The colder months are now upon us. With the children now comfortably back to school after the summer holidays, we are in the time of year where routine is the most important. Easing into autumn and the school routine can sometimes be quite tough and rather overwhelming. Back to school can be hectic in comparison to the relaxed pace of life many families had over the summer holidays. Whilst for the children this may be an exciting time, parents often struggle with waking up earlier, getting the children prepared for their school day and taking them to school all before your own day starts, this can be a heightened time of emotions for parents.
Fortunately, there are several things that you can do as a family that will help you to ease into autumn and relieve those stressful school morning/evening routines. We will explore these ideas in this blog and provide some tips to manage your school and autumn routine.
How can you set a structured school morning/evening routine?
An important step to tackle feeling overwhelmed with the new morning or evening rush, is to set yourself an established routine. The last thing that you want to be doing in the morning or the evening, is slaving away in the kitchen preparing food or rushing out of the door without feeling prepared for the day.
- Plan ahead
The night before school or work, leave coats, bags, and shoes by the front door to save yourself some time and the panic of not knowing where your shoes are. Encourage your children to get involved with the evening routine, such as helping you to make their lunches or organising their clothes for the next day. You can also integrate a reward system for their assistance – This is a perfect opportunity for you to bond after being apart all day and encourages independence.
- Meal Planning
Batch cooking is a great way to ensure that your family is getting all their nutrients as well as removing the stress of cooking dinner from scratch as soon as you walk through the door. Simply spend an afternoon cooking the meals for the week and pop them in the freezer until you’re ready to eat.
How can you ease into the new season?
Going from the heat of the summer to the chill of autumn can be challenging to navigate. Many realise that those jam-packed summer holidays are exhausting, and people only realise it once the children are back to school and the routine is forced to change.
- Take time to reflect
Whether this be writing in a journal, having a big discussion with your family or taking out a few minutes of your day to simply decompress. Think about the positives of your summer, the good highlights, any lessons you have learnt, what you could’ve done differently and who the most important people are during this time.
- Welcome the little things
Make sure that you are taking time out for yourself as well as focusing on your family. Even if you sit down for five minutes or go for a solo walk for ten, never underestimate the small things, they could make all the difference to avoid burning out.
- Schedule downtime
Like most families, this summer was full of fun activities to keep the children entertained. Now is the time to adopt a perfect work/life balance, your schedule doesn’t have to be full, but just enough to spend time with your family and yourself! Make time for quality time.
Find some support
These tips should help you to make busy school mornings and evenings much calmer and more positive. The goal here is to think of time savvy tricks and also making sure that you have enough time for yourself.
If you feel like you still have no structure in your day, then you can consider reaching out to someone for further support, be it: family, friends, a life coach or even Home Start West Sussex. We are here as a listening ear and will provide you our best support and guidance. It is important to us that you don’t suffer in silence, so please do reach out if you need to.
Demand for our services are greater than ever, and we need more volunteers. If you can commit to 2-3 hours each week to help transform the lives of young children and their parents in our community, please get in touch with michelle@homestartwessex.org.uk. No special qualifications are necessary, and full training will be provided. Find out more at https://homestartwessex.org.uk/volunteer/