Well, once again I must apologize for the delay. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, including a very weird car accident in which I ran into a tree and totalled my car. Yes, definitely crazy.
However, it's almost Back to School time!!! I really don't know where the summer has gone, but here we are, nearly ready to start school again! I can't believe it.
I for one am trying to spend some of this weekend getting our house and family ready for getting back "into the swing" of things.
Some of the things we're doing?
1. Make sure we've gotten all school supplies and they're labeled appropriately. (Done- this is one of those things I can't stand to have hanging over my head.)
2. Start gradually scaling bedtime back to a normal "school year" bedtime. (The wake up time hasn't, for us, at least, been an issue. We definitely have an early riser.)
3. Create some systems and make them clear across the board. (and stick to them!) Our back to school resolutions:
We will have a central "docking" station- the place near the door where the backpack, shoes, etc., get dropped, and where they get placed when homework is done. This way we're not running around like crazy every morning.
Another plan is to lay out the clothes (together, with the little guy) for the week, and put them in outfits, ready to go each day. 30 minutes on Sunday night can change our routine by at least 15 minutes every morning.
Last year, our school changed lunch providers, and we decided that we really weren't keen on their food. In the event that there is something fantastic, that we all feel good about, we'll buy lunch one day each week. Otherwise, we'll have a lunch calendar and do the shopping at the beginning of the week. Again, this will be planned together, so there's no cause for conflict for having something he doesn't like- he will have helped choose it.
Regarding lunch, we've got all of our lunch gear together (do you have yours?). Reusable water bottle, Laptop lunchbox, Lunchskins reusable snack bags, etc. This way, we can save tons of money, buying large containers of applesauce, yogurt, snacks, etc. A great thing to do with snacks especially is to fill your reusable contrainers for the week with goldfish, pretzels, crackers, and so on and you don't have to worry about that later either!
We've already got our list of items that we'll use for lunches, and I've made some easy to use color coded cards that help the little guy put together his menu with what he wants (with what's available.) Periodically, I'll be posting some recipes that are great, healthy lunches that might help you think outside the "box"
We're also going to readjust our chore chart so it's a little bit more doable/ and have a schedule that while perhaps not set in stone, will be more or less what we stick to. I found last year that the after school break I thought would help him wind down did not. Doing the homework as soon as he got home was the total ticket, and made all the difference in the world, not only to the quality of the finished product, but also greatly to his mood later. Waiting an hour or two just served to frazzle him out and make for a much longer homework session.
4. We're also planning on putting together some playdates with kids that are going to be in his class this year. Luckily, at second grade, he's really starting to know pretty much everyone in the grade, but his BFF is not in his class this year, so we want to make sure he starts comfortable socially as well as prepared academically.
5. Going back to the systems, we're going to start really laying down some rules regarding schoolwork and the ramifications of meeting the expectations. This is the grade where things (by all accounts) start sort of ratcheting up to "real" schoolwork, and that's going to be a bit of a change for him. I'm contemplating getting whatever these rules are in writing. But we're still contemplating that.
The most important thing we're trying to do is to think ahead about those things that may come up, and have a plan in place. That makes all the difference. It's easy to get lazy in the summer and forget the struggles you had the year before, and even the best laid plans can go awry. If there is a plan, though, at least you have a structure to follow.
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