All year long, I look forward to summer. I love playing outside after dinner, flip flops, the beach, relaxed schedules, and most of all – no homework. Summers are just about stress free.
So when school starts looming on the horizon, something close to clinical depression sets in along with a healthy dose of anxiety.
When I think of fall these days, it’s not the cool crisp weather and beautiful leaves that come to mind. It’s more the crazy sports schedules, the driving, the activities, the calls from school about errant children, the lunches to pack and worst of all, the homework.
Last spring I decided we should assign a story about how parents can prepare for the back-to-school onslaught (see page 10). I was hoping for a miracle answer to the stress I feel as summer comes to an end. When I first read the story, I was dejected because it was full of tidbits I already knew such as getting the school supply shopping done early, setting up homework centers for each kid and packing lunches the night before.
But one bit in the article jumped out at me. Susan Castelbaum, a guidance counselor at Hollifield Station Elementary school, stressed the importance of parents’ attitudes about school and how it can affect a child’s emotional well-being and outlook on school.
“Parents need to be a positive role model,” the story says.
Yikes. I suddenly realized I have been less than positive about going back to school. So the magical tip for me is that I need to change my attitude. I need to look at the new school year as an adventure in parenthood with each child embarking on a fresh path.
Instead of dreading driving to the various sports we’ve signed up for, I should be excited that the girls are trying field hockey for the first time and that my youngest is giving soccer a go. Instead of anticipating another rough beginning for my son with ADHD, I should be expecting a wonderful year of growth and maturity and trust that I will have the grace to handle any bumps along the way. I should be excited to see how my oldest blossoms in middle school. I should accept the fact that there will be homework and know that each year they get a little less dependent on me to get it done.
Most of all, I should realize that as my youngest heads off to all day kindergarten, I will have nearly seven hours a day to recharge so that I will be ready to meet the challenges that this fall will throw at me.
Hopefully my new attitude will make the back-to-school transition a little easier for everyone.
I’ll let you know if it works.
Betsy Stein