Facing back to school without tantrums and without stress
Above all, a lot of calm. Here comes one of the most important moments of the year: back to school, back to routine. Not all of us feel the same about it. For some parents it is horrible, for others it is a joy. Some of us feel all the feelings: a cocktail of contradictory emotions, crazy schedules are over, we get back our bedtimes but we also lose the slow pace and moments of peace. Where do you stand?
We have some tips so that everyone can face the return to school without so many traumas and tantrums.
Don't be overwhelmed
When we get overwhelmed, the kids get much more overwhelmed and the ball will get much bigger. The first thing we must do is control our own stress caused by going back to school. Breathing, mindfulness and what we cannot do today we will do tomorrow or the next or when we can.
Talk about it
One of the rituals that work for us at home is to say goodbye to the summer by commenting on the activities that we liked the most. For the first time in months we were able to spend 5 days together fulfilling the desires we had from riding a horse, practicing kayaking, cycling together, or spending hours on the beach without a mask and without looking at the clock. The farewell to summer reminds us of memories and is a beautiful way to say goodbye and see you soon.
Adjust schedules
We recommend that you start adjusting the schedules at the latest in early September. But the most advisable thing would be at the end of August if your children are going to sleep very late. Try to adjust a quarter of an hour each day, and also the awakenings, this way the early rises will not be so difficult.
Involve them
It is time to check if the clothes fits them or the shoes. Wow! You have grown a lot this summer! Are we going to need to buy sneakers or a new backpack? It is a fun time, they will be able to choose and participate in the decisions. But be careful not to go crazy buying and try to agree on what we can take advantage of from the past year. It is also important to see what extracurricular activities they want to do - better not experience our panic when we try to balance the schedule - and to put together the calendar together, to study the options we have. For this time I suggest a lot of humour. My kids love it when I tell them stories from when I was little or when they were younger. We laugh a lot, commenting that sometimes we took them to school in their pyjamas because they didn't want to get dressed or disguise themselves as a Frozen princess.
Avoid tablets
In the event that your children have “abused” the screens this summer (like the vast majority) try to reduce their use because the dependency they have acquired when they start school can become a big problem.
Relaxation
As I said at the beginning, approaching this moment in a relaxed way and as slowly as possible is the most important advice. These days emotions are going to explode and we are going to have moments of everything like tantrums, rebellions, trouble sleeping, nightmares, shyness, impatience, sadness, worry or fear. The Soul Mates mindfulness stories, available in English, Spanish and Catalan, are especially made to strengthen emotional intelligence and overcome and understand these emotions. In addition, I strongly advise you to practice yoga all together. It is the best way to control anxiety at times when we lose control and in the case of children, we can also help them with their relaxation of our YouTube channel, our storytelling pillows and books with stories of emotions. Have a great return to school!
Written by Mariona - Soul Mates team member and mindful mum of 11 year old girl and 13 year old boy.
