When my daughter was younger mornings at our house were a major struggle. “I don’t want to go to school!” she would cry. This was followed by the frustration of her not knowing what she wanted to wear, what she wanted to eat or what she wanted for lunch. I would finally have her ready and in the car, driving the short distance to school, only to notice she had pulled the bow partially out of her hair. By the time she arrived she looked as if her hair had never been combed and her clothes had not been pressed. Embarrassing! The principal, who greeted each student upon arrival in an annoyingly cheerful manner for anyone that early in the morning, would receive a loud “hmmmph.” I learned some school survival tips to make the transition easier for all of us. Here’s 5 tips that helped us all survive.
1. Limit choices. If my daughter had chosen her own clothes I am sure I would still be waiting for her to attend kindergarten. I chose two outfits my daughter liked and asked which one she wanted to wear. She still had choices to encourage her independence and I didn’t have headaches.
2. Do anything you can the night before. Pack lunches, set the table for breakfast, plan their outfit with everything from hair bows to shoes, whatever makes life easier. This is especially good for those of us who are night owls instead of early risers!
3. Plan simple breakfasts. My kids have never been huge breakfast eaters. Combined with their pokey traits, I would often carry along a Balance Bar in the car , especially since they come in flavors like Sea Salt Caramel Nut, so they could have breakfast on the go. I didn’t have to worry about allergies because these bars are Non-GMO, gluten free, soy free and dairy free.
4. Don’t overplan. My kids loved their extracurricular activities. I felt like I was always rushing from one place to another. Finally, I limited their activities to two of their favorite activities for each child. Much easier for me and for them!
What are your best tricks to make back to school easier?
Since my school is online, it is a lot easier to be prepared for. Even then though, I set out my notebook and such before I start to make sure I can be prepared to do homework.
This is a great post for anyone that has kids! I am going to pass these tips along to some mom friends.
My son isn’t a huge breakfast eater either. I should think about bars for the school bus!
Great tips! I plan on doing as much as I can the night before. That will be my saving grace!
Love your robot bed sheets, LOL! These bars sound great especially for a quick snack!
Great tips! Getting up can be challenge especially on the days we sleep in a little too late.
I find keeping my kids on a tight schedule is a must! Homework right after a snack is a must and no tv before bed!
I hate mornings and I always feel like i’m dragging! Getting things together at night is the only way I keep my stuff together haha
These are great tips! Doing as much as possible the night before is imperative. As are quick breakfasts.
No kids here, but just to make it to work in the morning, I stress the importance of doing everything I can the night before. Down to my breakfast and lunch being in prepared and on the same fridge shelf.
I’m all for getting simple things done the night before. Like folders and water bottles.
Great advice. I am all for doing all you can the night before.
These bars look yummy! Thanks for sharing this review!
These are great tips. I have my middle school girls get their stuff ready, bags back, etc the night before. I pick out my 8 year old son’s outfit (he is high functioning autistic) the night before, I let my youngest get his clothes ready in morning because he is quick and he never wears what I pick out. The lunches and snacks are all prepped night before while I cook dinner and ready for grab and go morning. It’s great to be proactive about school mornings, because sometimes mornings just stink.
That was smart to limit the activities to two. Two is plenty, I think!
I love your list! Those are all great tips, especially planning the night before. That helps us out a ton!
These are great tips. I’m fortunate that my kiddos have never given me much trouble with back to school or school in general (of course they aren’t teens yet either!). The getting as much ready the night before as possible is key for us!
I start preparing the night before and make sure breakfast is ready before my kids get up.
I do everything the night before for sure. If not, we would never get out the door on time.
Great idea to limit choices and do things the night before. I’ve homeschooled my daughter all these years so it’d drive me nuts trying to get her up and ready every to get to school!
What a great bar for breakfast!! I have not heard of this version of the Balance bars before!
We have been planning outfits the night before school. Huge time saver!!
Great tips! Even now as an adult I need to set out the things I will need inthe morning. If I don’t Im usually running late.
Yep, after being a mom for 23 years, this is all good stuff. You can’t do too much work in advance. Also, starting a few weeks ahead of time with routine, though that’s really hard, is the best thing.
A simple breakfast really is important. We have very limited time in the mornings.
What great tips! We are horrible at eating breakfast in the mornings and usually end up with a had full of grapes lol I need to plan a little better!
It’s always a good idea to complete what you can the night before. You never know what the morning will bring so it’s better to be done with it.
My trick is to make coffee the night before. If I’m up and doing good then that means everything else will fall into place. Those bars sounds great. Never heard of them before, but snacks for sure keep back to school good.
Planning, planning, planning. Planning ahead is what gets me ready for BTS!
These are all great tips. The breakfast is really important and can make or break a day!
I give my daughter a choice of only two options. If she doesn’t like either of them, then I pick for her.
Getting back on track and starting an earlier bedtime helps with back to school struggles. Kids get out of their routine during the summer so it’s best to get them back to going to bed at the same time every night a few weeks prior to the start of school.
Tip #1 is crucial for my younger kids! I want them to learn how to pick out clothes, but when you give them too many choices it will take forever! I also cut down the choices too and it makes it go so much smoother.
I love the idea of offering two clothing choices, to encourage independence, but still limit the time spent picking out clothes! We have always started the back to school routine a week early in our house.
We do everything the night before.. lunches, baths and clothes picking. Then in the morning it is not as tough!
Getting things ready the night before makes such a difference – even when you are homeschooling. The less things you have to prepare and think about in the morning, the better.
My mother used to make me do everything at night so that I would be ready in the morning. I try to do that for kiddo, especially Saturday night so we can all get up and be ready for church on Sunday. Seems like Sunday is such a chore.
I can say from experience that if you don’t plan ahead for back to school, you WILL be sorry.
My sister has horror stories of back to school disasters because she didn’t plan ahead. I’ll have to make sure she reads this.
These are great tips. Back to school can get majorly crazy if you’re not careful.
especially when it’s my house and i’m the mom. LOL!
I make lunches the night before and set out my son’s clothes for him. I even try to set out ingredients for breakfast, just to have one step taken care of.
These are great tips. If you don’t plan ahead, school mornings can be a whirlwind nightmare.
bedtime routines are a big help in our house. and i always keep snack stuff in the car like balance bars- too many times *I* forget to eat breakfast!
Great tips! With three kids and three drop-offs in the morning, it’s crucial for us to be prepared the night before or we’re running around like crazy people before we leave for the day!
Simple and nutrition filled breakfasts and getting everythign done the night before are so important to a successful start to your day!
i don’t give younger my kids choices yet. my son has a uniform but my 2nd grader wears what I put out. Once she starts having opinions i’m sure we’ll have more delays
Great tips! Being prepared is better than trying to fix what’s happening in the moment!
We do a lot the night before. It saves a lot of time to lay out our clothes and pack lunches the night before.
I’m big on doing things the night before – it saves a lot of morning stress. When I don’t do it, my entire next day is rushed and feels off. Great tips!
I agree – the mornings are too rushed if I don’t do things the night before.
These are great tips! I think doing as much as you can the night before is a great idea 🙂