Prepping for the First Day of School #StreamTeam #DINOTRUX

I know, I know.  We’re not allowed to mention the word “school” yet.  Friends of mine remind me that it’s a cardinal sin to utter the words “school”, “back to school”, “back to school lunches”, and “back to school shopping” this early in August.

I can’t help it.  It seems like we’re clinging onto the remains of Summer even if I know we still have a few weeks to savour.

Prepping for First Day Back at School

I’m trying my hand at prepping Little One for the first day of school by getting her back into a schedule. Ha!  Good luck.  Bedtime has been about an hour later than it is when it’s school time. I’m getting her helping with lunches and breakfasts again.  Thank goodness she likes making bento lunches and being creative with “eating a rainbow”. 

It’s been go-go-go all Summer and in between the beach, play dates, excursions, and adventures, I’ve been allowing Little One to have thirty minutes to sometimes one hour of downtime.  THIS is my ultimate secret to prepping for the first day of school.

Downtime.

Does that sound  a bit crazy? Well, downtime is so important…especially when little ones have a busy week and full days of growing, using their brains and bodies for learning.  Sometimes despite Little One’s love of activities and participating in as many things as she can, I think it’s too much for a kid.  I think a little bit or rest time is a good thing.  For rest time Little One reads a book, plays with her toys, plays with her pets, and sometimes watches a show on Netflix.

Little One loves all things dinosaurs and vehicles, so when she found out about the Netflix Original Series called DINOTRUX, she was pretty excited!

I’m always surprised to find lessons where I least expect them.

Little One and I watched DinoTrux together one afternoon.  Little One was quick to point out that friendship comes in all shapes and sizes.  In the show, the prehistoric hybrid dinosaur-construction vehicles team-up to work together using their different skills to solve problems. Even the most uncommon of pairs, like Ty-Rux and Revvit, form friendships of a lifetime. One of the recurring themes in the series seems to be friendship and helping each other out.  

Little One was also excited to find out that there are new Ever After High episodes on Netflix now too!

Although I’m a huge advocate for playing outdoors and keeping kids active all Summer, I’m also an advocate for “Shhh!” Time.  That’s something I learned from the amazing Laurel Crossley (aka Opti-Mom).  Laurel and I chatted about over-scheduled, over-programmed kids.  We also talked about the need for just “Shhhh!” Time.  We spoke about unplugging, turning off devices, and just being together as a family.  This is so important to me and I’m seeing the value of this more and more now that Little One is going into grade 2 this year.

After I finish up my work day, I try to go unplugged as much as I can.  Then there are days when we need “relax day”.  That sometimes entails spending time snuggling up and watching a show on Netflix together.

How do you get your kids ready for back to school?

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix #StreamTeam.  As a member of this program, I will be providing thoughts and recommendations about movies and shows  currently showing on Netflix. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.