I remember the first day of school as exhausting. Even as a teenager, I would walk home completely spent after an exciting day collecting things with my friends, and full of excitement for the school year we were about to begin.
When I see my children come home from school in the first few days—or even weeks—I remember that exhaustion. Over the last few years, I've accumulated a few tricks to make the afternoons more bearable for them and for me. When children are exhausted, everything is more difficult.
At home we do the following:
📝 Minimal stimulation after school : no music in the car, no many questions (it's better to let them talk when they want to), and no TV when we get home - the latter is all year round in our house, and you can read more about how we manage childhood without screens here .
📝 Healthy snack: a banana or nuts (or both if they're very hungry) is what satisfies them the most. If I notice they're especially hungry, I've even given them dinner after school and a snack at dinnertime, since I don't want them to fill up on snacks and then eat little at dinner (which is usually more nutritious). Here are 25 healthy snack ideas.
📝 Outdoor time: Whenever possible, we try to go to the park, go for bike rides, or let them run, jump, and climb as much as they can. Even though they have outdoor recess, I feel like it's never enough. Sometimes being alone in nature—without other friends—is what children need most.
📝 Connection: After spending the day out, my children need to feel connected to me. Sometimes it's simply sitting together to read a book—for the pure pleasure of it, not because it's part of their homework—other times it's holding hands even though they're older.
📝 Reduce: During the first few weeks, I try not to make too many plans with the children, preferring to stay home as a family rather than meet up with friends—even though they love it. We also limit extracurricular activities so that during the week there are days when, after school, they don't have to do anything other than their homework, if they have any.
📝 Early dinner: whenever possible, we bring dinner forward so that they can go to bed a little earlier, even if it's just to read quietly or play peacefully in their bed.
📝 Relaxing bath: During these days, instead of the usual quick shower, I let them spend a little more time in the bath, where we add a lavender gel that helps them relax before going to sleep.
📝 Bedtime cream: applying lotion after bathing is a way to connect with children, give them a little massage and take advantage of the soft aromas of children's creams - you know I love the ones from Weleda Spain .
This is the ideal situation, and what works for my family. On days with extracurricular activities, it's usually impossible to do everything, but we can always fit something into our afternoon.
How do you manage your afternoons during the back-to-school period?
Here is a collection of products specifically for children : vitamins, omegas, shampoos, lotions.