Innovative Routine
October 20, 2008
Regular family meals help us because they are predictable and reliable. We count on their being part of our daily routine.
But there can come a time when routines become boring, and predictability is a negative.
So I'd like to introduce a concept developed by a South African organization that helps kids with ADD (attention deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.) It makes sense no matter where you fall on the attention/inattention continuum.
Innovative Routine means that you set up a framework that gives you the benefit of reliability; what the group calls "a loving and safe structure." But you leave room to tweak the details, take advantage of changing conditions, needs or interests. You leave yourself open to good ideas. Or, as they suggest, "Plan for spontaneity."
I like this concept because it gives you the benefits of structure without letting that structure take over your life. It's a middle course that lets you have it both ways.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today.