Not to have a back to school ritual?

Tbf, I imagine anyone assembling them would do so the night before, not on the first morning back at school, so I’m sure they can still manage to feed their children a good breakfast. I wouldn’t attempt to make a balloon arch, when we’ve had them for events, they’ve been delivered already made anyway.

Based on the time the OP was posted is @Finemjen maybe not in the UK or is she losing sleep over her inadequate festivities 😁

Only thing to add here is that it’s probably not even done on the morning if it’s on insta, it’ll be staged beforehand.

marking the changing seasons is always quite a lovely thing to do but a back to school ritual is likely to add anxiety where it doesnt have to exist. It’s just the next thing we’re doing this week.

We would always 'wind down' for the last 2-3 days of the longer holidays. No trips, no fuss, nothing fancy. Otherwise our dc struggled with the transition from holiday to school and we would have tears and tantrums on the first few days back, at school as well as at home.

The only ritual as such was that the child with the greatest change got to choose First Night Supper for the whole family. Literally anything they wanted.

Photos of the one at primary school. That’s all!

No-one does this OP. Don't let social media convince you you're not doing enough.

Like most people, I take a photo by the front door and that's it. Would love to take the day off, excellent idea but I've used up so much annual leave over the holidays I can't manage another one just yet! I have about 700 emails in my inbox to catch up on, which will probably be 800 by the time this week is done...

Just a photo on the first (and last day) of the new school year so I can look and see how much they've changed. Even that's hard enough!

Balloon arch ... no wonder our planet is in such a terrible state.

The night before back to school my ritual is cursing that I am back to making packed lunches and who ate the last insert whatever I am out of.

I took photos of both for their first day of reception and dd1s last day of primary
I will do photos of her first day of big school but that's pretty much it

Have you ever made a balloon arch...they take bloody ages to blow up and attach all the balloons. I know because dd desperately wanted one for a birthday party.

You'd be better off spending the time preparing a nutritious breakfast and keeping things calm and low key. Imagine the anticlimax learning will be for kids being treated to a breakfast party....no wonder kids won't engage with school!

should I be making it more of an event so they don’t feel left out? Making a huge fuss of things that are normal life is pretty bad for mental health.

Just be a supportive and helpful parent.

My ritual is body popping in celebration once the front gate swings closed after they leave. 😉

Our ritual is everyone gets out the house on time, matching socks and teeth brushed. I have 3 under 6 so it's all about survival. You will not find a ballon arch in my house it's too manic in the mornings!
Although I do try to keep the kids out the day before to keep the house somewhat tidy so there's less to do once the kids are in bed.

lol. I was always a bit sad when the summer holidays were over.

I heaved a sigh of relief and threw them back through the school doors.

does that count?

Balloon arch? Wtaf. The ritual for me was Sunday night bath bag packed, shoes cleaned, uniform hung up? hair plaited and bed early. Did not really have to get back into going to bed at a reasonable time as we weren't allowed to stop up mega late anyway. Am mid 60s. Times have changed i suppose- not necessarily for the better.

Oh more 'look at me' attention seeking sm crap. Ballon arch, ffs 😂

This is the problem with doing this stuff. Every year you have to try do better than last year, and better than Nicola next door.

For about the first week I would be uber organized and then after that week, we just fell back into the usual routine.

Balloon arch??? 😧

no, not unless they are starting a new school. They need to learn to toughen up and geton with it.

We certainly don’t. Sounds like something that had just been invented for social media content. I might try to take a normal photo if I remember but usually DD won’t cooperate anyway.

I take the day off work and enjoy the silence. Does that count?

We try to find the grey socks in the sock drawer.

A fucking balloon arch??? Don't compare your life to Stacey fucking Solomon (sort of shit she would do just for the insta)

I have a back to school ritual.

I wake up, gets the kids ready for their transport, pack the little darlings off, then I enjoy a poo in peace, a bath in peace, not dealing with anyone hungry or moody. Take a nap and enjoy the quiet, eat something yummy, and celebrate the fact I survived with my sanity mostly intact

In some ways I prepare and have a ritual. We see school friends, collect new shoes and stationary. Discuss new routines and how we will timetable everything. I used to offer a small gift, card etc but I found it made their nerves even worse, and the best thing for them was to keep everything very low key. A photo, a hug and their favourite dinner when they arrived home.

My children have mostly enjoyed school, but it’s still sad to say goodbye to a lovely long summer holiday together.