We are officially less than one month away from school starting. Before you know it, you will be greeting the back to school morning rushes, school lunch dilemmas, and the ever piling papers sent home every night. School really makes a difference in the way your days, especially morning and night, play out. Gone are the days of letting the morning and night time routine happen as it went. Now implementing a back to school routine is a must.

I am so glad that we decided to do summer school with Jase. Our intentions were to help him get used to being away from us, in a more fun and laid back environment, but it helped in so many more ways than just that! With summer school, I got a real taste for what having a kid in school would be like. I experienced first hand the hectic mornings, rushing around trying to get every one of us out the door and Jase to school on time. Then the need to get Jase into bed at a decent hour so he wasn’t falling apart the next day. It was completely overwhelming the first week! It seemed daunting and impossible most days. How was I supposed to continue to do this more than just summer school? What about when his attendance really mattered?

I promise I’m not being dramatic. Being a stay at home mom, it truly was a big adjustment!

I took some time to sit down and figure out what worked for us. What time did I really have to get out of the house by to make it to school on time? When did the kids have to be up and eating breakfast? What was reasonable to expect of them each morning? When I figured it all out, I put together our morning routine charts and put them on the fridge.

Let me tell you…it was a game changer. Jase thrives on routine and feeling like there is a structure to his day. He also loves being responsible and the feeling of owning his actions. Implementing our back to school routine meant I spent less time barking orders of what needed to be done, and the kids knew what was expected of them to get out the door. I had something similar when my kids were little, but it was more like something we did throughout our day vs something we had to get done in a set amount of time. So this time I added time for Jase to know when he was running behind, and to help him as he is learning the concept of time. School definitely forced me to get myself into gear and really be proactive of our time. It’s been good for all of us!

Since our morning routine was such a hit, I also implemented our bedtime routine to help get everyone into bed on time. I kid you not, we start our bedtime routine an hour and a half earlier than everyone needs to be in bed. It’s taken us years to figure out how long it really takes to get everyone into bed, but we finally figured it out. The bedtime routine helps the kids to know what is expected of them and gives them responsibility of their own actions. It’s a total win in my book!

If you want to grab these printable routine charts, be sure to join the Mom Tribe below. You’ll gain access to all the awesome freebiees!

What helps your family succeed when headed back to school?