What excites you most about going back to school?   Is it the shopping for Fall clothes and the latest backpack on trend?  Do you love getting brand new school supplies and decorating your binders or lunchbox?  Maybe you simply appreciate the smell of freshly sharpened pencils or of the seasons changing? Mmm.. pumpkin spiced lattes. Whatever you look forward to most come back-to-school time, we recommend that our nannies help facilitate special traditions into their back-to-school routine to help ease their charges’ transition from a fun-filled Summer to the mundane, and often more serious, school year.

Starting traditions and consistent routines require a little bit of work, but they allow children to look forward to what is happening in the present, with a calm sense about what may come in the future.   Back-to-school can cause anxiety in children, especially those starting Kindergarten for the first time and older kids who are transitioning to Middle or High School. Fears of the unknown, new faces, new routines and a new place can be daunting. Having a back to school tradition to look forward to may lend some much needed comfort when it’s needed most.

The best thing about creating traditions is that they don’t have to cost a lot or take up much time. This isn’t meant to add to your seemingly never ending, ‘To-do’ list, but to help ease some of the stress with a little celebration and bringing-together of your crew! Maybe you make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, have siblings write a few notes that you can use to stash in their lunches for the first part of the year or take some one on one time with each son or daughter to buy school supplies and grab a sweet treat when you’ve checked off the list. Whatever it is, make the time together count!

We, at The Nanny League, wish students and their families a very happy “Back to School!” We hope you start the year off with bright ambitions to learn and grow!