Mr. Garland and I are both teachers, and that means that are summers are absolutely amazing, but it also means that our worlds are completely and utterly rocked when school starts back up every year! It’s always more than a little exhausting as we try to get back into the swing of things, and we always struggle through these first few weeks of school as we try to get our feet back underneath us and figure out how our schedule will work (now that we have Jackson things change so much each year as he’s growing).
I thought it might be interesting to round up a few of the struggles we have each year as we learn to adjust to our new schedule, along with some tricks we’ve learned over the years to manage the chaos of starting a new school year.
1) We’re all tired. All the time. Jackson has a tough time getting used to being up early (he has no problems waking up early, he just has a problem getting back to a normal sleep schedule!) and so do Mr. Garland and I! We all get a little crankier, a lot more tired, and a lot more lazy during the first month or so of school. We’ve learned that we really just have to fight through the exhaustion and it will slowly lift as we all get used to being up so early again. A few things that help us are to not sleep in too much during the summer (I usually set my alarm for 6:30 and go running, so it’s only an hour later than I wake up during the school year), and to be very strict with ourselves on going to bed on time. We basically never waver from Jackson’s sleep schedule during the school year (we’re a little looser in the summer), and Mr. Garland and I try to make ourselves get into bed at the same time every night so that we can avoid letting ourselves get even more sleep deprived. I find that I also do better if I keep my classroom stocked with some healthy, protein-filled snacks to help me power through those mid-morning and mid-afternoon slumps.
2) Our evenings suddenly become very short! Summer afternoons and evenings can feel like they stretch on forever. We take our time with cooking and eating dinner, we relax and play for a while before putting Jackson to bed, and it feels like the evenings last for a good, long time. Once school starts back up, though, the evenings feel like they’re over before they even begin! I only have a few minutes between getting home and getting started on dinner, and Jack goes to bed very shortly after we finish eating. We have to soak up every second of time with him that we can because there isn’t much of it during the week! We’ve learned to stick to really simple and quick dinners for the weeknights, and we rely a lot on leftovers!
3) Cleaning becomes dang near impossible. In the summer I’m able to clean our house throughout the day and I often have long stretches of time where Jackson is occupied and I’m able to get some deep cleaning done. Our house is so clean! During the school year, however, cleaning has to be squeezed into the margins, and the margins are never big enough to get my home as clean as I’d like. I’ve found that I can stay on top of things much easier if I do a big cleaning on Saturday morning (that’s usually when I’m the most motivated), and then throughout the week I try to do a 15-minute sweep every night after putting Jackson down. I’m always amazed at what I’m able to get done in 15 minutes, and if I set a timer for myself it helps prevent me from getting caught up and spending the whole night cleaning. If I stay on top of this, my Saturday morning cleaning gets easier and easier and my house actually feels clean again!
4) We have to get back in the habit of having quick breakfasts. Over the summer we can have leisurely breakfasts that start whenever we want and take a while to cook. We often don’t eat for a couple of hours after waking up, and it’s not unusual for us to have big breakfasts or to skip breakfast completely and do a big lunch. Once school starts, however, we don’t have time to cook a big breakfast and we have to eat right away or we’ll never get through the day. For the first week or so, Mr. Garland and I always feel sick in the mornings as our bodies get used to eating so early again! We’ve learned to avoid anything with a lot of sugar and try to stick to simple & quick breakfasts. Bagels, frozen sausages, and protein bars are our best friends during the school year!
How do you adjust to the new school year every year?
clementine / 948 posts
I get that all of these feelings exist in the lives of teachers… But it is somewhat irksome to hear teachers complain. Even without summer break, teachers have more vacation than the rest of us. Two weeks at Christmas, spring break and loads of long weekends – that’s a dream for most people. Truly, I’m just jealous/bitter about the awesome work/life balance your job affords
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I don’t have to adjust, the year is the same for us, regardless of season. I wouldn’t change it for anything, though.
Actually, scratch that, there are more demands on my time in terms of participating in my son’s education. Just in the month of September alone, there are at least 4 evening events at the school. It requires a tiny bit more planning, but I am happy to do it.
nectarine / 2173 posts
@ChitownRo: it didn’t sound like complaining to me! Just a post on how life changes this time of year!
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kiwi / 511 posts
As the daughter of two school teachers (retired) and sister of a current teacher I can understand @Mrs.Garland’s posts and feel for her but at the same time I totally get what @CHITOWNRO is saying. While yes teachers do have an enviable schedule it is easy to forget that they don’t get paid year round (I assume that they like my parents can schedule to be paid year round but that means smaller paychecks so that they do in fact get paid during the summer), they get paid for the approximate 185 days they teach and do professional development.
