Back to School at Our House: A GettingKidsplained Breakdown

The gist:
Back to school comes with excitement, routines, and a little bit of strategy — especially when you’ve got three kids, a teacher dad, and a love for structure (and snack aisle surprises).

We start early.
Three weeks before school starts, we shift bedtime and wake-up times.
➡️ Why? Because nobody wants a first-day meltdown at 6:45 a.m.
It’s gradual. It’s gentle. And it works.

School supplies are sacred.
We stick to the teacher’s list. Period.

📚 Dad’s a teacher — he gets it.
The specific pencils? There’s a reason. The brand of markers? It matters.
It’s not about being picky — it’s about experience. Teachers know which supplies hold up and which end up in the trash (or in tears).

Outfits: Picture Day wins.
Back to school in August = sweaty kids in fall clothes.
Instead of dressing up for the first day, our girls choose their Picture Day outfit.
🖼 That way, the cute boots and layered dress actually make sense when temps cool down

.
Clothes? Christmas, mostly.
Thanks to older cousin hand-me-downs, our girls are set for most of the school year.
But by Christmas, we can see what they actually need.
🎁 Bonus: holiday sales and fewer impulse buys.

Mornings run themselves.
Each girl has her own physical checklist — brush teeth, get dressed, pack backpack, etc.
✅ The checklist gives them structure and independence.
And honestly? They're usually ready before we are.
Giving them ownership has cut down on arguments and sped up the mornings.
Highly recommend. These are the ones we use: check list (affiliate link).

Traditions we love.
Our kids like school (for now). So we’ve built traditions they look forward to:
📸 A photo with a first-day sign they get to color
🍽 Dinner of their choice
🛒 A “treat snack” from the store (something we don’t usually buy)
🛋 And the best one — couch bed sleepover on the first Friday:
Movie + popcorn + downstairs slumber party = first-week win.

The bottom line:
Back to school doesn’t have to be a battle. With a little prep, a few rituals, a checklist, and some realistic shopping choices, we’ve made it something special.
Even the snacks.

🖍 Got your own back-to-school tricks? Drop them in the comments.