Back To School! - Pipin Pear

It’s Back To School Time!

It’s back to school time again! A time for Yippees! from stressed out parents (anyone else’s kids killing each other yet?!) and lots of tears from First Time School parents!

Getting back into routine of bedtimes, school days and homework can be quite stressful on both you and your child, trust us, we know!

We’ve put together a few bits to take a bit of the stress away and hopefully make the transition from summer to school that little bit easier! Have you any top tips yourself? Share in the comment section of our social media, we and other parents would love to hear your thoughts! We’ll edit this post with any of the best tips at the end!

Lay out their clothes the night before.

Whether they have a uniform or wear their own clothes, have everything laid out somewhere in their room. If they’re old enough, ask them to get dressed before they leave their bedroom for breakfast. Having a simple folded pile of socks, underwear, dress/shirt/trousers on a nightstand or table in their room will definitely speed things up in the morning. It’s also a great way to give your child that little bit of responsibility, as they see you getting everything ready you can include them and ask them to get prepared the night before! Before you know it, they’ll be more organised that you! (That’s the dream right?!)

Routine, routine, routine

This will be your best friend in the coming months. In summer our routines can go slightly out the window (as they should!) but readjusted our kids to routine can be difficult. Having a simple routine for bedtime can help massively, pjs, brush teeth, cuddle and maybe storytime and then lights out can help to gradually adjust your child to their new normal of school term.

Eliminate screen time in the mornings

We all know screens play a big part in all of our lives, whether we like it or not. Try to eliminate screen time before school. The trick to having everyone ready to go in the mornings, is keeping everyone moving. If the telly goes on, or a phone comes out things tend to crawl to a standstill. Stop this by having a blanket ban.

Homework before telly

If your child is of an age where they get homework, try get them to do it straight away when they get home. This avoids tantrums and arguments later in the evening (and the next morning!) about why their Maths homework is still not done.

I know a lot of parents, myself included, like to give their kids a little relaxation time when they get home. School can be hard for our kids and you know what’s best for your child. If you prefer this method, have a checklist of items in the evening for your child to tick off – Relax for 20 minutes, have dinner, do homework, watch a movie. If they know they’ll have something to look forward to in the evening, they’re a lot more likely to sit down and work!

Plan their lunches in advance

With the best will in the world, we always try to plan their lunches every year, but something always comes up and it ends up a mad rush in the mornings!

Invest in a magnetic white board or chalk board for your fridge and write the lunches on it for every day, the weekend before. That way you know exactly what you need to prepare or buy for the week in your shop. (I got more or less the same lunch every day for my entire school going life, and that’s okay too!) Easy substitutes for sandwiches could be ‘Pasta Tuna’, a simple mix of pasta that can be cooked the night before mixed with a tuna and sweetcorn mix. Pop this into a handy tub that fits into their lunchbox and voila! Or another favourite is egg muffins, tasty and full of nutrition, these are really fun and tasty additions to their lunch box! (We’ll have a recipe up for these soon!) Then all you have to add is some chopped fruit or veg in a handy reusable Pip & Pear pot!

organic baby food pip and pear children recipes weaning

Make sure your kids know the fun isn’t over just because summer is gone!

So many times we come across our kids in a bit of a slump after the summer. From days where they could do anything they wanted (or so we let them think!) to regimented school time, it can be a bit of a shock to the system.

Make sure you keep things fun in the evenings and at weekends with simple ideas. Including them in baking some treats for their lunches is a fab idea! Have you tried our healthy, sugar free muffin recipe? Perfect for lunchboxes! Check out the recipe here!

Easy dinners to prepare!

One of the biggest headaches we face as parents is not the rush to get them school, it’s what to feed them when they come home!

We love turning to our tried and tested favourite of Cottage Pie! A really comforting meal coming into the colder weather (has anyone else started turning on their heating after the last few days?!) and super simple to make! Check out the recipe here, we’ve even let you know when to remove a bit for baby so it’s something the whole family can enjoy! The best bit? If you make enough mince, you can keep some aside and freeze it for a future Cottage Pie (hello just cooking some potato!) or you can use it for a yummy Spaghetti Bolognese! Mmmm tasty!