Our Daily Routines

 Some of the best discussions I ever had with students when we had the time had to do with personal daily routines.  (They also led to some of the best theme assignments because they were personal for the kids, requiring no research, and more interesting for me to read, because they helped me see my students from their own perspective.)  The very word "routine" denotes something that is done the same way every time until it becomes...well...routine.  It is my belief that many, maybe even most, of these rituals are established when we are very young.  Once they begin for one reason, they continue our entire lives with few modifications.  They become unconscious behaviors that we don't question or even think about.  I mean, doesn't everybody do [this] the same as I do?  No, they don't!

I'm not talking about obsessive-compulsive rituals here.  This is just everyday stuff.  Our routines are usually based in fundamentals of executive functioning:  eating, sleeping, hygiene...even toilet use.  Ponder it for a few moments.  Ever think about this?

1.  You have come to eat corn on the cob the same way every time.  Admit it!  You hold the big end in the same hand, eat either around the cob or rows at a time.  Or maybe you are like my late brother-in-law who ate corn ONE row at a time, leaving no shred of corn on the cob for that row.  (That always fascinated me.  Never, ever, have I met one other person that could do that.)

2.  Are you one of those who can't stand to have foods on your plate touch each other?  Do you mix your flavors, or do you eat one thing at a time?  (I'm one of the latter.  I eat the vegetables first because I know they are good for me, and save the stuff I really like for last.  Guess that makes me a purist, so I can enjoy each item without it being tainted by the taste of something else?)

3.  How about your potty routines?  Is the TP put on the roll over, or under?  Are you a "folder" or a "wadder" when it comes to TP use?  Do you look at the TP after you've wiped?  (Come on....everybody does.  You can't pretend that you don't!)  Do you wash your hands every time you go to the potty?  Sometimes?  Rarely?  When you flush, do you watch to make sure everything goes down properly?

4.  Dressing routines are interesting.  I always bathed in the evenings and washed/coiffed my hair in the mornings.  Thus, I usually had my clothes for the next day picked out before I went to bed the night before and needed to be fully dressed in the morning before I did my hair, lest I should mess it up in the dressing process.  And once my hair was wet, I needed to head straight to the bathroom to dry and style it because, since my hair is very fine and thin, it would dry too fast if I didn't!

Do you put on one sock and one shoe at a time, or both socks and then both shoes?  Better yet, do you do the same foot first every time?

5.  Bedroom routines...OMG, this is the biggie!  Do you have to have a fan on, summer or winter, for the noise and the soothing air motion?  (I do.)  Do you sleep with the TV on?  (I do.)  Do you need every glimmer of light, including electronic charging lights, covered up?  (I don't.  My daughter does.)  Do the covers on your beds need to be untucked at the bottom?  Do you need a weighted blanket, or do you do okay with a regular one?  Do you need to be covered when you sleep even if it's hot?  (I do.)  Do you need a night light on?  Do you need a glass of water on your nightstand?  Do you sleep with your bedroom door open or closed?  

True story: As a young bride in the early 70s, I spent the night with one of our friends because our husbands had gone somewhere overnight.  We had a grand time.  We also shared a bed that night.  Just before lights-out when we first went to bed, the other gal said, "My ends!  My ends!  I have to have my ends!"  I had no clue.  Turned out, her "ends" were the satin borders on the top and bottom of the blanket (not found so much these days).  Apparently, she slept every night with the satin blanket borders between her toes.  She didn't think she could sleep without them.  Whatever floats your boat!

I am not suggesting that our daily rituals are wrong or even strange...only that they are personal.  People don't feel the need to talk about them until, like this blog, they are encouraged to think about them.  Whatever your routines, you have your reasons.  Thank God I can indulge mine without anyone to object!!