Managing Back To School Expectations

Hey all,

 

Well, are you ready for the first day of school?  Holy cow.

 

Let me start by sharing a helpful tidbit of information from an Adlerian friend of mine. She was a school teacher and mother of three kids, two of whom were older than my girls. What she said saved my sanity, and I want you to feel the same relief.

 

She told me that it takes almost until the Christmas holidays to get back into the swing of things. That’s 3 + months!!! Here I had been thinking we should have everything organized and flowing by the end of the first week.  Wrong wrong wrong (of course, if you can do that, please don’t slow down the process on my account).

 

I share this reminder because it can help us understand the power of expectation and how we can get so wound up and angry when things aren’t the way we think they “should” be. Other than expectations, nothing changed in my house. But I was happy again! I had let go of the feeling that I was off the rails, or that I should be progressing at a different rate. I didn’t feel like I was failing.

 

Living with kids is busy and often chaotic. Getting kids ready and out the door takes practice, patience, time management and great discipline techniques. Give yourself permission to work on this part of the family routine for the entire fall, or however long it takes. Don’t get discouraged with wasteful feelings of failure. Just plough on and keep an eye out for those nasty expectations that will erode your ability to be calm and happy.

 

If you have ever changed your expectations and felt an immediate relief – share your story with me. I’d love to hear about it.

 

Happy Back To School

 

Alyson