Do you pick a “word of the year” each January? I tried it last year, and my word was STRUCTURE. It was a good word, I think. In fact, it was such a good word that I made it my word of the year this year too. And I fully intend to do it again next year.

Structure can imply rhythm when I’m in a hippy-dippy “our days need a flow” mood.

Structure can mean schedules for when I’m in a “get organized or I’m going to go insane” mode.

Structure can mean rules for when I’m in a “leave your muddy boots in the middle of the kitchen floor one more time and you won’t be seeing the outdoors again until June” kind of mood.

Structure incorporates the spiritual disciplines and the church calendar that I am currently fascinated by.

Structure means less brain power wasted on everyday decisions.

And, if MagnaTiles wants to throw me a little money, I’m happy to make “structure” include the awesome buildings that my kids have created with their favourite new toy. Just sayin’.

I’ve never been good at structure. To be honest, I’m not big on doing the same things over and over and over again. I’m the kind of person that can’t stand driving home the same way twice.

I didn’t realize how much my kids craved structure until I attended a Parent and Child program at the local Waldorf school with River when she was two or three. The teacher told us that kids like the security of a routine, which is why we ate the same snack each week and read the same stories each week and sang the same songs each week — always in the exact same order. I scoffed. My kid was going to hate it. It certainly wasn’t the way things were done at the city-run Mother Goose mornings or the libraries’ toddler book clubs or our church’s Sunday School program.

But little River LOVED it. She loved knowing exactly what to expect each time, and if we so much as sang out a song out of order, she was the first one to correct us. None of the kids at Parent and Child were bored at all.

I wish that I had taken that lesson and enthusiastically applied it at home, but like I said, I’m not good with repetition. I’m trying to do better, though. I can see how my kids eat it up when I add a bit of extra structure here and there. And I have to admit, the more I embrace a regular schedule or rhythm, the smoother our days become.

Structure Prevents Decision Fatigue

It makes sense, of course. Having a structure in place frees up your mind for other important tasks. Like figuring out where your three-year-old hid your seven-year-old’s Easter candy. I’m sure we’ll find it any day now.

Did you know that when Obama was president of the US, he wore pretty much the same thing every day? It was all about cutting back on the number of decisions he had to make each day. He said, “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”

And yeah, my daily decision to wash either a load of towels or a pile of diapers is clearly less important than what any POTUS needs to deal with, but I’m just as susceptible to “decision fatigue” as anyone else. What will the kids wear, and what will we eat for breakfast? What will we do this morning? How much TV should the kids watch? Will we have a snack while we’re out? What should we do for breakfast? Or lunch? Or supper?

Coming up with a set of rules and routines in advance helps eliminate so much of the day-to-day decision making. It’s also strangely helpful in parenting, as my kids seem to accept what’s written on an official schedule taped to the wall more readily than what comes out of my mouth.

All this week, I’ll be posting pain-free ways to add rhythm to your home. None of these things make me want to pull my hair out, but together they give my kids a sense of structure and safety.

Monday: Add Structure to your Day with Music
Tuesday: How Meal Planning Helps Homeschooling Kids
Wednesday: Why You Should Try a Homeschool Uniform
Thursday: Using Essential Oils as Part of your Homeschooling Routine
Friday: An Easier Way to Assign Chores

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Check out the rest of the iHN Hopscotch posts here…