How Are You Feeling About the Kids First Day of School Tomorrow?

I think at 7 & 8 they are old enough to do their homework without you, if they need help with some of it then they can put that aside until you get home. I also think they should have weekly chores to help around the house, cleaning, doing dishes, laundry etc.

My daughter started school two weeks ago and I am happy to get some time to do things around the house that I can't get done with her home. I do miss her while she is there, but she loves school and she gets to be with her friends.

Even though you are not there as much you will still be involved with whats going on in their lives and with school.

I think I would be wondering where they have been going every day for the past two weeks. :p

Since my kids are older it is just a day now. Doesn't change much of anything. When they were younger I lived for the end of summer so I could finally get the house spotless again. :)

Oh, if you can't tell, my kids have been in school for almost three weeks already. :)

Regardless of how I feel about mine, I want to just wish you the best with yours and encourage you to stay strong and do what you need to do. It can seem overwhelming at times, I'm sure, but you sound like a wonderful mom and I know it will all be okay.

it's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!

That's my thought!! When I see the Staples commercial - I GET T!!!

YOU CAN DO THIS!!! IF anyone can - R. D can!!

My boys get 15 minutes after school for snack and play time - then it's HOMEWORK...

At 7 & 8 - it should NOT take them more than an hour to do their homework. If it does - there is a problem.

YOU GO!! Set your limits and boundaries...do NOT let someone else dictate to you how involved you should be with the PTA.

it's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Our son is starting 8th grade (last middle school year).
He and I are both nervous, but he'll be fine - we feel this way every year.
What distracts us is he has a black belt test next weekend.
It totally takes the focus of the start of school.
Just roll with it!
Get good at using a crock pot.
It really helps cut down on meal prep time and that gives you more time with the kids.

My daughter, who will be 5 this month, starts kindergarten tomorrow. I am a mess. Very emotional. But never where she can see me like that. Staying positive for her and telling myself everything will be great. Just another one of those special life moments that go by so fast!!! I'm so excited for her to start this new journey just hoping I did enough to prepare her for it up til now.

Could this question be answered next Monday? I have to wait a week before I get all emotional, I guess.

Kiddo is going into kindergarten and has been very mercurial, to say the least. If I hadn't nannied with so many other families and already seen this, I'd figure it was behavioral instead of anxiety-driven. Yesterday, my husband and I high-fived each other for successfully getting through some potentially big and explosive transition moments with a lot of patience, smart thinking, and knowing what to say "yes" to. I know we've got a month or two more of transition bumps to get through.

This Thursday we do the testing, this Friday the teachers divvy up their classes. Next Monday, all the kinders go for half-day. Next Tuesday, it's the real deal.

My biggest apprehensions are that the testing teacher and his permanent teacher will be familiar with his vision issues and the short list of accommodations we are starting with, so that he doesn't start with teachers who are impatient with him. He has a diagnosis, so that helps, but it's hard to not be able to have an in-depth discussion beforehand. I also know that he's not likely to be the most challenging kid in the classroom, as he does have good self-regulation skills and knows how to be 'in school', so that in itself balances things out a bit for me.

My other concern is that he gets some opportunities to make new friends. We believed in sending him to the neighborhood school so that he could have friends in the neighborhood, but can you imagine? We have five kids on our block and he's the *only one* going to the neighborhood school (which is very well-esteemed.) The rest of the kids are in Japanese magnet programs, environmental school or homeschooled! Just looking for a new good buddy for him!

Okay, I wrote quite a bit more than I thought I would! Guess you know it's on my mind!

ETA: in answer to one of your specific questions, I think your expectation of getting homework started is a good one. I did this with the kids as a nanny; I used to make an afternoon snack (or have Tea Time, which some kids loved) and after eating, we'd settle down to work for a while. At this age, the babysitter should be able to help with the homework, no problem. Just make sure to A. make it ROUTINE and B. offer the snack first. And maybe the rule of no media/games etc. until both kids are done with their homework. If no homework, they could do some sort of other quiet thing...Homework/study/quiet play time.

mine went to kindergarten for the first time 2 1/2 weeks ago. yep, it sucked lol.

but now that i know to check his backpack every day for homework and papers, and he is getting over the 5 year old boy wiggles, things are settling down a little bit.

i think every mom has less-than-joyful moments. it'll be okay. you'll get through it. do something to find your joy :)

I don't think it is unreasonable for the kids to start homework with the sitter. I know several kids who go to daycare after school and they do their homework there. It tends to be too late for young kids to do homework after dinner.

