When did structure become a bad thing?
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| Fri, 07-30-2004 - 8:19am |
We used to live next door to a "no structure" family. The kids ran wild in the neighborhood, the mom never planned dinner so lord only knows if and when the kids ate. Sorry, I don't think that's a good way to live. My kids know we eat dinner at 6:30, so they have to be home.
I can see taht you wouldn't demand that an infant go to bed and wake up at precisely the same time, but is there ever a time to impose structure on a child? So lets say you are the freewheeling type and have always doen things whenever. What happens when you send your child to school where the bell rings at the same time every day?
As far as activities, I realize all kids are different, but when my kids were little, if we just did whatever, whenever, my kids woudl end up grumpy and overtired. My experience is that if say, we were at the beach and I say, oh heck, let's just stay later, the kids woudl be happy at first, but by the days end I would end up with whiny, overtired kids.
Maybe I'm just misinterpreting what I am reading, but I personally think structure is a good thing. When children are small, the structure includes naptimes, mealtimes, etc. As they get older it evolves into boundaries like "be home at 6 for dinner" or "you can't go into soemones house without telling me first". I couldn't imagine living without structure or boundaries for my kids.
Susan

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I love my job but I'd much rather dd & I spend our days the way we do the summers & weekends over getting up & getting out the door to be at school by 8.
I'm just thankful dh arrives home the same time we do so that we have that time between 3:30 & 7 to do things before we jump in our pj's & have our tv time for the rest of the evening.
Thanks again.
Paige
I walk. This isn't the stroll kind of walk. The kind of walk where you burn calories. I have a little counter that tells me how many I burned on that trip.
I stretch, do floor exercises in the morning before showering.
I don't do formal exercising, as I said. No classes, never go to a gym, no equipment (treadmill, stair stepper, weights) at home.
I really don't know why you are concerning yourself so much that you just have to have an answer.
DD runs, plays, plays tag, climbs on monkey bars & cargo net, bikes, & likes to play tennis & throw around the ball with mom & dad.
We do those kinds of things for the 3 1/2 hours between the family arriving home & our tv time. I in no way feel guilty that we eat dinner in our pjs in front of the tv & we stay there until we go to bed. Not any guilt at all.
Paige
I can see doing 3 hours on a Friday or Saturday night when you're watching a couple of movies. But nightly? Every single night blocking out "tv time" of that amount is excessive IMO (and in the opinion of many, many others except, it seems, the people in your "circle" and a minority of posters here)
Me too.
We swim, toss the ball, play tennis, walk down to the park where dd plays, she rides her bike, we work around the yard while she is playing. We read to her. Play a game.
Then we shower & put on our pjs.
I just don't see any problem with every night at 7 sitting down to eat & family night of tv when we have been active since we all 3 walked in the door until then.
Paige
Paige
First, we don't have a Ped, and never have. Well, except that first appointment for DD when she was....what 4 or 6 weeks old.
Okmrsmommy-36, CPmom to DD-16 and DS-14
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