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August – the calm before the storm + absolute chaos:
August comes in like a lamb and out like a lion. Our family started the month with a serene trip to the beach, on August 20th, it’s all systems go and we’re back to school – full throttle – and if we’re not careful, it can sneak up on us and feel like whiplash. But, since my kiddos are now going into fifth and second grades (how!?), I’ve learned a few things that help ease the transition without too much chaos … for the kids AND for me. Read on for my patented sanity-saving guide for moms who want less of a jolt to transition from summer as we all head back to school.
1. Ease Into Bedtimes & School Day Wake Times
This one goes for me AND the kids. We’ve all gotten used to lax bedtimes and getting up at least a little later than we do during the school year. For me, it’s only about a 20 minute difference, as I have to get up over the summer to work anyway, but for the kids, some days they would sleep until 8am, which is two hours PAST when they have to get up for school. We let our stay at the beach serve as the last hurrah for this more relaxed sleep/wake schedule, and then I had ChatGPT set up a spreadsheet of bedtimes and wake times from the day we got back that gradually moved the kids back to where they need to be, moving in 15 minute increments or less. I know lots of people want to sleep in until the very last minute before school starts, but for us, this has resulted in better mornings the first few days of school and less complaining in general about being tired.
2. Stock Up on Lunchbox Favorites to Get the Buzz Going
My kids pack their own lunches, and usually they use leftovers from dinner the night before or occasionally, we’ll have lunch meat (not my fave to buy for them, but that’s a tale for another time). But when we are getting ready to head back to school, I grab a few lunchbox treats to get us all excited for “making lunches” again (it’s literally one of my least favorite things to remind the kids to do every day).
This year, we’ve gotten some Modballs (they LOVED these for swim team!) – you can get $10 off with my coupon code (MOLLY123).
We also got some little packets of pistachios that they love for snack time (easy to buy on Amazon!) and some Clusterbucks granola bites (ALSO on Amazon).
I also got them new Bento ice packs for their lunch boxes to keep things cool (Ella has the latest lunch slot in her school this year, so she’ll definitely need it!). Puppies for Ella and Sharks for Linus.
Now, I know they will wait until the SECOND week of school to start complaining about how they don’t want to make their lunches!
3. Add a Little “New” for Excitement
We don’t do new backpacks every year, or even new lunch boxes, but the kids ALWAYS need new shoes at the start of the school year. My parents always get these for them and my kids love going to the shoe store (or perusing Zappos) to pick the perfect pair for school. Once they arrive, no one is allowed to wear them ANYWHERE until school starts. Just adds to the anticipation!
I also make them little “back to school” gifts to open on the morning of their first day. This year’s gift has the aforementioned ice packs and a couple little “extras” to reflect their personalities in their school day:
-new pencils for Linus to reflect his Marvel obsession (from Amazon, of course)
-new keychain for Ella (from Amazon, of course)
4. Create Back-to-School Rituals
It is my esteemed opinion that rituals rock. They create a sense of anticipation AND familiarity that can help with transitions like the one that takes place each summer when we trade in lazing about for early wake up times, homework and tests. One of our new favorite rituals is the pizza party I mentioned in a previous post – a girly celebration with Ella’s friends and their moms to celebrate the reading the girls did all summer AND reground with friends before school starts again.
Another ritual we seem to have established is a “back to school ice cream social” that could mean going out to Haagen Dazs or making an at home ice cream bar. We usually slot this in for the first weekend after school starts – a little reward for making it through the first week!