My 2nd grader started school last week and I cried. My little one starts preschool tomorrow and I'll probably cry then too. lol! With that said, my 2nd grader had a great first few days of school and I'm sure the little one will too!

Good luck to you!

Well, it's not like they will be in the charge of wolves. haha

All you need to do is give your sitter the instructions on the after school drill: put their lunch boxes on the counter, pick out clothes for school the next day, feed the animals, then immediately sit down and do homework... SHE can enforce it. That will keep their routine as consistent as possible! You can check it when you get home. :)

As for the new PTA President? Tell her you are now working FT, so obviously, you can't be there as much as you were last year. Anyone with half a brain should be able to *get* that! LOL

I'm working more this year as well, extra days here and there because of a few giant projects that need to be ON track. So I am SAVORING my few days at home....quiet....alone...productive!
I was almost GIDDY on the first day of school--I think we were all ready for some structure.
Good luck!

Yes, it may be too much to expect them to start homework on their own, but I am assuming at those ages that there is a babysitter in the picture. It is her job to have them start on their homework. Tell her what you expect and tell the children how the after school schedule with the sitter will go.
My kids go back on Wednesday. I don't really have any feelings about it. I don't have babies, I have teens, one going into 8th grade and one a senior in HS. Sure, it's a little bittersweet with my oldest, our last year with her here, and we have the college application process and waiting game ahead, but I don't get weepy or anxious or jump for joy. It's not like I spend the whole summer with them and then send them back to school and then stay home in a quiet house most of the day.

I think you are putting too much pressure on yourself, but that's because they are young. It's our usual mom guilt. Ask your sitter to remind them of the consistency you built with them in the previous years. Have her enforce it on your behalf. Make a list of the common things the girls would always have to do with you, have them put it up at the entrance and have the sitter point out ok girls, what does mom need us to do....and point at the list. Consistency is key. Try to relax and cut yourself some slack. We do not live in an economy that allows for a SAHParent. Some of us can do it and some of us can't. I on the other hand, am THRILLED school is starting. My 15yr old is driving me batty already LOL.

Are you able to be home when they get home, or are they going to an afterschool care program?

If they are at afterschool care somewhere, can they do the homework there? Start working with your two older ones, asking them what THEY would like to do as a "family thing" in the evening, if everything is done early enough..." kind of thing...... Maybe they would like to sit down and play a board game with you, if housework/homework is done? That way, they buy into it a bit more, and it is their choice, essentially, whether or not they get to do the special thing.

Good luck.... it is the start of a new life, new routines, for you all!

My boys and I started school last week (I'm a teacher), and I had mixed feelings. We had a wonderful summer, and I hated to see it end, but I love routine, and I'm also ready for fall weather. :)

This was our smoothest start to the school year ever! The boys, 8 and 14 (first year of high school!), love their teachers, and I have great classes, too.

As for starting homework on their own, my 8 yo, and of course my 14yo, are both responsible enough to start their homework on their own. They know the sooner they get their work done, the sooner they will have free time, but I caution them against rushing through and doing sloppy work. My 8yo has questions about his homework from time to time, but he begins it, and often finishes it, on his own.

I hope all of you with kids starting school tomorrow have excellent starts!

Hi, R.:

Seems like you are caught up in the rat race that is controlling parents lives of toda. You don't have a husband, parents, siblings, relatives to help with the care of your children?

I am concerned about you not having help with your children. Sounds like the 60's lack key children. Look at the mess our society is in because of that lie, (quality time vs quantity time).
Are there neighbors, who would like to help you?

A voice of experience: Not taking time with your children while they are young, will show up later when they are adults and you are aging. They won't have time for you.

