Although school holidays are your families time to relax and reset, unending activities, late nights and travel can take it out of even the most energetic of our kids. Have they been going to bed extra late, and then sleeping in? Remember they can’t do this on school days

 If you’ve gone overseas on holiday, this can also mean your kids’ body clocks might need to shift back to Australia time too – more of a task if you are traveling closer to the start of term.

We’ve put together some helpful tips on how to get the kids back to a bit of normality, and ready for back to school.

PLAN PLAN PLAN

Try to get as organised as possible in the run up to day 1 of school. Work out how many days remain of the holidays – what activities are necessary and how much downtime you have left. It should help you work out the best way to slowly start changing bedtimes and wake up times. A fully visualised list will mean you should be able to prep and plan what’s needed ready for the end of January.

EARLY EVENING ROUTINES AND DINNERS

Start to think about how routines will look come February. Consider things like:

• What is their night-time routine like during term time?

• How much sleep do your kids need?

• How much time do you need in the evening to prep their things for school?

• How much commute time is needed for you and for your little one?

Think about helping them wind down with earlier nights a good 7-10 days out from school starting (if you can). It might be worth cutting down on any screentime and shifting to reading books too.

If you have some school holiday activities planned still – work with your little ones on packing the bag for the next day in the evening, so it’s starts to feel a bit more like how you’d prep for schooldays.

We also love to incorporate meal plans into our week, sticking a week’s worth of dinner plans on the fridge means the kids know what to expect, but it also means you’ll be able to prep and plan and not worry about ‘what is for dinner’ each night. Something as simple as a routine for dinner might help you adjust to the fact ‘routines are back’

MORNING ROUTINES

Now we have attacked nighttime – let’s focus on the harder one – getting up in the morning!

It’s time to get a little bit strict with morning routines. Focus on a good, healthy breakfast, getting the kids showered, dressed and their teeth cleaned. It might be worth honing on getting them to enact this in the same order each day, so it becomes muscle memory!

Work out how much time you need to get to school and work, why not even try a test commute before the big day so you can understand how much time you really need! You might even get to work with time to spare to grab a coffee.

DON’T FORGET WEEKEND REST

Remember not to put too much pressure on yourself when it comes to weekends. It’s okay to let them rest on weekends if you need. Whether you’re grabbing their sandals for

a big beach walk or grabbing their running shoes for a playdate

with pals in the park.