t have to get worked up.” In her home, the kids could never find their socks. Instead of getting frustrated, she put a basket near the door filled to the brim with pairs of socks. It was their little routine to grab a pair when they left the house.
For Wellesley parents, a divorce attorney can help eliminate some of the stress by creating a child custody plan that is not only thorough, to avoid confusion, but that also fits the best interests of the children and the family.
Source: The Rockland Standard, “How routines for kids boost social and emotional health,” Lois M. Collins, March 18, 2014
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