Smooth 'Back-to-School' Transitions
The kids are back at school! Woohoo. I am excited about this, but you may be sad that holidays have ended, or that you are sending your baby to Kindergarten this year. I have been there, I have cried the ugly tears behind my sunnies. But not this year! My main focus for the last week was to get my kids 'back to school' ready. And although I also mean having their uniforms washed and ready and their pencil cases sorted, it also meant helping them emotionally adjust and transition from all the relaxed rules in the holidays to back to normal, without hating it so much that they hate school. Here are some of the things I have implemented over the past week:
Something new for their pencil cases or school bags This helps the kids be excited for school. I also order them labels for their pencils and glue sticks, (much to their surprise, I don't own a stationery tree, and I can't keep replacing lost items). These are always exciting because they get to pick their colour and font for the labels. I am currently hoping they arrive soon, I was just a tad slow ordering them this year. I get mine from Bright Star Kids.
First week back dinners I asked the kids for input into the meal plan for their first week back. I don't ask them every week as we would always have the same meals, but just having something simple like your favourite meal to look forward to, helped them adjust, and feel loved. This year my eldest started high school, so we asked him what he would like for dinner on his first day. Needless to say, I ate too much fried chicken that night! I also got this cute little whiteboard to go on the fridge... pretty much because I was sick of answering the same questions about what we were having for dinner that night, a hundred times a day!
Bedtimes We have had to slowly transition the kids (and myself of course), back to going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. This is happening not as easily as I had hoped... I have some very tired kids in the morning, but those kids are also still buzzing late at night when they should be asleep.
Thoughtful Prompts At family dinner the night before school went back, we asked the kids this question. "What would you like to be saying to us tomorrow night at dinner, about how your first day back at school went?" This is an amazing question, particularly for those who weren't so keen on going back to school, this question made a huge impact on their day. My favourite response was "I hope I have made a new friend." The next day, my two nervous kids had their thoughts focused on their answers. This positive thinking helped them on their first day back, there were no tears that morning, and even though I got some anxious looks, no one clung to me. And of course that night they were very excited that their answers to the questions were true.
How did you guys go getting your kids off to school? Were they happy or anxious? I would love to know! Also, if you would like a particular topic covered, feel free to email me at nina@ninagordoncoaching.com and let me know. I am here to help YOU level up. Nina x
