Back-to-School Transition Planning: Tips for Working Moms

It’s back-to-school season! Let’s not talk about how extremely fast the summer flew by and dive straight into back-to-school transition planning tips for career moms.

There are a few simple ways we can set ourselves and our little ones up for a successful school year. Planning for the back-to-school period helps to minimize transitional stress for moms and kids alike. Here are 5 tips, I’d like for you to consider implementing now. Even if your school year has started (perhaps, you’re in a year-round school district) these tips will help you ease your way into a new season.

Back to School Transition tips for working moms

green and gray scissors — Photo by Oleksandr P on Pexels.com

1) Sync all Schedules and Calendars

Sync your work, school, activities, and schedules to avoid overlooking and overlooking commitments. If you are part of a co-parenting family, ensure all caregivers have schedules aligned. When you sync schedules and plan for major activities, it also allows you to explore flexible work options, such as adjusted hours or remote work, to accommodate drop-offs, pick-ups, and school events in advance.

2) Set Realistic Expectations

Recognize that you can’t “do it all” perfectly all the time. Strive for a balance that works for you and your family. In my experience, my kids can be unpredictable at times so I’m continuously evolving and observing where my expectations need to be adjusted. Be kind to yourself and understand that there might (more often, there will be) be days when things don’t go as planned.

3) Establish Routines for the Day

Establish routines that are efficient yet fitting for your family. For example, prioritize laying out clothes the night before, pack lunches, and prepare backpacks in advance to minimize morning stress.

For bust families, routines may flex now and again to accommodate scheduling interruptions, varying commitments, and the likes but routines are important because they become our go-to schedule to get back on track or stay on track.

Additionally, routines may vary from day to day. For our family, we have gymnastics, Taekwondo, track (during Spring and Summer), and dance, these activities can vary throughout the season which impacts our schedule. For this reason, flexibility is key. Sprinkle in those after-activity store runs for last-minute needs and the schedule can get thrown off track. However, I love having go-to routines so no matter the time we arrive back home in the evening from our activities we can activate our routine. Having a routine in our home is not time-dependent, instead, it is activity-dependent. For example, we have an order of events, if you will, bath, teeth care, hair, etc. At this point, my kids can repeat it with confidence when we walk in the door in the evenings.

4) Set up the Technology that you will use

Technology can be a great tool to leverage during the school year. Let’s face it, our kids use technology more and more each day. Set up your technology ahead of time to avoid a last-minute rush to get things in order. In our home, we have alarms on our Alex as well as morning announcements. Additionally, apps or digital calendars can be used to manage schedules, reminders, and to share important information with family members and caregivers. Set these tools up in advance.

Technology is the wave of the now and future
– Debranetta

5) Strategically Delegate and Outsource

I love the saying, “You can do it all, just not all at the same time”. I believe it is important to consider outsourcing tasks that can be time-consuming prior to transitioning into the new school year. I have found a cleaning company that I absolutely love and thoroughly enjoy having a cleaning service. I have bounced between bi-weekly to monthly and will probably settle on a rotating every 3-week schedule. This has been a huge lifesaver. Outsourcing cleaning may not work for all but consider outsourcing laundry, or working in a quarterly deep cleaning to ease the pressure of household tasks.

I recently started using meal delivery services. I’m not sure what rock I have been living under but it has been the best. Between Instacart and Uber Eats, these services have helped to cut down on errands.

Transition with Ease

In conclusion, it is important to remember that every working mom’s situation and scheduling needs are unique. Please adapt these back-to-school transition tips to fit your desired lifestyle and find what works best for you and your family.