The start of the school year is one of the busiest times of year for many families including my own. Here are some things that we have found help with the transition back to school:
- Bedtime routine for parents and children. During the summer our entire family was staying up way to late! Over the past weeks we have been trying to get our kids and ourselves to bed at a time that will allow for an adequate amount of sleep.
- Prepare the night before. The mornings are the busiest time for our family so I try to do as much as possible the night before such as packing lunches and choosing clothing for the next morning.
- Getting up 10-15 minutes before the kids. This 10-15 minutes before the kids wake up allows me to get dressed and ready for the day and have a few sips of coffee to get my day going.
- Plan a simple and fun mid-week activity. I can sometimes find that the work week can get monotonous and one thing that I find breaks up the week and gives our family something to look forward to is a mid week activity that we all enjoy. One of our favourite activities is getting takeout/fast food and having a picnic at the park (we try to go to different parks to keep it exciting). The kids get to play in a new park and my husband and I get to unwind and catch up.
- Keep a schedule of activities and to do list. I find that if I don’t write things down I can often forget the activity that I am supposed to attend or the tasks I need to complete. Some people prefer a paper scheduler, I use my phone. Once I have signed my child up for an activity or agree on a meeting I put it in the calendar immediately. I also have a daily list things to do, and everything that I need to do whether it be as simple as picking up milk goes in there. I run through this list throughout the day and complete tasks when I have some downtime.
The start of a new school year is stressful and there will be hiccups along the way. Know that you are doing a great job and that your family will find their groove <3.
This post was co-authored by Stephanie Liu, MD, MSc, CCFP, BHSc and Erin Manchuk, BScPharm, BCGP .