Between classes, errands, grandparents and birthday parties, Monday sometimes feels calmer than Sunday. Has anyone intentionally protected one half-day with no plans? Did it actually help or just create new scheduling pressure?
With grandparents, specific rules worked better than a long parenting philosophy. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and let smaller things go. We changed our approach after about a month because the first plan was too hard to sustain. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and relaxed about smaller differences. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
I agree with this. Once we reduced the number of moving parts, everyone became calmer. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and relaxed about smaller differences. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.
We tried something similar once, but probably gave up too early. How long did you continue before judging it? We are still not perfect at this, but the arguments are much shorter now. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.
Can I ask roughly what age/class your child was when you tried this? The rule became easier once all adults used the same answer. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.
With grandparents, specific rules worked better than a long parenting philosophy. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and let smaller things go. My spouse had a different view initially, so we tried it for a few weeks before deciding.
Can I ask roughly what age/class your child was when you tried this? We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and relaxed about smaller differences. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.
Can I ask roughly what age/class your child was when you tried this? We are still not perfect at this, but the arguments are much shorter now. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
Can I ask roughly what age/class your child was when you tried this? We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and relaxed about smaller differences. We are in Gurugram, so local logistics may be a little different.
Same here. The logistics are what make the 'ideal' option difficult in real life. The rule became easier once all adults used the same answer. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.
With grandparents, specific rules worked better than a long parenting philosophy. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and let smaller things go. Discussing it away from the children reduced the back-and-forth. We are in Coimbatore, so local logistics may be a little different.
edited
This helps. I am going to add this to the questions for our next visit/meeting. We are still not perfect at this, but the arguments are much shorter now. We made the change gradually rather than all at once.
Replying to @ed3892
We have the same issue, so following this thread closely. The rule became easier once all adults used the same answer. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.
With grandparents, specific rules worked better than a long parenting philosophy. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and let smaller things go. The rule became easier once all adults used the same answer. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.
Did your child take time to adjust, or was the improvement fairly quick? Discussing it away from the children reduced the back-and-forth. We are in Thrissur, so local logistics may be a little different.
With grandparents, specific rules worked better than a long parenting philosophy. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and let smaller things go. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and relaxed about smaller differences. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.
That makes sense. I think consistency is the part we are currently missing. A little predictable one-to-one time changed the mood more than we expected. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.
Replying to @fu9374
This is helpful for us too. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and relaxed about smaller differences. In our house, the practical routine mattered more than the ideal plan.
Interesting — we had assumed the opposite. Helpful to hear a first-hand experience. The rule became easier once all adults used the same answer. We only reached that conclusion after trying the other approach first.
Thanks for saying this. Online advice often makes normal family life sound much more organised than it really is. The rule became easier once all adults used the same answer. I would still test it for a short period before making a long commitment.
That is reassuring. We are trying to avoid making this a bigger issue than it needs to be. Discussing it away from the children reduced the back-and-forth. Your child's response may be different, but this was our experience.
Interesting — we had assumed the opposite. Helpful to hear a first-hand experience. We picked the two boundaries that mattered most and relaxed about smaller differences. We are in Kolkata, so local logistics may be a little different.