Other amazing traditions could include:
-setting and sharing goals for the school year (once your kids are old enough) – these could even come with specific awards for milestones reached (ie: straight A’s for the first semester = the dog can finally sleep in your room like you’ve been begging for)
-first day photos that include a pet or prop that you use year after year as a family joke
-special back to school breakfast that you have every hear and look forward to (could also be a back to school dinner that you always have the night after the first day)
-school year’s eve dance party – let the kids pick songs they loved over the summer to celebrate the countdown back to school
5. Reclaim Your Own Routine
Personally, I’m not the mom that jumps for joy about back to school. My kids are at an age where I am REALLY treasuring the extra time with them over the summer and I will genuinely miss the heck out of them when they are in school all day long! That being said, I’m going to use the opportunity to get back in my own groove. For me, that looks like:
-restarting a workout strength split with my favorite Peloton instructor that I sort of abandoned over the summer due to bandwidth and inconsistent summer mornings where the kids joined me for my dog walk and more often than not, in the gym garage to “workout” with me as well.
-get back into a more regular morning routine – with my earlier wake up time, I don’t have to dive right into work every morning. I can add a quick yoga session while I sip on coffee and chat with the kids about what they are most excited about for the day.
-afterschool checklists – this will probable evolve as we get into the school year, but for now, it looks like: hang your backpack up, do your homework, make your lunch, do your chores, then free time until dinner (unless we are participating in one of our fall sports/activities that day – we have acting, soccer AND baseball this fall season…yipe!)
6. Refresh Your Workspace/Home Command Center
My home office is up in our bonus room, a space I share with my kids as their playroom. Let’s just say that the area has been “well loved” this summer and it could use a little refresher to start things off on the right foot for fall. I plan to revisit my “Dopamine Office Decor” post to help guide me. I may need to do a little back to school shopping for myself!
I’m also highly considering springing for a Skylight calendar. Anyone out there use one and love it or hate it or have anything to say about it?
7. Set Parenting Intentions for the Year
The past few school years have differed drastically from one another for us, each one with different challenges. For example, in third grade (two years ago), Ella dealt with the concept of “grades” for the first time and tried to learn how to plan ahead, study for tests and juggle a much more rigorous academic load than she was used to in second grade. This year, in fifth grade, she’ll be changing classes and “practicing” for middle school next year (ack!). Linus’ big goal last year was forging ahead with becoming a strong reader – he didn’t get an amazing foundation in kindergarten, so we worked on it a lot over the summer before 1st grade and then EVERY DAY as home work last year. He’s come a LONG way, so second grade is really going to be about polishing those skills and increasing his speed and comprehension.
Here are a few intentions we’re thinking about in the context of these new academic environments and discussing with them:
- For Linus, continuing to emphasize the consistency of daily homework, even when there is none “assigned” – with daily reading or math practice. This is something I did NOT do with Ella in second grade, and as I mentioned above, third grade was a bit of a shock for us both.
- For Ella, encouraging more responsibility for her own academic schedule and beyond. Trying to get her to set her own to do list each day and handle bigger projects by planning ahead and breaking down the work into smaller, manageable chunks.
8. Romanticizing the Future
It’s so easy for me to mourn the loss of summer, so I can’t imagine how my kids feel – they’ve had a lot more freedom these past few months than I have! So, we ease ourselves into back to school by reminding ourselves of all the fun things that come along with it, like:
- Ella’s and my upcoming adventure to play life size Monopoly – something that was on our summer bucket list, but flowed into the end of August.
- Linus’ yearly fall camping trip for the Boy Scouts – he looks forward to going with Dan, and Ella/I plan a fun girls’ weekend with stuff Linus wouldn’t like (spoiler: I think the movie “My Girl” might be on the agenda for this year!)
- General fall goodness: slightly cooler temperatures, football mania, chili, fall hiking … it’s a GREAT season to look forward to!
Back to School time is fraught with potential land mines. Competition over first day pictures, forgetting lunchboxes, sleepy kids, new teachers that aren’t their fave, not being in class with friends … it’s got a lot of potential to suck hard. But, hopefully, some of the stuff in this post at least helps all of us feel like a team – we’re all in this together! We will make it through another back to school season and it won’t be long until we’re talking about holiday madness and how busy the Christmas season is!
Less & More: The WFH Mom Edit 
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