It is that time of the year. If you have school aged kids, they have already returned to school or will be starting soon. In my case, we are day 8 into our new school year and we are still adjusting to our back to school routine.
Every year, I have the best of intentions and plan to start adjusting to our back to school routine a week or two before school starts. I don’t know that those intentions have ever been followed through and I spend the first few months of the new school year adjusting.
Adjusting to our back to school routine includes…
…homework must be done before television or play time! So far, this one hasn’t been a huge struggle, but it hasn’t been easy peasey either!
…backpacks packed for the next day and set out so we know where they are! There is nothing I hate more than getting ready to walk out the door and someone saying “I can’t find…” This way, it’s all ready and put together and ready to walk out the door.
…shoes set out for the next day! See above!
…lunch made the night before. If they aren’t going to eat lunch at school; lunches must be made the night before. So far, this seems to be the easiest part of the routine!
…showers are a daily routine! Whether they do it at night before bed or in the morning before school, daily showers are a must. We tried to instill this routine during the summer, but let’s be real; it was summer. It didn’t go as planned so the kids are definitely adjusting to that.
…clothes picked out the night before. I swear, my kids are the pickiest when it comes to their outfits. Hence, we pick out the outfits the night before so we don’t spend hours searching in the morning.
…early bedtime for everyone – including me which is really hard! The kids start school at 7:45am and the bus picks them up at 7:17am. That means I am up and getting the kids ready at 6:30am so they can be out the door by 7:15am for the bus.
I’m a night owl. I don’t do mornings. I would much rather stay up at night when everyone is sleeping. I do my best work then because it’s uninterrupted. Unfortunately, that makes me a crabby patty in the mornings so I have to tweek my sleep schedule which isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
Lucky for me, Natrol sent me some melatonin – a drug free, non habit forming sleep aid – to help me get my sleep routine back to ‘normal’ (here is a
for you to purchase!)
is a 100% drug-free sleep aid that promotes healthy sleep patterns and a more relaxed night’s sleep. Natrol Melatonin Fast Dissolve tablets require no water helps regulate healthy sleeping patterns. It helps you fall asleep faster (which is exactly what I struggle with!)
is a 100% drug-free sleep aid that helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep with a built in 2-layered time release that gives you an initial 5mg dosage to help you fall sleep and then releases the remaining 5mg dosage throughout your sleep to help you stay asleep.
…no naps! Or if I take a nap – I need to set the alarm to unlock the door for the kids coming home!
After homeschooling for 8 months and then having a little over 2 months of summer vacation; our routine is shot so it is definitely a work in progress adjusting to our back to school routine.
Have you found any tried and true tips or tricks to adjusting to your back to school routine? Be sure to leave them in the comments so other parents can use them too!