When August hits, school is on the brain.  It is the season of sharp pencils, squeaky tennis shoes, and getting back into routines.  It’s the second new year of the year.  Everyone is wanting to do all the things they didn’t do over the summer like meal plan and get up early, mostly because they have to and partly because it just feels good.  Exercise, meal prep, use the planner that hasn’t been touched in months, go to bed early.  These are all routines we maybe need, maybe want to get back into when the new school year approaches.

We homeschool and started a few weeks back.  We started early because I wanted us to have some flexibility during the year.  If we want to go on a trip in January or take a week off in March, it’s okay and we won’t be scrambling to finish up school in July.  We are mostly back into our school routines around here.

Routines

Routines get us from point A to point B.  They make our days smoother, easier, and more manageable.  They allow us and our kids to know what is coming next.  Routines become automatic parts of our day and help us fight decision fatigue.

A routine is performed as part of a regular procedure rather than for a special reason (unlike a rhythm).

Dr. Steve Orma, a CBT clinical psychologist who specializes in treating insomnia, anxiety, and stress, says routines help with stress.  Orma states: Creating a set schedule for doing chores, work tasks, meetings, exercise, paying bills, and all the usual things can help with stress.  Once things you need to get done becomes your normal routine, it’s easier to accomplish everything, because it becomes habit.  And when these things become automatic, you free your mind for more important things.

Routines also help us do things well.  Most of us brush our teeth as a routine.  The more we do it, the better at it we get.  The same goes for routines with kids: the more they have a consistent morning routine of eating breakfast, getting dressed, and getting out the door or to the dining room table for school, the better they will become at that routine.

We (me) love routines in our home.  For us it takes awhile to get back into them and I have learned some things the past few weeks about moving from our easy breezy summer schedule to our school schedule.  Here are a few tips to get back into the routine of a new school year.

Choose a routine as a priority.

No one can do all the things all the time.  Greg McKeown, Author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less states, “To be precise, the word is priority—not priorities—and it originated in the 14th century from the Latin prior, meaning “first.” If something mattered the most it was a “priority.”

Priority originally meant one.  It was not intended to be plural.

Choose one routine you want to get in place this school year and focus on it.  Our main routine I wanted to get in place was our morning breakfast routine and beginning school routine.  I thought through what it would look like logistically: what time the kids needed to be up, what I wanted us all to accomplish before we started school, and how I wanted to begin our school day.  It was helpful for me to sit down and think through this before just beginning and letting it happen.  Our morning routine was all I focused on.  I didn’t implement a new meal planning strategy or figure out how to do lunch and naptime more efficiently.  I stuck with the morning and it has helped me tremendously.

Once you decide what routine is a priority, write down what you want it to look like.  Writing things like this down isn’t my favorite thing, but it always helps me visualize what I want to happen.  Decide what one routine is a priority, think through it, and get it on paper.

Start early and start small.

Many kids are already in school, but you preschool mommas may still have a week or so before the big day is here.  Try and start early if you can, a few days before.  One thing I started earlier than normal was getting dressed.  My kids would stay in their pajamas all day everyday if I let them.  I started having my two bigs get dressed in the mornings a few weeks back, 90% on their own.  They both still drag their feet a bit, but getting dressed was something I wanted us to get better at this year.  Don’t get me wrong, there will still be pajama days, but they will be a bit more special and not the norm.  And, guys, this is such a small thing.  I didn’t try and implement our entire morning routine at first, I just took a baby step and had them get dressed.

Teach your kids.

Now that you know what routine you want to focus on, tell your kids.  Practice and talk them through it.  If kids don’t know the expectations, it’s hard to meet them.  Maybe you write it out or draw pictures on index cards or maybe you just walk them through it and have them practice a few times.  Let kids know what you expect them to do and allow them time to practice so you aren’t repeating yourself 100 times every morning.  (I’ve been there.)

Prepare.

The beginning of the school year is exciting, but can also be a little overwhelming.  Help yourself by preparing as much ahead of time as you can.  A few mini tips to prepare:

1. Use your calendar and look ahead each week.  If you see next week is going to be a big one with open house, the first day of school, and soccer, try and prepare some dinners and lunches ahead of time so you’re not scrambling all week.  On our first day of school I prepped both lunch and dinner ahead of time so I could focus on school that first day.
2. Set out clothes.  If we are going somewhere the next day, I set out Luke’s clothes the night before so all he has to do is get dressed.  This has been a huge time and sanity saver for me.  It’s one less decision to make on a full morning.
3. Pack the night before. Instead of hunting for back packs in the morning, have them all ready to go each night.  Although we don’t have back packs to take with us, anytime we go on a play date or field trip, I try and pack the night before.  It eases my mind that I’m not forgetting anything and takes one thing off my list in the morning.
4. Keep things easy those first few weeks. It’s overwhelming for everyone and it helps to give yourself and your people some grace.  Maybe that means eating out or picking up take out.  Maybe it means letting the dusting go or putting home projects on the back burner for awhile.  A whole bunch of grace is needed those first weeks back to school.

What are your tips for getting back into routines?  Please share!