By Elizabeth Webb
As a teacher on summer break, I usually don’t even know what the date is half the time, but there’s always one evening that I’ll be outside and realize the sun is setting just a little bit earlier; the evenings become a little cooler, and my husband starts getting all of the harvest equipment out to make repairs. That’s my sign to look at the calendar, because the dog days of summer are winding down. I have mixed emotions this time of year, because as much as I love my students, I love the unhurried pace of summer too.
While some keep a tighter schedule during the summer, we play it pretty loose at our house. My youngest likes to sleep until noon most days, meals are eaten whenever everyone is in the house at the same time, and the only thing on our schedule is baseball. This means that there’s an adjustment period when school starts, and everyone must get used to being on a schedule again; early wake-up times, packing lunches, planning suppers, sports schedules, homework- it all takes some getting used to. I’ve got a few tips that help us go from feral to functional in time for the school year.
Taking 2025 style into 2026
We go through everything they brought home from last year to see what we need to buy. We don’t buy new backpacks every year. We buy nicer, well-made backpacks and only replace them when they’re worn out. If their art box, binders, calculators, scissors, etc. are all still functional, they reuse them. We only buy what we need for the new year, and I try to buy it shortly after the stores start putting everything out.
We bring it home, get everything sorted for each kid, and then we put it out of sight. This way it’s all ready to go when school starts, and we don’t have it hanging over our heads or must rush around in our last few days of freedom.
We also don’t buy a ton of back-to-school clothes. Their summer stuff still fits, and most stores don’t have long sleeves or pants out yet, and that’s really what they need. We buy a new outfit for the first day of school, a new one for picture day if they don’t have something they already want to wear, and that’s pretty much it. We buy them fall/winter clothes closer to the season when there are more options in the stores. I also like to hit up thrift stores like Plato’s Closet as well.
Getting Into a Morning Routine
About two weeks before school starts, we start going to bed by about 10 p.m. Sleep is so important, and it’s a fight in our house every night. My oldest thinks he should be allowed to stay up later, and my youngest is a night owl. I don’t have to worry about my middle kid; he’s always put himself to bed by about 9. After seeing so many of my students run on not enough sleep, it’s worth the fight to me if it means my kids can function and stay awake in class. It also obviously helps them wake up easier in the mornings.
We start waking up early, and this one is honestly mainly for myself and my youngest. We both enjoy sleeping in, and getting back into the routine of setting an alarm and getting up at that time helps us get back in the swing of things. So, about a week before school starts, that is what we do. We practice waking up, and the kids get their chores done like we would if we had to be out the door to head to school.
Ready-to-Cook Kits
The week before we start back, I’ll try to have stuff made in the freezer for quick lunches and suppers. I’ll make crustless PB&J’s, mini pancakes, and frozen waffles that we can have for a quick breakfast or to throw in lunch boxes. I like to brown hamburger and have it in quart baggies for fast, easy suppers, and this year I’m going to make some homemade meatballs for the freezer, as well as some lasagna and homemade pizzas. I’m the world’s worst at remembering to lay meat out to thaw, so having these things already to go is a game changer.
These tips are not foolproof, and they won’t work for every family, but when the end-of-summer scaries hit, they help me feel a little more prepared for the year to come. Give yourself and your kids some grace if things don’t run as smoothly as you’d like, and remember to soak up these last few weeks of summer, because it is oh so fleeting and the chaos of a new school year will be here sooner than we’d like.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Webb is a Registered Nurse turned high school English teacher who loves to encourage other women to embrace the path they’ve been called to. She enjoys spending time with her family, chasing her kids to sporting events, being outdoors, and anything creative. She lives on a farm in the Midwest with her husband, three children, and dogs.
