With school just around the corner, the unstructured days of Summer are winding down, and it's important for parents to start getting their kids — and themselves — back into a school-year routine.
by Mary Beth Sammons
With school just around the corner, the unstructured days of Summer are winding down, and it's important for parents to start getting their kids — and themselves — back into a school-year routine. It's especially tough to try to set bedtime and other school rules with the junior high and high school set because they believe that they should have more freedom.
But the importance of a regular routine can't be overemphasized — and it must start before the first day of classes. From setting homework expectations to curfews for bedtimes, here are some tried-and-true resolutions Circle of Moms members are making to set behavior and performance standards for their teens and tweens this school year.
Establish Evening and Morning Routines
Brandy D. is easing back into the school year by enforcing school-year bedtimes over the weekend. "Start on the weekends just so you can see if it will work," she says. Determined that this year her teens will not sleep in and miss school, she's testing a new supereffective and "annoying" brand of alarm clock. "They have one's that are annoying sounding and roll off the table and end up rolling all over the floor and you have to get up out of bed to turn it off," she says.
Denise B. also is preparing her 9-year-old and teen for a strict nighttime sleep schedule. She's already begun reminding them about the bedtime struggles that occurred during the last school year and letting them know that the same penalties will apply for staying up late. Last year, when her teen missed her bus because she stayed up late, she told her: "You will just have to walk to school if you miss it."
Andrea H. has resolved to make mornings out the door to school a smooth operation for her 10-year-old this year. To that end, she's installed a closet organizer in his room and is creating a morning checklist of what needs to get done. On Sunday nights, she's going to have her son pick out five outfits for the week ahead "so there are no arguments over what is okay for school." When he's successfully completed the checklist, she says she's going to let him watch TV for a few minutes if there is leftover time before they have to leave for school.
Keep reading for more resolutions.
