5 Things You MUST Do Before School Starts

Back to School: 5 Things You MUST Do Before School Starts
Back to School: 5 Things You MUST Do Before School Starts

OMG. School is about to start! Well, for many of our kids that is. It's time for all of us to say goodbye to summer and hello to structure, schedules and scholastics. But are you and your kids ready? You may think you are but there are five things you must do before the big day.

Here are 5 things you must before they go back to school.

Related: 8 days during the school year when kids can use an extra pick-me-up

1. Got it All?
You're a parent. Which means you -- by nature -- can be forgetful. One of the most important things … make sure you have everything they need. Sure you may think you got it all, but it's important to double if not triple check. Just for fun, even if you think you have. #2 pencils? Check. 3 inch ring binders? Check. Peter pan collar shirts for their uniform? Check. It's easy to overlook something totally imperative. And the kid, they'll be mad at you for days if you do.

2. Best Route
Okay, I may be a bit type A, but before our first day of school (which was last week), I tested out our route. I should add that my daughter's school is on the other side of town, so having it mapped out was uber-important. One thing that I was looking out for was other schools on the way (because all those other parents and their cars muck up the works), any construction tearing up the streets, and basically just timing the trip. Some of you? You're lucky. You just walk your children a block or two. Or some of you have a magical thing called a school bus that will whisk them away to go learn. But other unfortunate souls like me? We have a commute. And your kids do not want to be late the first day of school.

Related: 5 tricks for getting your kids to school on time

3. Special Treat
To celebrate the end of summer, and as a nice reward before the big day, many of us like to give our kids a special treat of some sort. It could be an ice cream sundae with double the hot fudge, it could be a rice cake smothered with nutella or it could be something as simple as a glass of chocolate milk. You may not opt to do the treat in the form of sugary foods, instead you might buy them a little non-edible trinket. But that little token will go a long way.

4. Free Choice Weekend
School means structure, schedules and the lack of freedom that they had a taste of during the summer. To celebrate, let them have a free choice weekend. Within reason. Going to the moon, dying their hair pink or getting a tattoo of Phineas and Ferb will be out of the question. And really who wants to watch Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" five times in a row.

Related: 28 ways to make your kid's teacher like you

5. Hug Them
My daughter just started kindergarten. So hugs, and lots of them, was in order. She was scared, excited, nervous and showed the first signs of inheriting my anxiety. Giving her lots of long lingering hugs really was the best prescription. My kid may be just five but even if your kid is entering 5th grade or 8th or beyond, they are never too old to get big hugs from mom and dad.

-By Sunny Chanel
Follow Sunny on Babble

For 10 simple ways to ease the summer-to-school transition, visit Babble!

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