When your child starts school (kindy/primary or high school)

With school starting tomorrow in South East Queensland, I’m going to guess that there are a lot of parents who are feeling. nervous and wondering where has the time gone? How do I know this? Because I am one of those parents! This week we have two kids starting two very different stages of school, Master J is off to Prep and Miss S is off to High School 😳😢

I’m actually not sure where the time has gone to have them both going off, but it it’s happening. Personally, this time has been hard, and at the end of last year I had a lot of time grieving with Master J finishing kindy. Every time I talked about him starting prep, I actually cried. Master J is our last child and baby and finishing kindy and starting prep, meant that the baby and early years stage of our life was finished. It was closing an era of my life that had difficult times over the three kids, but it was a time that I really enjoyed. But after a chat with my kinesiologist, I found acceptance and now I don’t cry every time I talk about this next transition with Master J, and that is a relief.

For parents like myself who are in this transition stage and have a first child starting daycare, kindy, prep or high school, here is my advice for those first day nerves;

💗 Be kind to yourself and feel all the feelings you have. If you need to cry, cry.

💗 Organise as much as you can the night before so the first day morning isn’t too rushed. (Dr Justin Coulson says that organised evenings are the key to successful and organised mornings)

💗 Try and and have a breakfast that your child likes to eat on the first day to help combat any potential nerves.

💗 Take photos - unoriginalmom has some cool first day of school photo ideas and ones that don’t involve purchasing props.

💗 If your school has a new parent’s function, head along so you can meet other parents and those who could be feeling similar to you.

💗 Celebrate the occasion, you have gotten your child to school/kindy and they are amazing because of YOU. If you can have a coffee or lunch date and reflect and share your successes.

💗 Keep yourself busy!!! Seeing a movie is a great way to pass the time, no interruptions from children and it’s dark, so no one can see you cry.

💗 Have a snack for afternoon tea and be prepared to hear either lots or no first day stories, it’s a huge day for our kids.

💗 With the first week being short, be prepared for afternoon meltdowns at the end of week two. Maggie Dent has a great short video on this and how to help.

But most of all be proud of all that has passed in the years leading up to your child’s first day. Celebrate all that has come before this, the challenges, what you have mastered, smile or cry as you remember them and look forward to this new stage. It can be scary but you aren’t alone.

If you are in this stage, this week, let us know how you plan to acknowledge the first day. For those parents who have been there before please shared your first day parental survival tips. With Miss S and Master J both starting on the same day 😭 hubby and I have a divide and conquer plan, but this is how we plan to farewell Master J, but our picture will have Transformers.

Photo credit: Kenyons Friends

Good luck

Katie 💖