I’ve been asked often about the concept of blanket time and about how to “get my kid to sit still.”
I’ve been told comments like, “Wow, how do you get your children to sit quietly through an entire church service?” (And ours is about an hour and a half long). Or “Why is your one year old sitting by themself on a blanket, playing contently by himself?” Or “Why do you have a playpen set up in your house all the time? I could never get my kids to play in there.”
Why Blanket Time?
But blanket time is not about “getting your kids” to do stuff. It’s about training their character. It’s about “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). It’s about obeying the Bible. No, blanket time is not in the Bible, but it is a perfect example of one way to apply biblical principles of Deuteronomy 6:7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” and one way to give your children the opportunity to “obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Ephesians 6:1) as well as “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). While the words “blanket time” and the concept of training your children to sit still are not in the Bible, I’ll tell you what is:
PEACE “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:14
CONTENTMENT “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Philippians 4:11
JOY “My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.” Psalm 71:23
THANKFULNESS “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
PATIENCE “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:25
GENTLENESS “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” Ephesians 4:2
THOUGHTFULNESS “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
SELF-CONTROL “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
And these biblical principles or character traits or whatever you want to call them can be taught through activities such as blanket time, playpen time, room time, and couch time. None of us will be able to master any of these skills, none of us are perfect, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). But that doesn’t mean we give up and stop trying. I will always set goals to help my children achieve even greater self-control, greater patience, greater contentment than I have even as an adult so that I can help them to honor God with their lives even more than I have been able to with mine. I want the best for them and I want to train them unto godliness. And blanket time is just one way—a very practical and easy way—to do just that.
What is Blanket Time?
Blanket time is the act of training your child to sit still in a designated spot with invisible boundaries as a means of teaching self-control and obedience as well as patience and thoughtfulness of others. When the family attends a church service, when mom is busy talking on the phone, when we go to a doctor’s office or even grocery store and aren’t allowed to “run around” then children need to understand what is appropriate behavior in these situations and get some good practice in before it happens so that they don’t need constant correcting (frustrating for both the parent and the child).
I’ve developed a simple formula of worksheets that might be helpful to get the creative juices going in order to recognize what a child is capable of doing, to hold yourself accountable and be consistent for your child’s benefit so that it’s not just “all in your head,” and to see the progress that your child so that you know they are improving and can continue to increase the time and expand the boundaries.
Read about stories of my children and others whom this book has helped, discover the importance of couch time for the child as well as the husband and wife together, and be inspired to start this new tradition in your own household whether you have a crawling 9 month old or 6 kids 8 and under.
Send in your questions about blanket time and your stories or successes! I’d love to share and talk more! Purchase The Blanket Time Book in my online shop today for yourself or as a baby shower gift for a friend!
