Best Time to Start Flying

I've been thinking long and hard about this, and I think I have the answer.  The best time to start Flying? When you are two. Yes that's right, at the ripe old age of two.  This is where my Montessori background is going to shine through!

Around age two, children enter a sensitive period for order.  A sensitive period is a time when a child learns particular things effortlessly.  One example would be language.  For the first six years of life, children (usually) learn to speak with minimal adult intervention.  If a child misses fulfilling a sensitive period, such as language, the child will struggle to fill that need for the rest of her life.  (Also why children pick up second languages so easily while adults tend to struggle.)

Did you ever know a child who would only eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch?  Perhaps there was only 1 pair of shoes acceptable to wear, or maybe the hair had to be done just so before being able to go out to play.  These are all manifestations of the sensitive period for order.  Children aren't just making these demands to drive us crazy.  These routines are what helps the child feel secure in the world.  When they feel secure, life is good.  When they feel insecure...............temper tantrum anyone?

This is where I think Flying begins so strike while the iron is hot!  Start little routines that help your child create order.  Clothes come off and go into a hamper.  Use a duvet instead of a top sheet so the child can make their bed on their own.  Dedicate a space to put shoes (bonus points to you if you use clothespins to keep the shoes together).  Have baskets for toys so that they are easy to put away.  And then regularly put the toys away.  Do things like this when they are ready and eager to do so and it will become second nature by the time they are done with the sensitive period.  I will not promise that they won't regress once hormones enter the picture though!

My theory is that the people who are Born Organized are ones who actually had a successful sensitive period for order.  The rest of us missed the boat and that is why we need the FlyLady to get back on track!