routines

It is difficult to find the balance of routines and excitement. Lets be honest routines are not exciting, they are safe, they are the easy way. How do we find the balance, between safe and routine and unexpected and exciting. It seems that a lot of kids really do well with routines and don't handle too many surprises really well, yet at the same time they can get board really quick if you aren't careful. Balance has never been my strong point, I am an extremist. That is the way it works with me. On or off. Today we almost had a really good balance. Picked up early at daycare. Then we went and were on the swings for a little while. After that we started up the sprinkler. Dylan is the sprinkler king. He loves it. Charlie, while he loves to swim in a baby pool could really have skipped the sprinkler. After that we made dinner and cleaned up and then back outside for more play. This is where we lost the balance, once it was time to come in and get cleaned up for the evening, Charlie lost it. Nothing could please him. Dylan jumped in the bath for some more water time and I ended up sitting on the floor with Charlie for 20-25minutes to calm him down. After that he drank his formula and was ready to go. Bedtime was quick and easy. All in all a really good evening, not perfectly balanced, but fun, a lot of fun.