Does anyone else not really sort themselves out until the first full week of school?

[ItsCloudyToday]

My children and I all went back to school/work mid-week after having the summer off. Everyone else seems to treat this as a fresh start straightaway, back into routine, etc… I’ve found myself lumbering from day to day, just to get through the first few days. Their clubs haven’t started back yet so it feels a bit like limbo. They’ve been tired after school so the evenings have just been chilling out and park visits. The house is a bomb site and being back at work has just wiped me out. I’m hoping to find some motivation this weekend and get properly sorted for the week ahead!

I think that’s absolutely normal and it’s because you work op! I do to , I have summers off as I’m in education but with 3 dcs and no support bar dh it’s very busy . Then I’m straight back to work. I often see posts and reels on instagram along the lines of “ the kids are back in school , time to sort the house , declutter, have to exercise etc etc but it’s always from parents who don’t work or very minimally !

I treat it more as a trial run! Mine all went back / go back (one is Monday) on different days this year which has been handy as I had a bit of time to ensure the one moving up to secondary had some "one to one" support (I walked and collected them the first few days etc)

Next week will be a baptism of fire though as I now have 3 children at 3 different schools.

I always say that I look forward to the third week of September. By then, the clubs are all up and running, we know who is doing what & when (as well as which friends are doing what & when which is essential for lift shares!) and where any pinch points are. Plus you can just whizz past people - even quite good friends - with a wave and a sorry if you’re in a rush aa you’ve already had the post summer catch up and know the essentials!

I think it doesn’t help that my job always starts off very slowly after a break away and takes a while to get back up to speed so it feels like very bitty this week. I need to sort out the uniforms properly and do a proper food shop as a first!

This is an odd perspective as most of us who work don't have the summers off, so we've been juggling all summer

I always work during Summer bar 2 weeks family holiday. I actively tried to avoid having the last week of the holidays off to ensure we were all back to the normal routine of work days so when school came it wasn't anything I suddenly had to do differently. Not easy when all the all-day clubs already closed but we often found something and DH did reduced days.

Yes, clubs didn't start but it meant DD could relax after school and finding her feet again. It was easier when she was in secondary, more independent, no school run, she just did her own things.

Yes I struggle I worked 4 days over the last 3 weeks. To back to full time hours is hard. My son has just started Highschool although he's happy. It's tired him out and he's a bit up and down yesterday and today. To top it off I've twinged my bag this week and like you my house is a mess was spotless before Wednesday 🙈

I’ve not even got the school uniforms in the wardrobes. I bought them at the beginning of summer and thought I was well prepared, cut to this week where I’m digging through a carrier bag for that days clothes, then name stamping that set of clothes in the morning.

it’s been my first summer holidays to deal with and it’s wiped me out mentally. I don’t even know if next week will start well, probably not.

I’ve put off putting the uniform away because I need to sort through their clothes, and I just can’t be arsed.

i used to take this week off work as it was always stressful and knackering!

I’m still waiting for their new jumpers to arrive - the suppliers have changed and the order has been delayed so they had to go back in last years jumpers. Their wardrobes and drawers are stuffed with all the summer clothes I bought for our holiday abroad and the thought of sorting it all knocks me sick 😆 Doesn’t help that my partner works nights so is in bed during the day so I’m effectively restricted in going upstairs to do anything 🙈

I feel like this year for many people, September has been less of a 'fresh start' and more just coping day to day. People are tired, the summer wasn't very restful due to the heatwaves and life is more stressful for most with cost of living etc There's just less optimism in general at the moment and it's very wearing.