Top 10 Tips to Survive the Back to School Rush

This time of year can be a busy, stressful time for even the most organised of parents. The long, hot summer (well maybe 'hot' is pushing it a bit) is over. You've been on your summer holiday and it's now time for the kids to go back to school.

Here at Renapur, we can’t promise to take all the stress away from back to school, but we can make your life a little easier by helping you to quickly get your children’s leather school shoes looking smart and polished. We have also put together our Top 10 Tips for Surviving the Back to School Rush below to help save you time and be more organised.

1.      Start getting back to ‘school day' bedtimes

It can be a real shock getting back into an early morning routine after the school holidays. In order to make the process less painful try moving back your kids bedtime by 10 or 15 minutes a night until a normal schedule is resumed.

2.      Plan breakfast

You’ve probably heard that breakfast is supposedly the most important meal of the day. Even more so for growing bodies and minds. Make sure you plan out breakfast for at least the entire first week. The menu should consist of what they will actually eat and be as healthy as possible but something is usually better than nothing.

3.      Get stocked up

If your kids take their own packed lunch to school then stock up now on healthy snacks, lunchbox items, and other essentials so you don’t spend your time running to and from the supermarket.

5.      Sort out ‘after school’ planning

Making sure that you know exactly what the arrangements are when your child finishes school will alleviate a lot of your anxiety, not to mention help your children to feel less nervous. Starting a new school term is always a stressful time for kids, do you remember your first day back at school? So having everything organised and planned will make the process a little less stressful for everyone.

6.      Get organised!

Get a wall calendar and write in all activities or programmes that your child is involved in. Also note any dates when your child will be looked after by someone else and dates for school term and holidays. Make sure it’s in a prominent place for everyone to see and even consider colour coding it.

7.      Prepare for the new day

To avoid that last minute morning rush get everything ready the night before. Lay out your child's school uniform the night before, you can get older children to do this themselves. If something is missing or not quite right this gives you plenty of time to rectify it.

8.      Find out what technology is allowed

Make sure you know what is O.K for your child to take to school. Are they allowed to take laptops in for instance and what about iphones, ipods and blackberry’s? Do these have to be completely turned off or is texting allowed? And finally make sure you mark your child’s name on it somewhere. That way if it gets misplaced your child can easily prove it’s his/hers.

9.      Establish a routine

If you’re anything like most people, the mornings are usually a mad rush with everyone dashing about trying to get into the bathroom whilst eating on the hoof. Establishing a routine early on will help to alleviate the anxiety, not to mention the disagreements. It may sound a bit too over the top, but getting everyone to agree on bathroom slots can actually reduce a lot of morning stress.

10.      Keep calm and positive

Kids (actually, adults too) pick up on stressed, anxious vibes. If you’re running around like a headless chicken at the beginning of a new school term chances are that you will pass this tense feeling on to your children. They’re probably nervous enough about going back to school, remember your first day at a new job? Well, it’s just like this for them, probably worse. So try and remain calm, relaxed and positive on the outside even if you’re not feeling it on the inside.

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