Six Tips for Back To School

Back to school tips

It is that time of year again. The time of year where we get to send our precious kiddos back to school. While those summer memories we were making were so beautiful and I will cherish them for the rest of my life. We need a break too but not before transitioning back to school which is stressful. I literally drive myself insane trying to balance out everything that needs to get done!!

My son is in 3rd grade now (can't believe how fast they grow), so over the years, I have learned a few tricks and tips that have made my life a little easier and I wanted to share these with you to help lessen your stress (now keep in mind, I said lessen your stress. I am not a magician. I can't take it all away.)

Make Time for Yourself

Make sure to carve in time for yourself. I know how hectic it can be with school shopping, schedules, after school activities, plus all of your normal day to day responsibilities but this is important! I don't mean "Make sure you carve out 60-90 minutes for your alone time" I mean really...who has time for all that?

Take that last five minutes before your frozen pizza or nuggets are cooking and go take some deep breaths, scroll social media, or even just sit there and relax for a minute. Remember, it does not make you a bad parent to tell your kids to hold on for five minutes so mommy/daddy can gather themselves.

Have Realistic Expectations

Let's talk about Pinterest. We all think those bento box lunches and monster shaped sandwiches are so fun and inviting for the kids to eat.

If I have the time I find a cute themed lunch on Pinterest and do my best to recreate it (sometimes it looks like my 4-year-old made it) but hey A for effort right? If you are able to do Pinterest lunches all the time, please send me any life hacks to make it easier because clearly I could use them...oh and also you rock!

If you're like me and just have a hard time getting that done. Your kids will be just as happy with opening their lunchbox to see a Ziplock bag with a ham and cheese sandwich and their other favorite goodies! Don't stress over the lunches. If your kids are fed (somewhat healthy lunch choices), that's all that matters.

Accept Help & Welcome Reminders

I'm not sure how the rest of the parents in the world keep up with everything happening in their child's school life but I know that I have no shame in saying that if it weren't for the Facebook page dedicated to my son’s class or my daughter’s babysitter reminding me of things on a daily basis, I wouldn't know literally anything that happens.

It does not make you a bad or lazy parent to need to rely on the help of other people. They say it takes a village, right? That statement is so on point because it really does take a village and there should be no "parenting shaming" if someone needs some extra help.

Shop Early or Online

School shopping...how awful is it to go into a store crammed up next to other people pushing their way through the crowd to get school supplies and school clothes? Just a reminder, the stores stay open all year long... you can get the necessities then gradually build up the rest of the things you need.

Or you don't even need to go into a store to get school supplies, you can have them delivered right to your door!

Traditions Unique to Your Family

I'm sure you and your family have tons of different holiday traditions. Why not add a couple more to balance out the stress?

For example, one tradition that I love to do with my kids is what we like to call the backpack fairy! On the night before the first day of school, we find a letter from the fairy. In the letter it tells the kids how excited they are for the school to start and gives them some things to do before the next morning.

If they do what the fairy has asked them to do, then when they wake up, they go to their backpacks and the fairy has left them a surprise! This surprise can be simple, complex, cheap, literally anything that your kids like. Just something small to say good luck at school. It gets them so excited to start school that day!

Give Kids Responsibility

Thank you all so much for making it this far! This next one in my opinion is the hardest of them all but it is totally worth it in the end. Let your kids take some responsibility! I know, it's super hard, but letting them take some responsibility for themselves prepares them for the real world and takes stress off of you.

Age-appropriate responsibility examples:

Here are some things that my kids do to help take some stress off of me (some of these did take some bribing to get to the point we are now).

4 Year Old

Brushing hair and teeth
Picks out clothes the night before
Cleans off the table after dinner

8 Year Old

Loading the dishwasher
Take out the garbage
Cleaning the bathroom

I have learned that when I call these chores, I get the biggest fits but when I say, "can you help mom out and do this or that" they want to help and honestly it helps take away some of that stress of worrying I won't get everything done.

Final Thoughts

Some people might not relate to this, but some will. Some will judge me for doing these things and some will jump up and down knowing that they aren't a "bad parent" for needing space or help. I truly hope that reading this has helped encourage some of you to try these or modify any of these ideas into your own, to make back to school stress lessen. Just remember "if you're worried about being a good parent, you already are one".

Signing off for now (sounds like my kids are beating each other up)

Sending all the love & patience your way.

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