From Summer Into School: Four Ways to Ease The Transition

We hope you enjoy this article by Ginny Kubitz Moyer

It’s that time of year again. Teachers are decorating their classrooms, brand-new lunchboxes wait to be filled, and kids who have savored the delights of vacation are looking downright glum. If you’re a hardcore summer fan, you too may find it tough to get excited about the return of school. It’s not easy to exchange the relative leisure of vacation for the tyranny of the alarm clock, the inflexibility of pickup times, and the challenge of shepherding your family through another academic year while (hopefully) keeping your own life in balance.

Luckily, the start of school does not have to mean the end of sanity. Here are a few ways to ease the transition, making Back-to-School a positive, fun, and even spiritually enriching time for you and your family.

1. Make a New School Year’s Resolution. When I was a kid, I adored buying school supplies. The folders were clean, the pencils smelled like cedar, and the crayons hadn’t yet been blunted by use. If you’ll bear with my English teacher riff here, those supplies are symbolic of the beginning of the school year, when everything is fresh and new. If your kids are old enough, talk about what they hope to accomplish during the year. Do they want to participate more in class? Limit the number of after-school activities to create more time for the one they really love? You can even pen some personal goals for yourself, like reducing school-year stress by exercising three times a week (this one always works for me). Don’t attach guilt to the resolutions, but do check in and reevaluate them as the year goes on. It’s a great way to get kids reflecting on their own priorities.

2. Focus not on what you’re losing, but on what you’re gaining. Yes, it’s tough to bid goodbye to swimming pools and charcoal barbecues. But every season has its own charms. On my short list of autumn fun: taking the boys to the pumpkin patch, letting myself eat candy corn again, smelling wood smoke in the air. Even if school itself doesn’t generate any smiles, get your kids talking about fun experiences they had last fall. Pull out some photos if you need to refresh their memories (or your own).

3. Pack a letter along with the juice box and string cheese. At times throughout my childhood (and early adolescence), my mom would tuck a handwritten note into my lunchbox. “I love you! Enjoy the Cheese Puffs! Love, Mom.” When I was very young, these little letters helped me deal with the homesickness I often felt at school. When I was older, they were a subtle, non-intrusive reminder that my mom wanted to stay connected to me. Though I couldn’t have articulated this at the time, I loved the fact that I was holding something handwritten, something that Mom herself also touched. That’s instinctively comforting for kids, who sometimes need a little shot of motherly encouragement in the middle of a long school day.

4. Get mindful and remember that nothing stays forever. “This too shall pass,” my grandmother always used to say. While that is a comforting mantra when you’re so stressed out you can’t see straight, it also captures the bittersweet reality of parenting. Someday you will miss the four-year-old who, though exhausting, dances with excitement upon showing you the letters he traced at preschool, or the exasperating teen who makes an unguarded comment revealing how much she still values your approval. I always try to remember that wishing away the negatives of a certain phase of parenthood inevitably means wishing away its joys, too. So if the school year is ratcheting up your stress level, try this little assignment: pause, breathe deeply, and think, “This won’t last forever.” Savor what’s good about the present moment. In the classroom of life, it’s one of the most important lessons we’ll ever learn.

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Ginny Kubitz Moyer is the author of Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God, which received a 2009 Catholic Press Award. She’s also an English teacher, weekend gardener, sporadic exerciser, and proud mother of two young boys. Visit Ginny's blog (click here) for thoughts on Mary, faith, parenting, and the occasional ode to Jane Austen.

Midsummer Already? Embrace every moment.....

Ginny Moyer, author of the award-winning book, Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God, has written a fun, practical, and poignant column on mommyhood and faith. Ginny has offered to share her insights with we women of ENDOW. Here’s to enjoying these precious and playful days of summer! We hope you enjoy Ginny’s insights, inspirations and suggestions.

Moms in Midsummer:

Four Tips for Enjoying the Season

By Ginny Kubitz Moyer

Summer has been in full swing for a few weeks now, and if you’re like me, you’re savoring it. If you’re like me, though, you also get a shock every time you glance at a calendar and realize it’s July. Time is passing, a truth that is only magnified when you spy overly zealous retailers stacking school supplies on shelves. At moments like this, you just might start to wonder whether you’re making the most of your summer, emotionally and spiritually.

Fear not. Here in the mid-summer mark, I’m happy to offer a few ways that we moms can embrace the season, using it to strengthen our family ties and recharge our spiritual batteries.

1. Learn from your kids and how they play. Remember when you were a child, and those warm summer evenings seemed endless? Tap into that spirit by heading outside with your own kids. Draw with chalk, build a fort, blow bubbles, play soccer. Most of all, watch them as they play. They’ve got it down, that unselfconscious sense of the here and now, not worrying about tomorrow. When I see my son gleefully pedaling his trike down the warm sidewalk, I really understand Jesus’ words about how we need to become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. If we can emulate our kids’ innate ability to glory in the moment, we’re finding a little bit of heaven on earth. A warm summer day or evening is the perfect time to start.

2. Jump into a project that feels too daunting the rest of the year. I’m not talking a necessary evil, like cleaning the garage, but something that feeds your soul. A few years ago, I spent a summer writing my book Mary and Me. I’d park myself in front of the computer every morning and tap away at the keyboard until the midday sun broiled me from the skylight above. It was wonderful to have a summer in which to let the project build momentum, to live fully in the author skin for a while. Maybe your project involves starting a blog, learning how to cross-stitch, finding the perfect enchilada recipe, or reading the collected works of Jane Austen. Whatever it is, there’s plenty of summer left. Dive in.

3. Give your kids some one-on-one time. Growing up, my sister and I each went to summer camp. The weeks never overlapped, so whichever child stayed at home got to spend a day with Mom, totally dedicated to activities of our choice. My special day usually involved a trip to the doll store, some time at the library, perhaps an ice cream cone. The one-on-one time with my mom was precious, and it was exciting to be the one to plan our activities. Even though my boys are younger, I’m making it a priority to spend the occasional day or afternoon with each of them, individually. It’s a great way to build those relationships, and to create some pretty sweet summer memories in the process.

4. Do an al fresco nighttime prayer. There’s something magical about an evening when you can sit outside without needing a sweater. During the summer, I often slip out to the backyard and spend a few quiet moments in the dark. Though I love my house, it’s also a place where dishes and laundry cry out for attention, where I think of all that remains undone. In the yard, though, I’m in a more peaceful space. It’s a great place to let the hum and buzz of the day recede. Try sitting out on the porch or taking a slow walk around the block. Review the day, and all its joys and challenges. Recognize the sweetness of the season. Invite God into the life you are living, right here, right now. There’s no more beautiful way to end a summer’s day.

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Ginny Kubitz Moyer is the author of Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God, which received a 2009 Catholic Press Award. She’s also an English teacher, weekend gardener, sporadic exerciser, and proud mother of two young boys. To visit Ginny's blog for thoughts on Mary, faith, parenting, and the occasional ode to Jane Austen, click here.