Not to have a back to school ritual?

Back to school Elf On The Shelf? While I would have had fun with it I'm not sure my DCs would.....

• Elf has got the wrong socks on so he's in detention
• Elf forgot his PE kit so he's in his pants
• Elf having his head flushed down the toilet

Maybe not.

We dont have any major rituals, just a few little things i try to do. We do a photo in the morning. Usually go out for a nice meal all together at the end of the holidays, but we do that for all the school hols, not just the summer. I also try to have a nice treat to pop in her lunchbox on the first day too.

My DC are grown up now and we never did anything special on the first day back at school... though I may have had a secret celebratory dance after I'd dropped them off and got back to a lovely peaceful house.

Bloody social media making people think living a normal life isn’t enough!

This thread just made me realise DS goes back to 6th for next week and I haven’t asked him if he needs any new uniform bits………

ritual?

Depends if realising a week before that we’ve prepared NOTHING counts, if so then yeah that’s our ritual……. this will be the last one so I don’t intend to change a lifelong habit now 😆

We tend to go on a last big day out during the last week of the holidays. Then get haircuts! I do always take a photo of them on the doorstep though - I am saving all the pictures to give them the full anthology when they leave.

I start getting them up a bit earlier for a few days beforehand, so it's not such a shock. Now they are older they do this themselves.
Picture by thr door, might do their favourite for tea on the first day back.

Sounds like madness! I do him pancakes for breakfast the day before as a treat, on actual school days porridge is all we have time for. I hate balloons and so does the dog!

Just sounds like a social media thing. Only ever took photos of my kids on first day of primary and secondary.

A balloon arch FFS?

How about spending some time teaching kids about the environment?

Nope. She's getting new school shoes. That'll do.

😂😂.
I recently bought the 3 Gdcs a 7 pack each of M&S school socks* so maybe there’s just a chance they’ll be able to find a pair on the day.

*£7 a pack, and they actually had the right colours in the right sizes!

No and don't agree with idea as it sounds like commercialism and adds pressure to poor families. I also think it will make some kids more anxious about restarting school and doesn't actually address possible worries a child may have about school.

Balloon arch? Behave!

Not everything has to be a spectacle for seal claps.

Just take the obligatory doorway photo of the blighters and send them on their way.

No this sounds like a social media thing

@MigGril I always notice with these people that beyond about age 6/7 their children’s smiles get so fixed you can almost tell they’re fed up with it too. If people have to post it online then it’s not necessarily for the child

I’ve seen the balloons this year but not heard of anything else. I always pick mine up on their first day back rather than use childcare but that’s more because it’ll have been a long day and I want to hear about their day first.

She’s coerced me into buying her a new Lego set for good behaviour over the six weeks but I’m working on her first day back. I guess her dad will take a picture but that will be it.

I know someone who does this. To me it's smakes of over trying, she splashs the photos all over her Facebook. It looks so false, I've often wondered what her children think as she's like this with every little occasion. They get presents and special breakfast, balloons the whole works.

I'm like no, they get breakfast (normal) I make sure they have everything they need then off they go. DS would probably hate it anyway as he's not thay keen on school, oldest has left now.

Love this! Enjoy peaceful poo!

It’s scary and sad that people run their lives based on staging things for social media. They can’t just live their lives; they have to find things that will make the best photos to share for “likes” and comments.

I hope it goes away, but that seems very doubtful.

😕

a ritual? You mean posting something on instagram! Don’t give it another thought, it wasn’t a thing until bragging rights via social media started. The ritual for most families is getting to buy a new pencil case or bag when first going to secondary school and photos on the first day of school aged 4, then first day of secondary

We home educated for many years and pancakes to mark “not back to school”!
When one of the DCs opted to go to school from year 9, we carried it on and had pancake breakfast before one left for school and one didn’t. Lovely memories.

Do you have a back to work ritual after two weeks off in the summer (or extended Christmas if that applies)? Of course not.

So set the example for the adult world by just taking them to school as if it is a normal day.

My grandson's school did the balloon arch last year to welcome them back. The children did love it!
To be realistic, I have worked in a Primary school for 25 years and most kids are just excited to see each other and get back into a routine themselves. The new bottles, lunchboxes and bags will be scratched, bashed or lost within a week!
As an adult, this is the 1st year that I really don't want to go back.