The Routine

After picking up my 2 year old son L recently, he began to ask whether he can have a treat after dinner. He is obsessed with treats, especially chocolate. Now he wants to know the routine.

This was a very important conversation for L. He wants to know exactly when he can eat his treat and has been looking forward to it. He’s seen his two older siblings eat treats after dinner for such a long time that it was his turn to participate in the action. When he asked that question, I said no, he cannot have a treat after dinner and he got confused.

To a toddler, the boundaries need to be set and continually reinforced. The toddler brain is great at busting through the boundaries with a variety of different methods - screaming, crying, whining, hitting…the list goes on and on. I was fully expecting L to start screaming and crying in the car because not only is he tired after daycare, he is very hungry usually. Dangerous mix.

To my surprise, there wasn’t any commotion in the backseat. I then told him we usually eat fruit after dinner. Dinner. Fruit. Treat. He then repeated it multiple times until it was burned into his brain. I asked him if he knew the routine now and he said yes. Perfect.

Then he said he gets vitamin after treat. I had to tell him no again, but to my surprise, there wasn’t any commotion still. Dinner. Fruit. Treat. Shower. Vitamin. L started to repeat these words in order multiple time again so he can remember. I asked him if he knew the routine now. He replied with an enthusiastic and proud yes!

At this point, I was impressed myself. Then L said sleep was after vitamin. I had to tell him no. Dinner. Fruit. Treat. Shower. Vitamin. Play. Brush teeth. Potty. Read. Sleep. Now the routine was long! I had to break down the last few steps and he understood that. He couldn’t quite nail down everything in order with so many steps, but I’m sure he will keep processing it all in his brain. Something I learned that helps with retaining memory is a little bit of sugar, so maybe the daily treats will help reinforce what he learns. He will get the full routine down soon I’m sure!