It’s official. I am soon going to be the mama of a school-aged child. My son will no longer be a pre-schooler. He will be a student. For five mornings a week, he will head out the door and into the learning institution that isn’t our home.
I am sad. Excited for him. Anxious. And extremely in awe of how quickly this time has gone. Letting our little birds fly out into the world is no easy task. We try to prepare them as best we can, but do we ever prepare ourselves?
With this change, I am also entering the world of Back to School. Supplies, new clothes, backpacks and so on. Luckily, I don’t have the challenge of sending a lunch with him, but I do have to prepare a snack and figure out what our new schedule means for our family.
This week, to celebrate (or commiserate) about Back To School, A Little Bit of Momsense is featuring Back to School posts. I’ll be sharing information about school supplies, snacks, preparation and some fun for my readers – a giveaway (hint: join my Facebook page for an extra chance to win!)
Stay tuned this week for some Back to School discussion, something I hardly can believe I’m having.
How about you? Are you a seasoned Back to School parent or a newbie like me?
I do dread the lunches, but I realize that if I prep everything else the night before (including breakfast), I can reheat (on the stove as we don’t have a microwave anymore) or cook something hot for her lunch. And snacks are some sort of cookies + fruit.
DD’s school has a milk program, so at least that is taken care of.
As for supplies, she has an abundance of it, and since she is at a public school, the rest is already supplied.
I think that my back to school stress is over booking the after school programs at the Community Centre before everyone else.
i am seasoned.
my oldest is going into grade 10, middle into grade 6 and the baby will be starting jk in a few years…
i think i have tried every trick in the book to make mornings easier and the most effective strategy has been getting the kids to make their own lunches.
now, this is not feasible for the littlest students…but they could organize their snacks ( we have a school safe snack shelf in the pantry ) and make sure their lunch kit is taken out of their school bags and lined up every night ( you will learn the value of this when you go searching for it in the morning only to discover that it has been left at school. again;)).
have fun:), this is an exciting time!
I have a love/hate relationship with school. I will be joining you in the back to school ranks, but I do wish we had an extra week or two of summer tacked on first.
My only tip is to work your morning in 15 increments. Up, breakfast, dressed and out the door, when things are finished early it makes for better mornings.
We use the time after dinner on Sunday to plan out the week. Every week seems to have a new suprise, whether it is a field trip or an incomplete assigment or even parent travel. Menu plans that take into account the after school activities help so we know which evenings we will be in a time crunch.
Looking forward to more of your posts.
Looking forward to your posts, especially snack stuff. Our 4yo is headed off to school for the first time this year and so it’ll be a whole new world for us too (on top of which we’ve thrown a newborn, due the day before the 4yo heads off to school, into the mix). Like you I’m glad I don’t have to worry about lunches, but do need to figure out fun and healthy snacks.
Planning is key I think, something I will have to start doing.
I am mostly stressing about the fact that not only do I send him out every day, but now, every morning of the week is committed – I liked our freedom!