How To Survive The First Years Of School

As my girls embark on the next steps of their education, both in University now, I find myself wistfully thinking back to when they were tiny little people just beginning their academic journeys.  It’s doesn’t seem that long ago that they were so small they struggled to tie their own shoes, and I was the Mom anxiously waving goodbye to them at school gates.  Our days were filled with field trips, runny noses, packed lunches and home work hell.  Some days dragged on forever…and before I knew it…the years had flown by too fast.  This is the reality of elementary school.  It’s here before you know it and over too soon.

Dropping your kids off at school – leaving them in the care of strangers for eight hours a day can be terrifying.  How will your little people do without you?  Will they make friends?  Can they handle that long day away from home, the academic work load, the social stress? Can you?  I look back at those early years mostly with fondness because my girls were lucky.  We had good teachers, good routines, and got through those first precious years unscathed.  But I also look back and wish I’d known a few things.  So here it is, a few little tips to help you survive those first few years of school…and keep your sanity intact.

Dropping your kiddos off at Kindergarten for the first time ever is harder on you than it is on them.  Wear your darkest sunglasses, take a deep breath and go home and call a good friend for a good old fashioned cry or spike that morning coffee with some Baileys.  You will be fine and even if they falter at first, eventually they will thrive.

Do you have a kiddo who still has the occasional “accident”.  Big deal.  Good grief.  Some of these babies are THREE years old when they start school.  Do you hear of any kids headed off to College in diapers?  No, you do not.  Let it go.

Your child can’t yet tie their own shoes and the curriculum says they have to by now?  Get them velcro shoes.  Problem solved.

Mean girls are everywhere….and they start young.  Instil confidence and encourage kindness at every turn. Hopefully when your baby is confronted with a mean girl she will have the tools she needs to deal with it.  Here’s a virtual hug for you, Mama, because I swear to you it’s just as hard on you as it is on them.

You know that PTA, that Home and School Association they are always trying to get you to sign up for?  Why not give it a whirl.  You don’t have to be President, but knowing what goes on at your child’s school helps you feel more connected to your baby and their community.

Your child WILL forget their lunch.  It happens.  Pack an “emergency” snack in the bottom of that backpack to help get them through.

While you’re at it, throw in an extra change of clothes, you know, in case of spilled juice, pee, mud puddles, snow.  Stuff happens.

Back to lunch (because it will be the thorn in your side by the end of each school year).  Optional Hot Lunch/Pizza Days are the bomb!  Sign up for all of those.  All of them.

Homework can suck.  My advice.  Create a routine at the very beginning of the school year that will set your kiddo up for success.  Home from school.  Wash your hands.  Have a snack then get that homework done and out of the way.

Open your mind and your heart to the new Mama crowd.  You are about to be thrown into a brand new community of parents.  Embrace it, dig in, find your people.  Some of those Moms and Dads have the potential to become not just valuable carpool buddies but your biggest confidents, supporters, and if your lucky life long friends.

The first 5 minutes after your kiddos get home from school are the most valuable moments of the day.  Take a deep breath, put that phone down, and just listen, enjoy the information dump they pour on you.

These school years are going to fly.  No, really.  They will.  I hope you find the success in the little things and joy in this wild and sometimes bumpy ride.