The first day back to school……..work.
After an eventful, yet somewhat stressful summer, I imagined going back to our school routine would be as easy as clicking my heels. Spending time with my little Miss was amazing, but my creative juices have been flowing and this mama is ready to get back to work!
This year, my daughter will be attending a new school. With that comes a change in routine (for the second time in 7 weeks) and some uncertainty and fear (for the both of us). I have spent the last few weeks talking and prepping her about this new adventure. Yes, it’s a new school and new friends, but the classroom is consistent to her last school where she spent the last three years.
Lucky for the two of us, her school started a day later than most schools in our area. This gave us one extra day to spend with each other…. quality time to kick off this year’s school season! We went for lunch and ended up beside a family that will be attending the same fine establishment. Hoping to ease her little fears, we all talked about how great the first day of school will be and what we were going to pack for lunch.
Fast forward to the night before school….!
Dinner made. Child fed. Laundry in. Lunch (and afterschool snack) packed. Uniform marked and laid out. Bedtime routine was in full effect. After marking every single pencil, pencil crayon and marker with my daughter’s initials, I am ready for bed. One problem though… I could not shut my brain off! I was having anxiety about the first day of school. I wasn’t supposed to be the one stressing; I was the one who was going to be clicking my ruby red…………. flip-flops together and going back to work!! All I wanted to do was be prepared and transition from the lovely role of stay at home mom for the summer to working mom and not let it hurt so much! Anybody that knows me knows that the being on time is a daily struggle. On a good day I can manage to pull a brush though my hair, but never mind on a day where there was zero to no sleep the night before and an alarm clock that went off way too early. I emerged from my bed an hour later than planned on the first day of school making for a rushed, panicked, stressful morning for the both of us.
Lesson learned: having some type of routine works for everyone! I do not want to teach my child a) that it’s ok to be late and b) to be stressed out all the time.
Now let’s try this again tonight…
The benefits of having a routine:
http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/family-life/structure-routines
