3 Things You Can Do Now to Make Back to School Less Stressful

Buy Supplies Gradually

Back-to-school time can put a dent in your household budget in a hurry. While you may not know your child’s exact classroom supply list or shoe size (they grow so fast) months in advance, there are certain things you know that you buy every year. Get a bin and label it “Back to School 2022-23” and buy a few things here and there. 

Think about things big and small, such as: 

No. 2 Pencils; sandwich bags; a backpack; socks; a lunchbox; crayons, markers or colored pencils; teacher gifts; hand sanitizer; tissues.

Book Appointments Early

Most kids get a physical once a year near their birthday but before school starts there are a handful of appointments you will want to have lined up in advance for the month or two before the first day, including vaccines, dental exams and eye exams. 

One big reason to schedule your child’s eye exam: Myopia, whose primary symptom is blurry distance vision, is on the rise—in both frequency and severity.1 Earlier detection means earlier treatment. MiSight® 1 day soft contact lenses are the first and only soft contact lenses designed for myopia control and FDA approved* to slow the progression of myopia in children, aged 8 to 12 at the initiation of treatment.2† Practicing during the summer will give your little one time to prepare for putting in their contacts during the school year, but in a clinical study, MiSight® 1 day was easy for children to remove from the start: 97% found lens removal easy at one week, improving to 100% by one month!³

Practice Your Route

Whether you’re going to drive every day, take the bus or they will be walking, familiarize your kids, and yourself, with the route to school. This can be especially critical if changing schools, such as the leap from preschool to elementary or elementary to middle school. 

If you’re going to walk: Use it as an excuse to do a family stroll. It doesn’t matter what day or time you walk, at first it’s just about getting used to the things you’ll see. Talk about landmarks and observe things that will make the children see it as a pleasurable experience. As you get even closer to back-to-school time, start the walk closer to the actual commute time to adjust to the soon-to-be routine. 

If you’re driving: Start driving the route now and again for fun. Pick out songs that will be morning and afternoon commute songs. Hand the kids a stopwatch and have them time the route. Talk about the things you see outside, and how they change over the seasons. 

If they’re taking the bus: If it’s possible, try to drive the bus route. Make it a regular activity, and again, ask the kids what they see out the window. Say things like, “When you’re on the school bus, what will you see at this corner?” This can help reduce anxiety when they actually get on the bus. Pretend to be the driver and enforce bus rules. 

If you don’t have access to a car, pretend-play the bus scenario. Even if your children have taken the bus before, acting out the school bus trip can be an anxiety-reducing activity to throw in the mix a few times over the spring and summer before the next school year. Take turns being the driver, put on backpacks and play-act climbing on the bus. Make a game of it! 

Of course, going back to school will be different for each child, but whenever possible it will benefit everyone to think ahead in terms of what you need physically, and mentally, to be prepared for a brand new year.