Back to School Already!

We are back to school this week. I have so many emotions, it’s insane! We are also going to start a new morning routine to help us hopefully have great mornings.

So I know that many of you reading this have already sent your children back to school. This is the week my son starts. This is the first day that he will be gone all day at school. All. Day. Mr. E is starting first grade today. I just can’t! There are so many emotions running through me and I don’t think it is going to calm down for awhile. Back to school, three tiny little words. But those three words send my heart racing and brings tears to my eyes.

I have had three different back to school situations:

  1. Going back to school as a student for many, many years.
  2. Going back to school as a teacher for 9 years.
  3. And going back to school as a parent for the second year.

They are all different and hard in their own ways. But, being a parent definitely takes the cake! I was a bit of a rec when I dropped him off to school last year when he was a kindergartner and it was only half day. I am sure going to miss my super sweet, happy (most of the time), easy kiddo. While he is gone it is going to be a house full of little girls and me. It’s going to be CRAZY!

I am the mom that didn’t send him to preschool because I didn’t want him gone. He did Upstart, an online preschool that we did from home. It was awesome and I’d highly recommend it if you are in Utah. We also set up a playgroup once a week with a few neighborhood kids. We did this for two years and it helped my shy little guy.

Scared, sad, empty, excited, anxious, curious, panic, and hopeful are how I am feeling.

I’m scared that the girls and I are going to have a hard time with him being gone. I’m also scared that Mr. E will not like first grade and it will be hard to get to school.

I feel sad that my little guy will be gone for sooo long!

It will feel empty in our house and in my heart.

I could not be more excited for all the ways he will grown and the amazing things he will learn. I am also excited for a bit more routine in our house.

This will  be a big change and when there are changes anxiety rears its ugly head more. I’m anxious about his safety at school and if he will stand up to be the amazing, kind, and good boy that I know he is.

I’m so curious to what he will be doing, and how they do things in his classroom. First grade is my jam. I taught it for 9 years. Fingers cross I’m not that annoying mom. Haha!

I just panic about lame things so I will continue to panic as I drop him off. This should stop soon. 🙂

And hopeful, I’m hopeful that he will love first grade as much as he loved kindergarten and his amazing kinder teacher. His first grade teacher has a lot to live up to. (I’m sure she will be great!)

I am also hopeful that my girls and I will make ourselves busy so we don’t miss our guy while he is gone. I know it is going to be a huge adjustment for everyone. What gives me hope is that millions of kids have started first grade and they all survived. Haha! We will too. It has also been nice that Miss L and Miss S have been playing pretty well together. They will have each other to still play with.

There might be a stock up on ice cream and I will need to spend a lot of time outside during their recess. I will be that mom that watches the kids play from my yard. My house points in just the right direction and we have a great view of the younger grade’s playground. (Oh that sounds so creepy, promise I am not the creepy mom, just the one who wants to see their kid playing and having fun.) It’s a huge benefit of living across the street from our elementary school.

After a fun summer with not a lot of routine I am excited to get back into things. I have tried to get up earlier to have some me time before the rush of everything that needs to happen in the morning. I tried to implement my free workout plan: month one, but getting up early hasn’t gone too well. I have been working out, so that’s a plus. It is going to be a tough few weeks as we all have to be up, fed, and dressed earlier then we have ever had to before. We started a summer schedule that has worked pretty well. I am excited to adjust it to fit our new needs of having Mr. E go back to school.

On our summer schedule there are things like: get dressed, make bed, brush teeth, reading, cleaning sticks, etc. I made a new simplified version that will help us all be ready for school.

For our new school morning routines Mr. E’s will look different then the girls because he will be leaving for the day. I don’t want things to take too long but I also want him to know that there are some things I expect him to get done. We will wait a few days to start this so he can adjust to going to school for a full day. The things I have included on his morning routines is:

  • eat breakfast
  • get dressed
  • brush teeth
  • make bed
  • pack lunch (I will be helping him with this)
  • one cleaning stick

The things I have included on the girl’s morning/daily routines is very similar. There are just a few differences. Miss L will not do Upstart until after lunch when I have laid the little girls down for a nap (fingers cross they have really good naps, every single day… haha!! One can always hope!)

  • eat breakfast
  • get dressed
  • brush teeth
  • make bed
  • one cleaning stick
  • reading
  • Upstart (for Miss L)
  • clean up the toys not being played with

How do you feel when it’s time to have your kids go back to school? What do you do to help you keep things under control and get your kids to school on time? Good luck moms and dads as we all head back to school! We can so this!

Xoxo
Steph

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19 Comments

  1. This time of year always gives me anxiety! I’m off all summer, so adjusting to the back to work/back to school routine is tough! Hoping we all have a smooth start! 🙂

  2. we are sending my daughter to pre-school this year and i think she will have a great time. it sure is quiet when shes not here. the pre-school online sounds cool!

    1. It is quiet when one of them is gone. For a little while today my two oldest where playing at friend’s houses while the younger two were sleeping. It was so quiet!!
      We love Upstart! I believe they are starting to do it in other states. You should check it out. It’s free and fun.

  3. It’s that time again! I can always sense the anxiety in parents. I have two babies but they aren’t school age yet, but will be soon!

  4. Fun post! The first week back at school went great for us. Call us whenever you need a break and we’ll join you in girl time fun. I enjoyed your recent exercise video.

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