The new school year is an exciting and stressful time. You have all the possibilities and newness, and you have to adjust to different routines such as getting up earlier. In all the hustle and bustle, it can be hard to take a moment to enjoy it all.
The 10 suggestions on this list can become yearly traditions to help you be more mindful in the back-to-school season. They will help you stay in the moment and create memories you can look back on and cherish. Time is fleeting after all, and kids are only young once.
Interview your child
Consider doing a back-to-school interview with your child every year. You can ask them questions such as their favorite color, what they want to do when they grow up, and what they are looking forward to during the school year. Then you will have a cute record to look back on. You can say things like: "Remember the time in third grade when you thought you wanted to be an astronaut?" It will be adorable and funny.
Make special breakfasts for the family
It's so hard to get up early after a summer of sleeping in. Special breakfasts can help give kids an incentive to get out of bed. It also gives time for the family to connect first thing in the morning and talk about the day to come. First-day breakfasts are especially fun, but you can repeat this act throughout the school year.
More from Mom: Printable Back-to-School Morning Visual Schedule for Kids
Have a goal-setting session with your kids
It's never too early to learn the importance of hard work and achieving goals. Sometime around the beginning of the school year, sit down with your kids and make some milestones they can achieve during the year. Maybe they want to make a new friend, try a new sport, or strength a skill. Talking about it and planning small steps to accomplish it are a great way of teaching a strong work ethic. Plus, it's cute to think of what a kindergartener's goals could be. Nailing finger painting is a noble quest.
Make a back-to-school bucket list
Excitement at the beginning of the school year is at an all-time high. This decreases as the year drags on. To keep spirits high the whole school year, make a back-to-school bucket list of things you want to do at the beginning. Maybe you want to have the funniest outfit on wacky dress day, attend three football games, or see the spring musical. These are all great things to look forward to.
Schedule movie nights
Consider doing a family movie night during the first few weeks of school. Everyone will be tired and need some time to veg out. You can order pizza, pop some popcorn, and chill. You can even keep this tradition going throughout the year. Fridays are a great day to keep things low-key and kick off the weekend.
Measure your child's height
As every mom knows, kids grow up so fast, especially physically. A cute back-to-school tradition is to measure their height. Once you have a record, it's fun to look back on and see trends, such as "From 6th grade to 7th grade, you grew three inches." Bonus points if you have a cool doorframe to mark up. Siblings can compare heights at different ages as well.
Make a time capsule
A time capsule preserves a moment in time so you can look back on it at a later date. A fun family activity during the first couple weeks of school is making your own so you can freeze this moment in time. You can add objects and letters that represent what is important to your family now. Then you get to bury it and decide when to dig it up again.
Take lots of photos
The first-day photo is a time-honored back-to-school tradition. But since we all have cameras in our pockets these days, it doesn't have to stop there. Take lots of pictures the first couple weeks of school. Document everything. Future you will be so happy you did.
Have your child write a letter to their future end-of-year self
At the beginning of the school year, have your child write a letter to their future self for the end of the year. This would be a great place to put some of their goals and bucket list items. They can also make predictions on what is going to happen and talk about how they feel. Then, when they read it, they can see if they accomplished their goals and if their expectations were true.
Make special lunches
Make lunch time fun for your kids. Include some of their favorite foods and pack lots of snacks. You can even add a note to make them smile. It's amazing what a pack of cookies can do to turn an otherwise bad day around.
