Well, it's that time of year again, Mama…
I’m talking about going back to school.
The thought of juggling the school day/work week with the chaos of schedules, carpools, and extracurricular activities can be enough to send us moms spinning - and not like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.
Nope.
A stressed-out, panicked, “DID I LEAVE THE STOVE ON???!” kind of panic.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
So to diminish The Dread of the rush of the back-to-school hustle and bustle, here are two tips to help you and your kids gently and joyfully navigate the beginning of the school year:
Waking up.
Yep... that's right, we all need to do it at one point or another in our day and unfortunately, at the beginning of the school year, it hits our kids the hardest. Most of our kids are used to the slow and lazy mornings that summer vacation allows.
My suggestion for diminishing this pain:
Start setting an alarm for your children in the morning.
Yikes!.... I know…..I’m sorry!
If your child is currently waking up sometime around 9:00 a.m. and they need to be up at 6:00 a.m. for school, you're going to need to start training their body (and brain) to wake up earlier now.
You’ll need to start getting them used to waking up three hours earlier.. and this is no easy task! But I’ve got you covered.
Here's the plan:
The Power of 15 minutes: You will get them used to waking up earlier in (gentle) 15-minute increments. So your “training” schedule would look something like this:
Week 1 (now): If they are used to waking up at 9 am - you will set their alarm for 8:45 am. Two (or so) days later you’ll set it for 8:30 am and then two (or so) days after that you’ll have them waking up at 8:15 am
Week 2: 8am…..7:45am….7:30am
Week 3: 7:15am….7am….6:45
Week 4: 6:30am…6:15am…and lastly 6am
Now pat yourself on the back, you’ve done it!!
But don’t celebrate just yet, your work is not over…..while you are weaning back wake-up times, you must also get control over:
2. Bedtime.
and guess how you’ll do it?
Exactly!
With the same formula, but just in reverse.
So if your kids have been crawling into bed around 10 pm each night but you want them to be in bed by 7 pm and lights out by 8 pm, you’re going to do the above steps:
The Power of 15!
So your nighttime schedule could look like this:
Week 1 (now): 9:45 pm….. 9:30 pm…. 9:15 pm
Week 2: 9pm…8:45pm…8:30pm
Week 3: 8:15pm…8pm….7:45pm
Week 4: 7:30pm….7:15pm….7pm
A ritual is so important to prepare their little bodies and brains. Adults benefit from nighttime rituals as well.
When we follow a ritual it gives the message to our brain and our body that it's time to for a certain activity (sleep, homework, etc...).
This is exactly what it does for our children, so you might want to start with a calming bath and then storybook time in bed. There are added benefits if you get into bed with your child and snuggle while you read. The closeness to you could help regulate your child's nervous system, calming them down before sleep.
Once story-time is over you can tuck them in and say your goodnights or you could allow them 15 or so more minutes to read silently to themselves. Of course, a quiet audiobook does wonders as well. (It does wonders for me!).
So there you have it.
The nightly routine I used every August to get my kids ready to begin school by September - and what I suggest for the families that I work with both in our occupational therapy practice and for my Relaxed Reading Revolution mamas.
Remember, raising our children does not have to deplete our energy. We can keep it relaxed and joyful by making small and gentle changes to the way we do the things that aren’t working the way we’d like them to be.
And just think, Mama, the sooner you get this schedule down, the sooner you can kick your tired feet up, sip your wine, and dive into your own book of choice.
Or perhaps even better: get into bed yourself!
Ahhhhh.
Sleep tight, Mama.
Xo,
Steph
Oh - a final thought! Of course, if you are starting your routine only two or one week before the start of school, you just need to change your times a bit.
No worries, whatever you can do will help your little ones - and yourself.
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