The school holidays are finally over!
While this is a reason to celebrate for the parents who have had to entertain their little ones all holiday and didn’t have a moment’s peace, some children are not happy about it at all.
Even though it’s not the first day of school for the year, it certainly feels that way, especially after such a long break.
While for some parents this morning was smooth sailing, for others it was a bit chaotic.
Here are tips on how to ease yourself and your kids back into the school routine.
Get enough sleep
While on holiday, kids go to bed whenever they want and sleep in for as long as they want.
It’s winter now which makes it even harder to wake them up and get them out of bed.
This doesn’t only apply to your children.
As parents you’ve probably had a bit more time to sleep in since you didn’t have to be up to get the kids ready for school.
The best way to remedy this is to get back into a better sleep routine.
Make sure your little ones go to bed early so that can be fresh in the morning. A good night’s rest helps them to focus better at school as well.
Make sure school uniform is ready
Always make sure that their school uniform is clean and ready for the next day. There’s nothing worse than having to run around in the morning looking for a tie or matching socks.
If your little one is still in pre-school and wearing civvies this is even more important. Allow them to help pick out their outfit for the day to avoid tantrums in the morning.
We’ve all had those mornings when your three-year-old just refuses to wear what you’ve taken out for them.
Allow enough time to get ready
Even if it means waking your children up 15 minutes earlier, rather give them more time to get ready in the morning. There’s so much that needs to be done.
There’s nothing worse than rushing your kids along. It only causes frustration for both the parents and the child.
You want your child to have enough time to sit down and have a proper breakfast.
Prepare school lunches the night before
With everything that needs to be done in the morning, the last thing you want to still be doing is making school lunches.
Makes sure that snacks are all ready to go so that all you need to do in the morning is pop it all into their lunch boxes.
Words of encouragement
Last but not least, always offer words of encouragement for the day.
Some kids might not want to go to school at all. The “I don’t want to go to school” sing-song is oh so familiar.
Remind them of what they love about school to encourage them to get out of bed.