Summer went by so quickly and we are already back at the beginning of another school year. We focus a lot on back to school for students, which makes a lot of sense. Something we don’t talk about enough is the impact of back to school on parents and caregivers.
We’ve probably done the supply list shopping, secured the latest backpacks, shoes and outfits, filled out the picture and athletic forms, deposited money into lunch accounts and created a color-coded masterpiece of a schedule on our calendar app or markerboards prominently displayed in our kitchens.
Here are a few tips that we often talk with our kids about that take on a different meaning when we apply them to ourselves, as parents and caregivers of school aged kids.
1) Do Your Best
Some of us love to pack our kids’ lunches, sort the backpack contents and have clothes laid out for the next day or even week. Some of us throw a sandwich, the bottom contents of a chip bag and an almost expired yogurt in a grocery bag. Others of us choose that our kids will eat what they like from the hot lunch tray because we either want to or didn’t have time to pack a lunch, not to mention we can’t run our kids’ forgotten band instrument to school because we have a work meeting.
Which of these ways is best for us and for our kids?
The answer is whichever one works best for you and your family. Kids are amazing and resilient creatures and they will adjust. These are all loving ways to do our best.
2) Make Friends
There are a lot of things on that color-coded schedule I mentioned above. I know a lot of us like to do all the things when it comes to our kids and their lives. Sometimes we have a conflict and sometimes we have the proverbial brick wall and need some support.
Let’s normalize making friends in our neighborhood, our school or church community, through work or even through family. These people become the village it takes to raise our kids. These are the people who will stop and pick up our kids on the way to school because we are home with another kid who is sick, or the friend who sends pictures of our kid at the band concert because we were in the back row and the tuba player blocked a clear view of our percussionist.
Not only does our ability to ask for and receive support help us, but it is also a great example for our kids to do the same.
3) Mind Your Back to School Schedule
I have friends who set their alarms at 5:00am, get up and get their workout in, drink coffee and read their book, devotional, etc. before anyone in the house stirs. What a great morning routine that probably sets them up for a great day.
I, on the other hand, am the parent who hits snooze one too many times, gets my kids to school with seconds to spare and am usually finishing up my breakfast right as my workday starts.
Those are two pretty opposite examples, but I think they are helpful representations of the reality of different lives and households. We can be the parent who drops our kids off in an oversized sweatshirt and baseball cap, or the parent who is fine-tuned and ready for the day as the kids hop out of the car.
Let’s find a schedule that works best for our own families, appreciate the difference in how others show up.
I hope we all find our strengths, our schedules and our village this year as we support our kids through another school year. I know that the school year is about helping students learn and grow in so many areas of life and I hope we can use the opportunity the school year provides to do the same.
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