Dinner, dinner, dinner….

Repetition can be boring for adults, and we can mistakenly think that a young child prefers spontaneity in his/her day in order to keep life exciting. But from children’s perspective, the inner drive to establish and respect a routine is stabilizing, and a source of comfort. It is even a palpable source of joy in many cases, which makes daily rituals important to a degree that is often under-appreciated.

When we take five extra minutes to slowly set the table for a meal (or prepare a special cloth on the floor for mealtime if preferred), when we sit in the same spot around that table or cloth every day, when we begin a meal with the same greeting or blessing, when we use the same phrases to model courtesy and respect (“Can you please pass the bread?” “ Would you like to try some of these carrots?” etc) we are actually sending our young children a message that we understand their needs, we value these rituals for the role they play in helping children adapt to their environment and we cherish the simple daily routines that bind us together as a community.

Our children don’t need this to be explained to them. We demonstrate our interest in family-friendly ritual to them, rather than tell them. Rituals and routines become familiar, dependable friends that reassure, nurture and strengthen during the first six years of a child’s life.

They keep us grounded by virtue of their repetitive, predictable nature. They become a cornerstone in the fabric of our lives.

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The child sees the same action repeated at the same time every day in the same way. This attracts his attention. Children have a sense of the succession of activities in time. It is like a muscular memory, a memory of movement and of time.

- Maria Montessori