Routines are essential for a toddler's mental health

From a mother and educator's standpoint I must say that I wholeheartedly believe that routines are the lifeblood of maintaining a healthy emotionally balanced child. It is my experience, that routines give children the confidence and security they need to make sense of their environment. Routines take the chaos out of daily lives and gives them comfort to face the world around them.

I know that establishing routines from the very beginning for my boys... my 16 year old and now my 3 year old... was vital in helping them to develop self management and self responsibility. It introduces orderliness into their lives, enabling family life to flow smoothly and  reduce the amount of stress they experience in a given situation.

We live in a world that can be unpredictable, things and situation changes at the drop of a hat, but I have, with the help of routines have been able to minimize the effects of an unexpected event or situation.

I am saying all of this because a friend of mine has recently experienced some upheaval in her life and I can see the dramatic change in her little girl... the acting out, the aggression and the fits of unexplainable crying. I am at a lost of how to approach her without offending her. I have attempted to talk with her before and my attempt have not gone well...

My dilemma...