Share your tips for getting through the back to school period - £200 voucher to be won.

[LibbyMumsnet]

Are you feeling prepared for your children going back to school? We all know this can be an exhausting time due to many reasons, such as buying new shoes and school equipment and let’s not forget the ‘I don’t want to go back to school’ tantrums. Don’t Buy her Flowers wants to know how you deal with the stress and what you do to get some time for yourself.

• Share your tips for making back to school a bit easier below to be entered into a prize draw.
• One lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice.

Here’s what Steph Douglas - Founder of Don’t Buy Her Flowers has to say: "September can leave me feeling absolutely depleted. If your kids were on summer holidays, you’ve just survived a long stint of juggling childcare, work responsibilities, trying to be ‘fun’ as well as ensure they don’t get scurvy. The start of term requires lots of admin – uniforms, labelling, finding emails with the vital information, and potentially dealing with the emotional fallout of new classes and teachers, and all while still trying to maintain all the other aspects of your life. It’s a lot.

The second biggest ‘reason’ our customers send Don’t Buy Her Flowers gifts is for TLC, so we see a lot of overwhelm but also support from one person encouraging the other to take some time for themselves.

Has anyone got any tips to make getting through September a bit easier?”

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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I make a cake or two, slice it then put it in the freezer. That way it doesn’t get eaten and is ready to go into lunchboxes.

oh, and name EVERYTHING!

In Scotland we went back to school a few weeks ago. It really helped arranging some play dates with friends leading up to the return to get them excited about seeing their friends again. We were very lucky to be invited by the school to have a visit the day before to meet the Teacher which really helped my anxious 8 year old. A new school bag and lunch bag made the return a novelty and kept the tears away. A day off to organise the house and some meal prep really helped me!

Name tapes on shoes, coats and uniform.

Use your calendar for the term dates, training days and OOSH clubs to help you organise who should be where and when.

Prep everything the night before and put it by the door (bags, PE kit etc). I being down uniforms/clothes and make sure they're in the same spot and on occasion also prep breakfast (pancakes/overnight porridge etc).

In this hot weather, I put drinks in the freezer overnight and then pop them in the bag first thing. This keeps lunch/snacks cool and it's refreshing.

Agree with the calendars. Many school websites have calendar links so you can easily add them to your own calendar. I have a family calendar which records:

• important school days /times
• breakfast club/after school clubs
• swimming (time and location)
• playdates (time/name/address).

By sharing it as a family, there's no excuse for not knowing.

I use mynametags for labelling and I'd recommend checking with your school/PTA as some schools have referral bonuses which gives them some money after every purchase.

Get the stampers for labelling and just do a surname so you only need one for everyone!

Make the lunches for the week at the weekend - sandwiches can be frozen and then left to defrost in the lunch box all morning.

Make sure you all have something to look forward to at the weekends for the first few weeks, whether it's a family movie night at home or a play date for the children whilst you enjoy a relaxing bath or whatever it is that you enjoy.

If you have something good planned for Saturday or Sunday you and your child(ren) can focus on that if the weeks get a bit stressful.

Make a list of what you need to buy - how many sets of uniform, socks, shoes that fit - get feet measured a week before school, book the school bus and make sure you have the bus pass. If it's a new school, do a trial run of the journey with your DC.

Hello everyone,

Looking for recommendations on these 2 SIXTH FORMS for Stem subjects from personal experience or known information:

1. Kensington Aldridge Academy

2. Westminster City School

DD has offers from these two schools, the later one just confirmed her waitlisted place for Maths & Further Maths. Hence the tough decision to take by the end of the day.

Thank you 🙏

Just try to keep calm and ease them back into the school routine. Recognise they find it difficult too and adjust expectations where I can.

Don't pass your worry onto them - reassure that you are proud of them, and as long as they do their best, that's good enough for you. Wrap them with love when them come home.

Make a meal plan chart and plan all your meals in advance for the week to reduce weeknight stress. And getting up a little earlier on the mornings ensures time for a cup of tea and some alone time to foster a positive start to the day.

September can be a bit overwhelming so I book a day off for just myself. I do not make a plan, just take myself out for a nice walk or whatever takes my fancy on the day. I don’t generally admit to it either 😁

Google calendar… that is all.

I've found that buying uniform etc at the start of the holidays helps us feel more relaxed about the September rush of new things that need to be done/bought/ decided.

Calendars with different sections for each family member are really handy for keeping track of clubs/groups/after-school activities.
Agree with other posters about naming everything - we use the stick-in name tags which are handy as they can go on everything - uniform, shoes, lunchbox, etc.
Preparing as much as possible before is key too - as is getting up 30 mins before you think you need to - to allow time for the inevitable faffing :)

Turn your clocks in the house back an hour a few days before back to school - so bed time is brought forward - and the transition to busy mornings is lessened

Planning and routine, get as much as you can do night before. I always print the school menus and put on fridge as well so can know if i need to do packed lunch or not

Getting a HEPA filter at home has made back to school anxiety much easier. With Health roles at home we installed a filter to keep the air that we share clean.

Some of you will remember the early days of COVID when parents didn’t see their kids for months to keep the NHS staffed while we all figured out what the hell was going on and how to manage it?

We got our HEPA filter last year, and my son’s Asthma has virtually disappeared, so has my hayfever, and husbands anxiety. We haven’t had a cough or cold in the house since.

We bought one for parents- father has chronic lung disease, and was having severe night time respiratory problems and very little sleep- has worked wonders on damp, mold and general air and therefore sleep quality.

We bought one for all family members and one for son with asthma’s class room. Not all at once, but they were on sale on Amazon so got quite a few in one go for under £40.

Honestly the best thing we’ve ever done.

While our friends are on their 4th or 5th case of Covid 2 weeks into the return to school, we are still (touch wood) happy, healthy and not even a sniffle between us.

If you can get one- do it. It might seem expensive now, but lost earnings are far higher with the germ soup season coming coming. Parents are happy they can still see grandchildren.

If you get a chance to speak to teachers or PTAs encourage them to get filters in the classrooms. Here is an extract from the “Class Act” case study you can direct them to below.
#cleantheairweshare

I don't go to school myself, so I don't have personal experiences with going back to school. However, I'm here to help answer any questions or provide information you might need about going back to school or related topics. How can I assist you today?

Make a list of what you need - what they have grown out of, is their school bag fit for another year, then make sure 2 weeks in advance you have everthing - and it fits - don't forget school shoes. Let your little ones know what you expect from them, what breakfast they are having , and what lunch they are having - then there's no issues at breakfast - it's the only way that get's mine back in a routine quickly in the first couple of weeks - and resassure them that they will be fine and to tell a teacher if they feel sad about anything.

DD started high school this time, and I've found that having clear expectations and communicating them to her have really helped us with our morning routine.

Also, having things like her lunch stuff ready to be packed and her p.e kit ready to go, save us time in the morning.

And staying calm, because no amount of stressing and/or shouting makes her go any quicker at getting ready 😂

I prep as much as I can the night before. Uniform, packed lunches (apart from fridge stuff), pe kits etc..

Gin

It works wonders with back to school stress