It’s only a few short weeks until school begins! Here are some terrific tips to make those first weeks run as smoothly as possible.
Make sure bedtime is firmly established. I let my children stay up later in the summer, so we have to get back in the habit of going to bed at a decent hour as school days approach! A simple way is to drag them out of bed at dawn every day for a week. I tempt mine with a special breakfast, and follow up with a trip to the park in the afternoon. By dinnertime they are starting to get droopy eyed! They are more than happy to crawl into bed, and I don’t have to listen to “But Mom, I’m not sleepy!”
Put all the school supplies in order, and label them for the first day of school. Decide on an outfit ahead of time, and decree it is not to be worn before then. I always make sure my kids get a brand new outfit a few weeks before school starts! I let them wear it once to make sure we have no surprises (the collar is itchy, or the sleeves are uncomfortable) then I wash it and hang it up until the big day.
Try to find out what time lunch will be served at their school, and start serving lunch at home around the same time. This will get them used to eating at that time each day, and you can see how much breakfast they need to hold them over till lunchtime! By the way, my daughter hates breakfast, but we have come to an understanding - she eats a small one and I stock her favorite cereal and granola bars!
If your child prefers a sack lunch like mine, check into a thermally insulated lunch pack! I swear by these - I can feel assured that their food will still be cold when they get ready to eat, and have a lot more options for their lunches since a frozen gel pack keeps it all refrigerated. My kids watch the school menu, and generally pick one or two meals a week from school, and I pack a nutritious lunch for them on the other days.
Go ahead and lay down rules for after school. Have a place set aside for them to study if they bring work home, and hooks for backpacks by the front door so they can hang their stuff up right away. I keep a big box for completed homework under my desk so they can save their favorite school projects; they can bring them to show me but then they go in the box. At the end of the year they get to pick out a few keepers!
This is a great idea, too - freeze half a old water bottle full of juice, then add more fresh juice and put in the lunch box. Keeps it cold all day!