Three Ideas to Start a Great School Year

Drew Brannon, Ph.D.
Nov 13, 2015
2 min read

The laid-back days of summer have officially ended (sorry kids). The return of alarm clocks, homework, and carpools is amongst us. Buckle your seatbelt. Making the transition from summer to fall can be overwhelming for all of us as the look of our days changes in the blink of an eye. Although this shift has the potential to be stressful, there are certainly ideas that will help you and your family have the type of fall you have in mind. Here are a few tips to consider:

Self-leadership: Parents can’t lead their family well if they don’t lead themselves well. Are you too busy? Have you overcommitted yourself? If so, plan for you and your family to all pay the price. Take an honest inventory of your plate and figure out if it is too full. Be sure you ask for an opinion from your spouse and/or close friends because we can sometimes be masters of justifying our own actions. Be willing and able to say no. It’s a lost skill in our culture these days.
Delegate (and expect): Many children lack independence these days. They can’t do anything because they aren’t required to do anything. Children as young as three years old can contribute around the house. What are you requiring your children to contribute to the needs of the family? Are you overwhelmed because you are trying to do everything yourself? Laundry, dishes, sweeping, cleaning, etc. Get your kids involved. It’s a win/win. You need it and so do they. Great leaders don’t try to do everything themselves, so why are you?
Down time: For some reason, it’s now cool to be busy. The busier you are the more status you have. When did it become embarrassing to have “nothing to do?” Or, if we admit that we had a weekend of “nothing” we’re quick to qualify that it was the practically the first of the year. All people need down time in which you have no task, no goal, no objective. We need this for our sanity and we need this for our well-being. Plus, think about the great memories that often stem from simply spending time with our loved ones with no agenda. Make sure your family has time for being together with no plan whatsoever.