Rachael Ray

School starts for my kids this Thursday (who thought starting before Labor Day was a good idea? Clearly I wasn’t consulted). Anyway, we have started getting ready over the past week or so, so we are organized and the kids can get excited for the new school year. Here are some things we do at my house to get ready for “back to school”:

Start school night bedtimes before the night before the first day. As the summer went on, my kids were staying up later and later, to the point I was going to bed before them. A few nights ago we starting inching back toward school night bedtimes for a (hopefully) easier transition.

An organized space is an organized mind. I definitely slacked off this summer as far as enforcing bedmaking, tidy rooms, etc. for my kids as many routines fell by the wayside due to different activities, camps, trips, etc. I know I don’t feel as organized or able to concentrate when the house is a disaster, so I suspect my kids feel the same way. I have started making sure my kids make their beds, pick up their clothes and generally keep their personal areas neat to gear up for school.

Discuss and start new school habits. My kids and I have talked about what changes we will make this year for school to make things easier. Involving them rather then just barking out rules seems to work in this instance (trust me, I do my fair share of barking in other situtations). For example, my older daughter struggles over outfit selection and we come to near blows on a daily basis as she runs late and it looks like a tornado has hit her room. We agreed to a “pick out your clothes the night before” rule - that she needs to stick to.  She is also constantly rushing around the house looking for homework assignments on school mornings, so she will be required to pack her backpack the night before to avoid morning hassles.

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Summer work. I took a look at my kids’ summer work (once I found it - one of my kids’ packets was MIA for a few days but - phew - has resurfaced) and made sure they had completed all work (note - “completed” - not corrected). Alas, contrary to the “it’s all done’s” I had been hearing all summer, my older daughter had yet to finish her book report, my younger daughter had left a few errant math problems blank, and my son neglected to fill in author names in his book list. Aha.

Health Forms. Along the lines of required summer work, I had to dig out the required health forms - and made some copies to keep in a file at home, which helps for activities during the school year like sports, etc.

Set up study area (s) - now. School usually starts off at a fast and furious pace and it is helpful - and gets my kids excited - if their study space is set up before school starts.

Weekday Breakfast.One thing I have learned this summer is that my kids are much more capable than I have given them credit for. They are early risers and are often downstairs before I am, waiting to be served on school mornings. This summer I told them (and showed when necessary) how to make a basic breakfast - ie, pour cereal and milk, or make toast or bagels, and - here’s the critical part - clean up and put everything away properly. Milk top screwed on tightly, cereal bag folded down, toast crumbs wiped clean. As my mom always told me, you should always leave the kitchen the way you found it. Much to my pleasant surprise, not only can my kids independently prepare toast, waffles or cereal, they can make pancakes, french toast (on an electric griddle - no stove required) and Belgian waffles (ditto) as well. Who knew I had been enabling them for so long. If someone is itching for breakfast this school year before I am ready to go, they can help themselves.

Happy back to school…….