Parent blogger Susan K Mann shares her guide to navigating the first term back at school.
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I don’t know about you, but I find that us mum’s stress far more about going back to school than the children seem to. They take it all in their stride and here we are tearing our hair out over shoe appointments and sewing a label onto every item of clothing our children own. In the vain hope that come the October break we still have a few items left. Are you that kind of mum?
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My advice on those hours of painstakingly stitching on the labels, glass of wine in hand, while stabbing your fingers with the needle is, don’t do it. I use a stamper, get one with just your surname and stamp on those labels. It doesn’t wash off and you can use it for multiple kids. Or even simpler, use a permanent pen and write those names on. More time for wine and you are saving money on plasters!
So, the first day arrives and you have made some Pinterest worthy packed lunches, I’d skip that part, you’ve taken your first day of school photos, by the front door, everyone does that and posted those well-polished children photos on Instagram. Off they go through the front gate, without so much as a glance back. And you breathe a sigh of relief. Until you pick them up at home time looking a little less groomed and a little more bedraggled than how you dropped them off.
Do you know what? That’s fine? Let kids be kids, their hair should be messy by the end of the day, their ties squint, it shows they had fun and were kids. I’d also advise skipping those Pinterest worthy lunchboxes, you set yourself up for a whole new level of stress. Plus, a ham sandwich, yogurt and a small treat tastes just as good as pinwheel hedgehogs or cheese birds or whatever they make.
Don’t take a child’s word for it that they have no homework or no letters, always check their bags. Sometimes the teaching assistants put notes in there that the child won’t have seen or a note in their bag. Listen to your child about how their day has been, but don’t always believe everything they say. Children have a colourful imagination.
Letters, how many letters do you need in the first month back to school? Once you have that yearly school schedule with all the dates for the up and coming year, save yourself time and energy by taking a photo of it. That way you can add it to your favourites. You have your phone in your hand more times than you’ll have that bit of paper. And if you are like me, you’ll have it stuck to the fridge with a magnet that you ultimately knock off every time you open that fridge door.
Onto the subject of homework, whether you love it or hate it or think it should be something that should be outlawed, your kids will probably hate doing it by the time you are into week three. Even the most enthusiastic child will get bored. My top tip is treats. We treat ourselves on the odd occasion so let’s treat the kids. A small cake, biscuit something they like and can be rewarded with at the end of getting that homework done before flying out the door with a football. Or stickers, to some children, stickers are like gold.
After school, most children are a tad peckish. I find cereal bars, apple slices, sugar free ice-polls all go down a treat. As they get older, the snack sometimes needs to get a bit meatier. Ready cooked chicken breasts or a sandwich are welcomed after school.
I think one of my biggest bugbears are coats, shoes, hats, scarfs and jackets being dumped as they come through the door. We would spend what felt like forever hunting for that one glove or shoe that would be no-where to be found when you are running late to get out the door in the morning but turns up a week later in the strangest of places. We have a couple of large plastic boxes next to where the coats are hung in the hallway. One for hats, scarfs and coats if they are too small to reach the peg and one for shoes. This means, they learn to be responsible for their own items and you don’t trip over that missing shoe on the way down the stairs. It’s a win win.
One thing that took me a while to learn was just how exhausting being back to school or starting school is to your little ones. And [for] us parents, it can be mentally draining for us worrying if they are making friends, eating their lunch or picking up their first sounds. Sometimes, a cuddle on the sofa watching their favourite tv show or reading their favourite book together is needed for both of you. They miss us as much as we miss them when they are at school. Be kind to yourself and remember it takes time to settle into a routine.
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