The school year is right around the corner, which is both a blessing and a curse for parents.
You finally get to stop hearing about how bored your kids are because there’s “nothing” to do, but that means the fights to get kids to bed and to do their homework is on the horizon.
Here are five tips to hopefully make the back-to-school transition a little easier.
#1 Re-establish bedtime and mealtime routines
Getting back into a school-time schedule can be a chore, especially bedtime, so start the process now.
Start getting your kids on mealtime and bedtime routines. This will give them a week or two to get back on the school schedule before school actually starts. If your kids are already use to getting down for bed and showing up for dinner it will, hopefully, be that much easier to get them to keep it up when school starts.
#2 Plan before you shop
Back-to-school shopping can be a complete and utter nightmare. Your kids refuse to hold still, and for some odd reason they’re not excited about trying on that fancy pair of corduroys.
Add that in with the fact you have a headache and question why you thought having kids was ever a good idea and you’re on the brink of a serious clinical breakdown. Let’s try and avoid this scenario, shall we?
Before you ever head out the door make a plan of exactly what you need. If your kid need one new pair of jeans and tennis shoes, plan accordingly and buy exactly that. It will make it easier on your child and you.
Also make sure to make a budget before you leave the house and try to take cash. That way, you’re forced to plan ahead and make smart purchases, because once the cash is gone, it’s gone.
#3 Take your kid shopping for lunch
If you’re tired of your kid trading his cucumber sandwich for an Oreo, the first thing you need to do is stop making him cucumber sandwiches. The second is take him grocery shopping with you.
Take your child to the store with you and let him make some of his own choices. No, you’re not going to let him get a case of Dr. Pepper and Red Vines for a weeks worth of lunch, but if you help him make some good choices with a couple of snacks he wants he’s much more likely to eat it because he picked it.
#4 Focus on the positive
In an attempt to get your child excited about going back to school make sure you focus on the positives that accompany going back to school.
No, the wealth of knowledge you gain is not the positive your kid is looking for.
What subjects does your child love? Ask questions about what they hope to learn in those subjects and why they like them. Get your child excited about spending time with their friends and make sure to never say, “Oh, stop worrying. It’ll be summer again before you know it.”
There are a lot of positives for kids heading back to school, find them and focus on them.
#5 Set goals and follow up
Every parent wants their child to perform well in school and you can help nurture that by setting goals with you kids. Make sure when you do this that you make the goals with your kids, not for them.
Talk to them about what they hope to accomplish and also express your expectations. Then, together, set goals and make a plan on how you’re going to achieve them.
Once you set said goals don’t just let your kid loose, but help them achieve said goals and make sure to follow up.
If you just set the goals and never speak of them again you can’t expect to come to your child at the end of the school year and say, “So, did you meet your goals?”
The goals can get your child excited about the school year and it will help them to know they have someone who will be there encouraging them and helping them achieve their goals.
What tips do you have to make the back-to-school transition a little easier?
Let us know! Be sure to pin this to save yourself some stress next year!
