Back to School: Tips & Tricks
“School bells are ringing loud and clear; vacation’s over, school is here.”
Prefer to listen?
Summer is coming to a close and many of us are sending (or have already sent) our children back to school. My son just started first grade last week and my daughter started her preschool classes yesterday. Now, I love a nice long summer break as much as anyone. I’m grateful for the extra time I got to spend with my children. Yet, I’m equally grateful for the structure and routine that the school year brings to our lives.
As our families transition back to school, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all the new demands coming your way. For example, this is the first year I’ve ever had to think about homework after school! In today’s post, I wanted to share five practical tips to make this transition easier on you and your children. It’s my hope that my trial and error over the last few years will help you confidently tackle this new season. So here it goes:
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1. Embrace your mornings
There is nothing worse than getting the morning started on the wrong foot. How many of you have ever found yourself running around the house looking for your daughter’s other shoe while barking orders to your son to get dressed? You find the shoe, your son finally gets dressed, you whisk them out the door and into the car only to realize that one of them needs to pee and you forgot to eat breakfast. You finally drop the kids off at school and by the time you get to work you’re feeling guilty about the way you behaved.
Does that sound familiar? Please tell me I’m not the only one!
How do you feel when your mornings start this way?
If you’re anything like me, you feel frazzled, angry, and frustrated and this sets the tone for your entire day.
Picture your perfect day. How does it begin? Maybe it begins with a hot cup of coffee. Maybe it involves easing into the day with quiet time, reading a devotional, or eating a delicious breakfast. The crazy thing is that you have complete control to make every day start like this! Coffee, books, and breakfast are pretty simple things that we can easily incorporate into our mornings. The key is that you must intentionally pursue them. Rolling out of bed at the exact same time as your kids is not going to cut it. But getting up even 10 minutes earlier than them with a plan to embrace your morning can make a huge difference!
2. Establish routines
My favorite part of the school year is that it gives my entire family structure around what our days look like. But routines aren’t just for drop-off and pick-up. We can establish healthy routines to help us move effortlessly throughout our days before and after school.
Intentional routines are beautiful because they make decisions automatic, meaning you don’t have to waste any cognitive energy deciding what to do, how to do it, or when to do it. Not only do we benefit from routines, but our children thrive on them! Help your children establish their routine by teaching it to them the first few weeks of school. Eventually they will get the hang of things and be comforted by the fact that they know what to expect and when to expect it.
Here’s a sample of my children’s morning routine. I wake them up at 6:30am, my son gets dressed on his own while I get my daughter dressed. Then we all go and sit down to eat breakfast together. After breakfast, everyone gets their shoes and socks on, grabs their backpacks, and we hop in the car to head to school around 7:15am. Since we do the exact same thing every single morning, there is very little push-back or time wasted on whining or questioning what they need to do. This didn’t happen by accident though; we’ve had to work on it. Now that we’re transitioning back to school, they’re having to relearn the routine and get used to it again, but the important thing is that they will get it and life becomes much easier when they do!
The same can be said for your after-school routine. Doing the same things after school, eating snack at the same time, playing, doing homework, eating dinner, showering, and going to bed in the same way, day after day helps the kids (and us) live more elegantly.
3. Get a uniform
Now, I realize that not everyone’s schools require a uniform. Yet, I still believe that adopting a type of uniform for your children is immensely helpful. When our kids know exactly what to wear each day, you can eliminate arguing over clothes and wasting time finding an outfit. This means that you will have more cognitive energy, have more time available each morning, and have a calmer start to your day. And who doesn’t want that?!?
I’ve seen this firsthand, as my son has worn a school uniform for the past 3 years. If you don’t have an official uniform, you can easily establish your own unofficial uniform. For example, my daughter wears a sundress, bloomers, socks, and black shoes every day to school. I don’t have to think about what to dress her in each morning and she knows that there is no reason to argue because she’s gotten used to it. I’m not saying you have to be super strict in what they wear; feel free to give them choices of their favorite shirts or dresses. The idea is that they understand the expectations, they can easily dress themselves, and you don’t have to waste time or energy managing it day in and day out. To make your mornings go even smoother, have your kids lay out their clothes the night before.
For bonus points, you could adopt a uniform of your own!
4. Pack your kids’ lunches in bulk
Packing lunches is a time-sucking activity. When my son first started attending preschool, I would plan a different lunch each day. Then I would spend crazy amounts of time packing said lunches each and every morning. It was exhausting.
Eventually, I decided that I’d had enough and looked for every opportunity to streamline the process. My solution? Packing lunches on Sunday afternoon in bulk. And let me tell you, it is a game changer!
The way this works is that on Saturday I ask my son what he wants to take to lunch for the week. He tells me some of his requests, I come up with ONE menu, grab those groceries during my weekend shopping trip and then pack all the lunches at once and store them in the refrigerator in bento-style boxes so that we can simply grab and go each morning.
Some of you probably have questions…
Doesn’t he get bored eating the same thing each day?
Maybe. But I’m pretty sure my son could eat macaroni and cheese every day for the rest of his life and be perfectly happy. Also, I know I basically eat the same thing everyday for lunch… why would our kids be any different? Finally, because he’s eating the same thing each day I always make sure that they are things that he likes. That’s why I ask him what he wants each week.
Do things stay fresh if you pack them that far in advance?
Yes. I’ve not really had any trouble with things staying fresh. We have learned to put fruit in a baggie or separate container so that the juices don’t make the pretzels or sandwich soggy. But for the most part, he’s never complained!
What’s a typical menu look like?
Here’s what I’ve packed over the last two weeks.
Week 1 Menu:
- Pepperoni slices
- Whole-wheat crackers
- Pepperjack cheese slices
- Yogurt pouch (frozen so that it stays cold in his lunchbox and acts like an ice-pack)
- Peaches
- Dove dark chocolate square
Week 2 Menu:
- Homemade chicken noodle soup (prepared on Sunday and warmed up and put into his Thermos each morning)
- Blackberries
- Yogurt pouch
- Dove dark chocolate
5. Be kind to yourself
Lastly, I want to remind you all to be kind to yourself. You’re meeting new teachers, establishing new routines, the kids are exhausted at the end of the day and always seem to take it out on you. It’s okay if your kids’ lunches aren’t Pinterest perfect. It’s okay if you get to school only to realize that someone forgot to brush their teeth. Extend yourself grace in those situations. This is a time of transition; a time of change; and change can be hard.
I hope that these tips are helpful for you and your families as you begin a new school year. It is my goal to help as many women as possible to cultivate their elegantly balanced life – whatever that might look like for you. If you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it with other women who may benefit from the ideas I’ve shared here. And as always, I’d love to connect with you and continue the conversation over on Instagram or Facebook. Have a beautiful joy-filled week friends!
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If you’re interested in creating a work-life balance characterized by simplicity, joy, and beauty, why don’t you start by checking out my Elegant Balance Workbook? In it, I help you define what work-life balance looks like for you and share some tips on creating that balance. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it – Balance doesn’t happen by accident.
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In this episode, I’m chatting with my guest, Ruthie Sterrett from the Consistency Corner about the power of choosing a word of the year. If you’re ready to live intentionally in 2024, you won’t want to miss it!