Today marks the end of the first week of school; the end of the summer holidays.  It’s back to routines: early mornings, packing lunches, soccer practices and games, lessons of all kinds.  Gone are the hazy, lazy days of summer – for now.

The kids are all exhausted after their first week back.  Parents are exhausted after the kid’s first week back.  Everyone is settling in and it will take at least another week for the routine to kick in and the tiredness to go away.

Kindergarteners are especially having a hard time being in all day kindergarten as are grade one students who were in half day kindergarten last year.  These kids are going to need extra time to get used to the long days of school.  You’ll find that they are crabby, uncooperative, quick to anger, oversensitive and whiny.  Remind yourself that they are tired.  This transition is VERY hard for them.  Here are a few suggestions of how to manage these times:

– When your child is whiny, crabby etc. acknowledge that they are tired. “You sound really tired after your long day at school.”

– Don’t schedule any after school activities (sports or lessons) for the first semester other than unstructured playtime.  Your child needs this downtime to rest and recharge.

– If they must have after school activities, try to plan them a little later so that you can get your child home, rested up and fed a snack.

– Fruit as after school snacks are great as they will give your child a boost of energy and keep him/her satisfied until dinner (as opposed to a high carb snack).

– Remember, this too shall pass and breathe.

Happy Back to School!