Back to School Is A Few Weeks Away. Here's How to Actually Prepare Your Kids.
And just like that, it’s almost the last half of August; the school supply list is still sitting on the counter, your kid has been going to bed at 10 pm for two months, and September will be here whether you're ready or not.
Sound familiar? You're in good company.
The back-to-school transition is one of those things that sneaks up on families every single year. Not because parents aren't thinking about it, but because summer has a way of making everything feel far away. The good news is that 2 to 3 weeks is genuinely enough time to set your kids up for a smooth September. You just have to start now.
Here's how to do it.
Start Shifting Sleep Schedules Today
This is the big one. And it's the one most families leave until too late.
Summer sleep schedules typically mean later bedtimes, slower mornings, no alarm clocks. But when the school bell rings at 8:00 am and your child's body clock is set to 7:30 am summer mode, everyone pays for it. The first week of school is exhausting enough without adding sleep deprivation to the mix.
The fix is simple, but it requires starting now: move bedtime 10 to 15 minutes earlier every few days. That's it. If your child is currently going to bed at 9:30 pm and needs to be up by 7 am come September, you have just enough time to gradually transition to an earlier bedtime.
Start tonight.
Talk About Back-to-School Early
If your child tends to get anxious around new situations, the worst thing you can do is save the back-to-school conversation for the night before school starts.
Start talking about school now, but keep it light. Casual, curious questions work well:
Who do you hope is in your class?
What are you most excited about?
What do you think your new classroom will look like?
You're giving your child space to think out loud about what's coming, which takes the edge off the unknown.
For kids who are worried about going back to school specifically, acknowledge their worry without making it worse. Say something like: “It makes sense that you're nervous. Starting something new is a big deal. And I also know you're going to be okay". It validates their feelings without making them bigger than they need to be.
Grab Those Back-to-School Supplies Before August Ends
We know. The supply list is long, the stores are crowded, and nobody wants to spend a Saturday in August shopping for binders and backpacks. But getting this done before September starts removes one of the biggest first-week stressors entirely.
There's also a quieter benefit worth mentioning: kids feel ready when their stuff is ready.
A new backpack, a packed pencil case, school shoes that fit, these small, tangible things that tells kids the new school year is coming and that you're prepared for it together.
Aim to have everything sorted by the last week of August. That leaves the first week of September free to actually focus on how your child is doing, not on tracking down the specific type of ruler their teacher asked for.
Sort Your September Childcare Before You Need It
Here's the one that catches working parents off guard every single year.
The first month of school is, without exaggeration, the most unpredictable childcare month of the year. A child home sick on day three. A PA day in week two that nobody wrote on the calendar. An early dismissal on a day you thought was a full day.
None of these are emergencies when you have an active Nannies on Call subscription. They're just bookings. But if your subscription expired over the summer (or if you cancelled in July thinking you'd sort it out in September), these moments become genuine scrambles.
Our advice: make sure your subscription is active before September starts. Keep it running through at least October, when the first-month chaos settles, and you have a clearer picture of your family's ongoing needs. The families who stress least about September childcare aren't the ones with a perfect plan. They're the ones who have reliable backup already in place when the plan changes.
You've Got This!
The next few weeks are going to be busy, but manageable if you take action now. Start by shifting the kids’ sleep schedule, weave in casual school conversations, and pencil in a supplies run into the calendar. September will feel like something you prepared for rather than something that happened to you.
And for everything else: the sick days, the surprise closures, the PD days you can’t be home for, that's what we're here for.
Keep your subscription active and head into September sorted at nanniesoncall.com.
Nannies on Call provides professional, pre-screened in-home babysitting for families in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Ottawa. And coming soon to other Canadian cities!