For anyone who has children, or is around them enough to be in to a ‘routine’ with them knows it is not always fun fun and idyllic at all times. Along with my partner came a son and of course my relationship with him has changed over the years. During the former years of our relationship I was very conscious of how the son, who was 5, perceived me. I wanted it to be fun for the entire time I was with him, hoping that every minute would be full of drawing, playing outside, making forts and baking. Of course, I wasn’t factoring in the adult side of this (or the strops)!
Of course I was wrong and routine must prevail! It’s what works best on a weekly basis and is best for him. We spend the majority of the day playing, whether it be inside or out (we suggest the YouToDo Wall Chart for ideas) but then end each day the same way, by relaxing. As evening approaches it’s time to start winding down ready for the bedtime routine. I learnt very quickly that a hyped up child and bedtime doesn’t work too well!
Now he’s 9 going on 10 and our routine is again changing. As he’s getting older bedtime is getting later and therefore the shower gets later, him reading to his Dad gets later and therefore my last task of the day of reading to him is also getting later. So our evening wind down is now consisting of watching a bit of TV together cwtched up on the sofa before this happens. Whilst watching TV with a child you get a totally new perspective. We’ve recently come across ‘badverts’. Badverts is a phrase my step son uses for the majority of the adverts we watch, which are usually cheesy and make you cringe and turn off.
It got me thinking about the research advertisers go in to when designing their new campaigns. Speaking to their target audience about what works and what doesn’t, but have they factored in the variables? A child can have a big impact on your emotion, and tolerance levels at any given time and therefore I think they should do a focus group consisting solely of children; who are brutally honest and who can have an extremely short attention span. Surely these are the best audience to test on how captivating an advert is. Moaning children at badverts equals ever increasing frustrating levels in parents, so surely the positives of listening to children as well as the target audience would be happy children, happy parents.