If you know nothing about kids, you may still pick up that they don’t have a solid grasp on time. And why should they, really? An adult is in charge of telling them when to eat, go to bed, play outside, get in the car, etc. so they don’t have much need for clocks or calendars. I’d say it’s pretty common in the under 5 crowd to mention that, “Yesterday it snowed!” even when you’re in the midst of a heat wave with 97% humidity. Or that “For my birthday last week…” when you know full well that it’s been months since this kid’s birthday. They understand time, but just not the same way we do, they need a countdown to represent time!
What can really drive a person (me, I’m the person) nuts is when an event is coming up and the small person/people ask about fourteen times per minute when the thing is happening. Even when you’ve already answered the same question thirteen times. One thing that I have found to be mostly helpful in stemming the tide of inquiries is a good old fashioned paper chain.
We have a beach trip coming up and when I found myself already exhausted from answering the “When are we leaving for the beach?” question before we hit snack time, I rallied the troops. Countdown time.
-First step is to pass out some paper. Construction paper works great or plain paper if you want them to color it. **Make sure you mention that the paper has to be cut so that you can avoid tears over a ruined masterpiece in the very near future.
-Decide when you will cut your chain every day, and count the numbers of mornings/nights until you leave. That number is how many strips of paper you need.
-Grab some glue or tape, make a loop with the first strip of paper and close the loop. Secure with a little bit of glue or tape.
-For every other loop, slip one end of the paper through the loop and then secure with your glue/tape.
-Find a good spot to house to hang or display your countdown chain.
-Remember to cut a loop from your chain every day. If your event is many days away – you can always move this step to weekly rather than daily.
If you have more than one kid, they can take turns cutting off a loop or let everyone make their own chain.
And if you happen to have any advice on answering “Are we there yet?”, Please let me know!
