Parental routines are essential to creating a balance in the family home. Parental routines for parents can be tricky to put in place, both for yourselves and the children that you care for. parental routines do work though, so don’t be put off if they take a little working around to fully establish into the family home. Children love routines when they are put in place and they help to make life simpler and easier and a benefit for the whole family. Mealtimes are a parental routine that need to be structured and time should be allowed for family breakfast, lunchtime and teatimes. A proper structured bedtime routine for the children is so important and easy to get wrong. I myself was guilty of this routine because I broke the fundamental rule. When my daughter and I were a single parent family we only had each other and a cuddle in my bed before sleep seemed perfect bliss. Then the time came when nursery started and I couldn’t get her into her own bed. That was the hardest parental routine that I had to put in place and it took some time, but with perseverance we got there in the end. There are a number of routines that get us as parents benefit from in family life including toileting, bath time, shopping and domestic chores are also a routine that time needs to be set aside for.