| Winter at Boxdorf village pond |
It is
nice to be reminded just how important our daily, weekly, and even annual
routines are.
An early morning cup of tea on the balcony, a weekly visit to a
friend, or the seasonal routines of blowing eggs for Easter, making cards for
Christmas meeting for an autumn family walk, all remind us that our world is
turning nicely.
At my
work the children often remind me how much they depend on their own routines'
staying constant when they arrive at the group and ask- ‘Where is Évi?’ or ‘Where
is Susie?’ when one of us is ill or working elsewhere.
They always
notice when another piece of our new kitchen is installed, and have a hundred
questions to ask and need to look through the new cupboards and drawers to make
sure that all the old things that they are used to are still there.
When a
school assistant is ill, or a new replacement begins, it is the first story we
hear before coats are removed.
If Mum
or Dad is away at work, if a favourite teacher has left the school, or a
sibling has gone off on a skiing trip, these changes are also reported. These changes
are often the reasons for differences in children’s moods and the children know,
without really knowing, why it is important to report these changes in routine
to us and to their friends – we discuss them over lunch, their friends ask
questions and we all learn from the situation. We learn how to adapt and learn
new ways of coping with what comes along in our paths through life.
| Spring at Boxdorf village pond |
As
conductors we must remember that we also have clients who cannot rush in the
room and ask where someone is, tell us that brother is away all week and that
he is sorely missed, tell us that Dad has had to fly off on a business trip, or
that Grandma is poorly and now in hospital. Many of our children cannot report
these routine-changing events to us so we must remember that when a child is
sad, does not want to eat, seems restless, unmotivated, agitated or unhappy
that perhaps their routine has also changed and perhaps we should ask about it in order to indicate in some way that we understand.
This of
course happens positively too. Positive changes in routines also have to be
discussed and changes in behaviour noted and often praised.
I am
the first person to initially react negatively to change. I have improved as I get older
but still my initial reaction to a change in my routine is fear, worry, it can
even be panic. This may only last for the few seconds that it takes for me to tell
myself everything is fine in its new way, or it can last for days and weeks
depending on the degree of change.
I think
it is one of the reasons that being a conductor suits me, because although my work
is so varied and colourful there is always that underlying routine in it that
we need to develop for the clients and it does me good too.
I have
work in a new city, a new family, a new group of adults, new colleagues, but
when the work starts I have to build into it a routine and this is very calming
and reassuring and spreads its influences out onto my personal life.
| Summer at Boxdorf village pond |
What made me start
thinking about routines today?
It was
when I sat down to read the newspaper with my early morning cup of tea, the one
that always tastes best, and I realised how much I had missed this routine and
thought perhaps that this was why I never seemed to get going on Saturdays recently.
At last
… my Guardian Weekly had arrived and just
in time for Saturday morning breakfast as it always used to.
I cancel
it when I go away and it usually starts appearing again the week after I return
home.
But after
my Christmas and New Year break it did not appear in my letter box – week
after week.
At
first I did not realise why, I thought I must have told them the wrong start-date, but
eventually I wrote an email and was told that they had forgotten to restart
delivery. My routine had been disturbed and oh how I had missed it.
Each
morning as I got ready for work I took Chekhov or one of my other Christmas books
with me, all quite heavy tomes, instead of compactly folding the Weekly into my pocket.
Rotating routines
My new
routine starts again on Monday, the one that I have to prepare for with lots of
sleep in the preceding weeks because it exhausts me.
For
three weeks I have been working with the stroke group in the mornings but next
Monday I begin three weeks with the Kindergarten children. This work starts an
hour earlier but my day still stretches on well into the evenings as always. I
find this work tiring but I have developed this as part of my routine so that
despite always catching a cold from the always runny noses, I love it.
The
dependable routine of nature always accompanies everything we do and makes its own
changes along the way. I am happy to see that when I get up a earlier next week
I will now be able to enjoy some daylight before I start work and perhaps in
the evenings too, on my way home, if I am lucky to get away on time!
| Autumn at Boxdorf village pond |
My old much-loved, and
much-needed, routine
The
snow has almost melted and the days might warm up soon if it does not snow
again, then I can begin the other routine that I love so much – cycling to
work.
Despite
the massive amount of road-works on my route for the extended tramway I am
determined to ride my way into the routine of summer, with nature gazing,
picking four-leaved clovers and photographing the sunset all to look forward to!
I am
glad that nature with its seasons ring the changes but still keeps to its daily routine.
PS
I chose the photographs published here to illustrate my early morning routine of observing the seasonal changes at our local village pond, not to illustrate the changing rhythms of nature that also affect our lives, that is something else to be dealt with another time.
