I know I’m not the only parent who’s nervous about back to school! Especially with all these damn viruses. Lord, give us strength!
Although, It was extremely difficult to send our children to school when it was “normal” … I feel a bit more apprehensive this time around. Now we have to add a global pandemic, abduction crisis, racial tensions, monkeypox, and every new virus that pops up every week!
It’s giving anxiety! But as a collective, we’re gonna refuse to claim that over our life!
This week’s blog is dedicated to our wonderful babies heading back to school.
(Preparation + Productivity + Positivity)
Getting kids back into a routine is so ESSENTIAL! Let me tell you why…
Piss Poor Preparation, Promotes Piss Poor Performance…
What does that mean exactly?
The way you start is how you finish. Let’s not teach our children our bad habits. “To be on time is to be late.”
We should all prepare our children for the back-to-school schedule at least one entire week before it begins. Why? Well, they say it takes 21 days to form a habit right? Waking up and not rushing every day prepares our children for not only productive days in school momentarily but also a very successful future.
Bedtime
About a week before school starts, help kids prepare by actually performing the new morning and bedtime routine. Re-establishing bedtimes is going to be very hard, let’s face it hard for us (parents) as well so, to get a head start we should be setting an alarm in the morning, which can get earlier every day. The end goal should be waking up at the new school-day, wake-up time before school starts.
I can only speak for myself but this helps me figure out a lot. For example, my two-year-old, that’s fully potty trained will be going to school for the first time this year. I want to see how her bowels will be on this new routine because I would prefer to train her body to make movements at home. So this entails me knowing if I should be giving smoothies at the top of the morning or at night.
Map out Route
Remember, increased traffic is typical at the beginning of the school year so take a drive to the bus stop or to the school (if it applies to you) at the time you will be leaving in the morning to get a feel for how long it will take you. This is key and can help you assess your timing for each morning
Wellness
Quick Tips to keep your children out of the doctor’s office unnecessarily:
- Drink Tea- I’m West Indian so this was a staple in my household. My favorite tea to give the kiddies is of course my own Immunitea tea on their check every morning and night.
- Loads of vitamin C and D
- Check out this Idea List on Amazon: Vitamin Essentials by Nikita Gibson
- Smoothies or fresh fruits in the mornings
- Smoothies have been essential in my household since they were born, children do what they see. It’s the best way to jam-pack nutrients into their diet without having to force-feed them. Vegetables and fruits in drink form are the easiest parenting hack, it’s the best thing ever!
Here’s one to try :
Let’s name it Berrybrainy
Ingredients
½ cup Greek yogurt
½ banana
½ cup oat milk or whatever you prefer (I don’t recommend whole milk)
1 cup blackberries
½ cup Greek yogurt
½ banana
½ milk of your preference
1-2 pears
Equipment
blender
2 pitchers
Instructions
- Combine yogurt, banana, milk, blackberries, and pear in a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
Enjoy
I’ll def share more recipes as the year goes we got to keep our kids healthy if we fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
With all of these preventative methods kids sometimes get sick. So, start thinking of your go-to-sitters ahead of time will make those days, when they are sick, less stressful. It can be helpful to write down your go-to-persons list that should include full names, schedules, and contact information placed somewhere accessible the best place of course is your smartphone, share the note with all emergency contacts.
Gear Up ( BACK TO SCHOOL ATTIRE)
Our children will be wearing uniforms this year but for other parents create a routine for In the morning, putting together lunches, and helping them choose outfits either the night before or in the morning. Especially for younger children, in my experience, it is extremely helpful to select outfits together a week ahead of time.
Please don’t waste money, we all know our kids grow out of clothes in two days (LOL)
Shopping for back-to-school can be fun!
My first tip, DONT TAKE THEM! haha, (kidding, but am I 😉🤫?)
If you must, in and out is the goal so have your supply list handy, letting kids pick out what they want will make them feel more involved. You may overspend if you are not honest and direct with your children in the process. Keeping the budget in mind will help you prioritize essentials from not needed purchases.
I have a special blog post on that coming!
During the Year
As a Caribbean mom, it took a lot to build this patience soft parenting is not for the faint at heart. I’m still not perfect nor will I ever be but, what I can advise is to remember to address resistance with positively worded statements, for example, “You can watch YouTube once you’ve finished your homework” instead of “You can’t watch YouTube until your homework is done.”
Making yourself available to help with homework will give your child the best chance of success. Now homework, heck, even education is done extremely differently from how I was taught, so this goes back to preparation, look on YouTube to learn ahead of time and you can do this by simply asking for the teaching schedule from the educator.
Internet Monitoring
Cybersecurity is a continually hot topic, as we see breaches left, right, and center in our digitally saturated world. It’s something all kids using the internet should be aware of, even if they’re just playing with apps on your phone.
Families may not know the right way to go about addressing the issue when their child is being bullied, or on the other hand, is the one doing the bullying. Including logical, safe strategies and providing emotional support. Learn through reading but also seek help when you feel unqualified.
Last but not least, Keep your children prayed up. This world is getting crazy and sometimes it’s hard for us to prepare them for everything. Teach them about stranger danger and walk them through what to do if they ever encounter these moments, but it’s important to be that praying parent over your kid’s life. At the top of the blog, I mentioned not letting anxiety consume us we won’t we’ll leave them in God’s hands.
Prayer, Prayer, Prayer
Pray with your children, over your children, and truly beg God To cover and protect them from all accidents, harm, and danger. DAILY!
Here are three prayers to say with conviction over your babies aloud! Repetition will make them inherently learn it and repeat it all the days of their lives.
Emotional – God please keep my children emotionally and mentally sane. Shield them from the hateful people in the world that will try to break their spirit. Help that those attempts will fail and remind them daily that they are loved and valued.
Physical – God grant my babies health in this unprecedented time. We don’t know what the future holds but I ask that you keep them covered.
Spiritual – God help my children to be closer to you and allow me to continue to instill the importance of having you in their life. Help that I will do a good job at presenting your love to them and help them to see you in me.
I hope you and your babies have an AMAZING SCHOOL YEAR!
XoXo
Nikita Gibson :*