Children do not have a strong sense of time when they are toddlers and although they start to comprehend it a little bit better by the time they reach 5 and 6 years of age, time is still something abstract that is difficult for them to wrap their little brains around.

And therefore, time can be very frustrating to little ones.  Whether it’s because they have to wait for something, or travel somewhere their idea of how long something will take and ours are not the same.  To them, waiting till dinnertime for Daddy to come home is a lifetime.  And a trip to Grandma’s in the car for an hour is “sooooo long”.

And the questions are relentless…But, how long does it take to get there? When will we go there again?  When will Santa come back down the chimney? How long is a year?  But that’s forever! Cue the tears…

Although you cannot really help with the frustration that comes with the realization the morning after Christmas that Santa won’t be back until you’re a whole year older, you can alleviate some of the anxiety about the “shorter” lapses of time your little one has to wait.

We measure time in lengths of a Curious George episode in this house.  No lie!  One Curious George episode is 15 minutes long and therefore, it takes 4 Curious George’s to get to Grandma’s house.  And this, of course, makes perfect sense to your Toddler.  And helps her get an idea of how long things will take.

The funniest thing is that she thinks watching 4 Curious George’s is not long enough in front of the TV.  But if you tell her that the car ride is going to be 4 Curious George’s long…look out!  That’s an eternity!