Not to have a back to school ritual?

[Finemjen]

Does anyone else not do anything special to mark the first day back to school? Or do you have an end of summer/back to school ritual? Recently learned some give their kids a special breakfast, balloon arch, gift etc. I like to take a photo before kids head off on first day but should I be making it more of an event so they don’t feel left out?

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

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!

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...

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

😕

Love this! Enjoy peaceful poo!

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.

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’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.

@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

No this sounds like a social media thing

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 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.

😂😂.
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!

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

A balloon arch FFS?

How about spending some time teaching kids about the environment?

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