Good luck.
D.

I hate it. But I can't allow my son to see that, so I'm 'silver lining girl' right now. Thwibbt.

5 years of homeschooling, and being on 24/7 for 11 months (he was super sick)... means that him being gone 40-50 hours a week is this huge hole in my life.

I've lost my job, and the vast majority of time with my son. Not only 40 hours of school, but also every other week.

I BARELY get to see him.

Hate. It.

So I'm filling time, talking it up, getting all out of the box solutionish, the whole shebang.

But it's hard.

in my opinion homework should ONLY be overseen by a child's parents. What if they do it wrong, you have to spend all that time redoing it when it might have been easier to just have them do it with you there to begin with. Plus, kids need to unwind after school. They don't need to come home and sit right down and do more school work.

I think it's just mean to not let the at least have some snack time and free time until dinner. Then after dinner while the kitchen is getting cleaned up they can all sit around the table and mom or dad check on their work and help if needed.

When I was in elementary school, I was really good about coming home, having a snack and chilling for 15 minutes, and then getting on my homework. Homework wasn't an "issue" until I hit 6th grade and got preoccupied with boys and phones.
Reading your swh, you say your children already had that kind of routine last year, and the babysitter will be there to enforce it. I would suggest that they do get a 15 minute break where they can come in, get a drink and snack, talk a little to each other and the sitter, and then yeah---get on their homework. I don't think it's too much to ask at all, of them or the sitter. When I provided childcare from my home, I also did that without being asked, as I treated the children like I would my own, and explained that if we got homework done and out of the way, they wouldn't have to worry about it when they got home and could spend more time with their parents, baseball, or playing. Never really had a problem and those boys were K, 1st, and 3rd. I hope all goes well for ya! 50 hour work week plus mommy time....no wonder I haven't seen you on much!
My 5 year old started school 2 weeks ago, and it was an exciting thing. (I teared up when we took our first practice run on bikes to school together, like....in June). No tears by the time it happened. He was excited (and nervous) but I was happy for him. Today is my 2 year old's first day of "daycare" which he is calling school though.......and that is very bittersweet. He really needs some friends and time to play away from me (he's been begging to go to school, he started doing all kinds of things to show me he was a big boy which is sad....so I've obliged and enrolled him in a PART TIME 3 days/week thing). He took his big brother going to school and leaving him behind pretty hard, lol. I'm happy for him and know it's part time, but it's still bittersweet.

I would tell the sitter that one of the things that should be started (if not completed) before you arrive home is homework. I would not expect the kids to sit down without any prompting, but the sitter can help. Explain to them why - that you want more fun time with them. That may motivate them.

I'm torn about DD's first day of preschool tomorrow. I will miss my buddy.

R....

The first few weeks are going to be a struggle...you're going to wonder if it's worth it. You're going to wonder if you can keep going like that.

Once you get into a routine. so will the kids. If the routine is similar to before and it's the sitter "enforcing" the "list"...then they should be just fine. Sit down with them and let them know your expectations now.

School started almost three weeks ago for us...we are in the groove now! This was our first year with our little going to pre-k in the school district, and we are helping our friend out by having her son over for before and after school care! So we've had some changes. It's now just rolling along.

I was late for work for the first week and a half! Luckily I don't get "in trouble" for that but I felt awful about it. Now I get up 15 minutes earlier...

My grand has been back since 8-8

It is not too much to ask that the kids start homework before you get home. Just set a time, say 4:00 is homework time. Make sure whoever is providing after school care knows that homework starts at 4:00.

I know what you mean about no quality time with them in the evenings. Some evenings it just feels like I am directing my GD from one thing to the next until bed with no quality time for me with her and no "down" time for her!

School started two weeks ago and I was relieved! I spend all day on the house, babies, and trying to get something together to eat for lunches, and if we're lucky, dinner. I do not understand how you do it with working!

There wasn't really quality time when we were home all day as it was all housework and logistics. But now, I know they are happily in school so I can clean and manage all the logistics easier. The youngest helps me clean with his Fisher Price toys, lol.