I recall a time in my life, pre-child, where a parent talking about their child's need for a nap at a certain time or the rigidity of a child's schedule would cause a roll of the eyes. While I still believe there needs to be a little flexibility, talks of children's routines now leads me to nod in understanding.
Autumn can be somewhat flexible in her nap, but right after lunch, she starts to get really tired. She wants to lay down and go to sleep for a while. The same thing happens at night. If she doesn't go down between 8 and 9 p.m., she starts to either get really silly or cranky. And there's no way of telling which one she will be.
But the really funny thing isn't even about her timeframes. I've heard how kids will refuse to sit on new furniture or won't stop staring at a new picture on a wall. It seems silly to adults, but kids thrive on their routines, whether it be time or just the fact that they can always find their things in the same place.
I saw change affect Autumn recently when one of the teachers at her school got her hair done differently. Each day when Autumn leaves school, she gives Ms. S a hug. But when Ms. S had her hair braided up and done differently, Autumn refused to hug her. She knew it was Ms. S and said "Hi" and "Bye" and her name, but Autumn would not hug her. Friday, Ms. S had her hair back down to normal and Autumn ran and gave her a hug before leaving.
My father had surgery last week. Before heading to the hospital, he let his whiskers grow and when coming up for Autumn's birthday celebration he had a small beard. Autumn kept trying to grab it and take it off of his face. When he was discharged from the hospital over the weekend, we drove to meet him at a stop on the highway. She looked at him and talked to him, but absolutely refused to touch his face. He thinks she was scared and he plans to shave it off before Thanksgiving.
It seems with kids anytime something is different, and therefore unfamiliar, it leads to a bit of wariness. It might be a good thing, but they don't know. They haven't seen it before. For all they know, it's very bad. I guess they, too, have figured it's better to be safe than sorry.