Tips to Simplify Back-To-School Season [Encore!]

Seasonal transitions can be both wonderful, hello, a new page, and also super challenging.

I was thinking a lot about this topic in the on-ramp to summer, which led to two wonderful conversations that I recommend you listen to in conjunction with this episode.

The first is seasonal subtraction tactics with Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables of the What Fresh Hell podcast.

In this conversation, we talk about resisting the urge to do more and to be really intentional about subtraction in a variety of scenarios, not just with kids, but also in our own personal pursuits.

And then the second episode is creating tactical and restorative routines with Sarah Hart Unger.

Sarah was just a delight to talk to.

I immediately learned and put into action some different tactics of my own, which I will share in a forthcoming mini edit.

It's just a great, great episode.

So listen to those both for sure.

Now, the challenging nature of seasonal transitions goes both ways.

At least it does for me.

So on the one hand, the openness of summer, especially this summer, while my workload has been very full, poses a lot of challenges.

I found myself saying sorry a lot, then backpedaling on that a lot because my working and earning income makes a lot of things happen for our family.

On the other hand, the on-ramp to the school season can also be a lot more activities, more school communications.

That is really the Achilles heel for me.

More peopling.

It's just a lot to contend with.

And then it's also worth noting that in either direction, it's important to make a little space to look out for yourself, too, which, well, sometimes can feel like another thing.

So that is just one other reason why I recommend you listen to the Sarah Hart Unger episode on routines, because she shares about something she calls an ideal week exercise, which I think is really, really cool in relation

to planning and routines.

The other thing that's a big deal at this time of year, or at least has been for me with my kids in the past, has been feelings.

There are just so many,

and that's perfectly normal.

I have a lot of parenting episodes in the catalog, but I specifically wanted to lift up here Raising Middle Schoolers with Phyllis Fagel.

She is fantastic.