School Days Are Here Again!

I read an article recently that suggested that September proves to be a stressful time for many, even those who do not attend school. I agreed with this on numerous levels because, as an adult, I was sad that my opportunity to live life as it as it came was ending. Gone where my days of rising to the day refreshed and full of energy, frolicking outside with my kids all day and consuming chapters of a novel like a kid eating cake. I’m sure you experienced the same during your Mary Poppins-like holiday.

Let’s stick with this imagery of sun falling through the window on your smiling face as you stretch in your perfectly rumpled bed in the morning. It’s September… you continue to awaken refreshed, and breeze through your own morning preparation before skipping into the kitchen to prepare a breakfast your children happily gobble up. They wash their own dishes, grab their healthy, picture perfect lunches and head to the car. As you pull onto the road you notice no other vehicles and peacefully arrive at school. Your children give you a kiss and hug before gliding off with beams radiating from their smiling face and you drive off with a sense of pride and appreciation for life. I know that is not reality for most, but what if we kept those images in our minds so there was the possibility of it happening three out of five weekdays?

Sometimes preparing oneself is the best way to glide through the scenarios of life so here are a few:

Have a comeback.

1. “I am so happy to see your face this morning,” even if he/she is grumpy.
2. Let him/her do something you don’t always allow (i.e. pour his/her own milk).
3. Tell a “when you were little,” story.
4. Give a hug. (I know I could use one most mornings.)
5. Take a breath and move on.
6. Ask how he/she would do it.
7. Just be with him/her for two minutes.
8. Ask “can we start over?”
9. See him/her as a human…like you.
10. Think about how being rigid, screaming, or critical can make the morning worse…then don’t do it.

Have a plan for breakfast and lunch the night before.

• Make easy to freeze foods (i.e. muffins, breads, pancakes, waffles) on the weekend and simply pop into the toaster oven the morning of.
• Have cut up fruit and veggies available in the fridge to just grab.
• Pack left over dinner into smaller, easy to pack containers.
• Distribute large containers of food into smaller containers (i.e. 32 oz. Yogurt into four 1 cup containers).

Get them to bed.

Don’t forget to do the same for yourself because you’re back to school (and work) too.

Happy September,
Ms. K