Yesterday was our “official” first day back to school after taking almost a month off!

I have to say it went much more smoothly than I could have possibly imagined.  After such a lengthy break, I knew that it was going to take an adjustment to get back into the school schedule day.  We have enjoyed our break, but your body and mind gets used to sleeping in and sitting around very easily.

So, in an attempt to make the transition from vacation to work I took a few simple steps.

*First just like when the kids get ready to go back to school after a long summer break, I started to mentally prepare them and myself about a week in advance that our completely schedule free laid back lifestyle was about to change so enjoy it while it lasts.

*Sunday night we had an early night.  Although my kids did protest a little, they were in bed by 19 pm.  Keep in mind that they are 16 and 12 so 9 pm is early to them.  But it worked because when morning came they didn’t fuss about getting out of bed or getting ready for a full day of work.

*I eased them into the day by having them bring me all of their school books to review with them where they left off and the best route to take to familiarize themselves with what they were learning before the break.  A lot can be forgotten after a month.  I can these my student teacher conferences, and they work because it gives me one on one time with each of my kids to help guide them in the direction they need to be going, and the best path to take to get them there.

*I broke the day up with different tasks that needed to be accomplished.  My son is easily frustrated after spending too much time reading.  So rather than have him sit down and just work on school, moving from subject to subject, I would interrupt him (after a subject was complete) to do a chore around the house.  Much to my surprise this worked very well, in fact I’ll be using it again today.  School got finished, and so did all of the chores without one single complaint!

*We had another quiet early night.  Since the kids had gotten up so early, they were tired early too.  I figure it will still take about a week to get back on a working schedule, but with these ideas it will be a much smoother adjustment for the entire family.

Do you do something special to make the adjustment between a vacation life and a school/work life easier?