The sleeping thing actually I don’t have much sympathy for since it is possible to shift the sleep schedules to help accommodate for having to get up and get your family out the door. Ditto on the dinners/evenings, while I get home earlier than many at around 4:30 after pick up quick dinners are pretty much the norm as are short evenings and do wonder what time are you starting dinner because if I could start at 4 rather than 4:35/4:45 it would be so much nicer. The boys (6/4) start the getting ready process at 6:30 and are in bed by 7.
When school starts we go from having one drop off/pick up for both kids to two drop offs/pick ups. That is nice, but is also a bit more harried because our elder needs more sleep than the younger and really likes time to play and eat later etc. So with the start of school I do the early morning thing while I get up and get dressed with the younger, and Mr.Maven will work on lunches/breakfasts, we try to eat as the four of us together. Then the younger and I leave, and Mr.Maven and our elder will get ready for the day and Mr. Maven does school drop off and heads into work. For the pick ups we reverse, and I pick up the elder and Mr. Maven picks up the younger so we each get a few dedicated minutes to each child.
clementine / 948 posts
I’m just in a bad mood and irritated about my own job. I’m taking it out in the wrong forum. My sister teaches AP chemistry and SIL teaches third grade – so Im not naive to the pay or schedule. Their complaints about getting back into a routine likely influenced my interpretation of this post. Sorry.
grapefruit / 4361 posts
@ChitownRo: I appreciate you taking the time to reflect on the origin of your comment and clarifying
As a teacher with a teacher-husband, I get you, Mrs. Garland
grapefruit / 4361 posts
@Mrs.Maven: In my school district, the teacher contract hours are 7:30-3:30, 7:45-3:45, or 8-4 (depending on the school). MANY teachers stay after contract hours, since those contract house are filled with teaching, meeting, and duties (like supervising the parking lot, gates, or bus areas). In the next 6 days, I have 4 meetings outside of contract hours, yet they are still mandatory. Most teachers I know don’t get home until at least 5, and that’s teachers who don’t coach or tutor after school.
cherry / 141 posts
Our mornings have been early since our first came into the picture with 5am or 6am wake ups. We now have a clock that keeps them in their room until 7am (thankfully). But I’m up before them preparing for the day. I lay out clothes and ready lunch the night before so I have less to do in the morning.
I like the short evenings. We eat dinner and I nap the baby for 30m then we take our eldest out for a walk/bike ride. Then bathtime and ready for bed. During summer it felt like we were sitting around so much and to be honest-I was a bit bored.
15m is a great idea for cleaning daily. I grew up in a family where messes were EVERYWHERE. So we limit the stuff we have in our home so it’s relatively easy to clean up. We aren’t as clean as we could be but it doesn’t look nearly as bad as it would if we had more toys and stuff in general. Pretty baskets make for nice catchalls for toys. There is still dust here and there and I could probably be more diligent but I’m just not that interested. No one will care except guests and even then I’m not sure they will care that much.
We didn’t eat big breakfasts before so it’s an easy adjustment. I do think breakfast is really important. I like having a protein shake so it makes it easy. Before I would make something hot like eggs or sausage. My eldest has yogurt and a bit of cereal. She’s usually quick at breakfast and SLOW AS HELL for dinner.
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
@ChitownRo: Definitely didn’t intend for it to come across as complaining! I just find it interesting how different things feel during the different times of the year – it’s an adjustment, but I definitely know I have a schedule most people desire. It’s not quite as luxurious as it might seem (I often work throughout the summer and my work/life balance during the school year is often absolutely terrible), but I know I’m very blessed to have time off in the summer and for other holidays!
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
@Mrs.Maven: We don’t usually get home from work until close to 5:00, so if we want to eat by about 5:30/6:00 we’ve got to dive in pretty quickly.
We usually adjust to the sleep schedule within a month or so of starting school, but getting a toddler re-adjusted to getting up & moving at 6:30 when he’s used to hanging out in his pajamas all morning is always a challenge!
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
@DesertDreams88: Yup! We don’t get home until close to 5:00 every day, and we’re out the door by 6:45 at the latest in the mornings!
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
@kellyrae: How funny, Jack is the opposite – he takes foreeeeeever to eat breakfast, but he’s usually done with dinner in one or two bites!