First time parents guide on wow to balance Work and School.

It can be a scary time for all, when your first kid is ready for starting kinder or primary school – especially if you’re a working parent. Finding the balance between getting the kids ready for school and working can seem like a fine art, but we promise it’s easier than it seems. Whether your little one has been a regular at daycare or this is their first foray into a structured environment, follow our top tips to help you maintain balance between your own work and their new routine.

Our tips for balancing work and school include:

• Keep open communications with your manager
• Time your school and work commute together
• Get outside on your lunch hour
• Be prepared for kids’ sick days
• Plan quick and easy dinners
• Make to-do lists in the home AND at work

Keep communications open with your line manager

Unless they have been sleeping this whole time, your employer will know that you have kids, especially one starting school.  You might need to adjust your working hours or even take on less hours for a small stretch of time.

Set up meetings or calls with your direct line manager prior to Back To School season kicking off, so it’s on their radar that you might need some additional flexibility allowances whilst your little one adjusts to a new routine. Giving them clear communications and a heads up means that it’s possible they’ll be much more understanding if there’s any last minute changes.

Do some dry runs

Before back to school starts back up, we’d highly recommend testing out a dry run of your new morning routine, including timing how long it takes you all to get ready and out of the house for school drop off. Why not even throw in some test commutes to the school and then workplace so you can get a good gauge for just how long you’ll need in the mornings.

If you’re balancing drop offs and pick ups with a partner, why not split responsibilities for pick ups and drop offs between you to make it all a little easier to balance.

Get some fresh air and outside time

Whether you’re in the office all day or you’re in a role that means you’re on your feet all day,that 3pm slump can hit us all. In order to brush off the cobwebs, so you’re not flagging by school run pickup, try and spend your lunch hour outside getting fresh air, even a simple walk around the block can help you refresh and reset.

Our range of walking shoes for women and walking shoes for men are perfect to slip on for a walk around the block whether you’re in the city or more rural – our durable range of sneakers is perfect for all.

Be prepared for sick days

Although we’ve had a few months of working at home and balancing this with the kids, we’d recommend that you have some activities stashed away for when the kids are feeling under the weather but you still need to work. Crafting, art and even coding apps are high on our recommendations list to keep them busy whilst you’re still expected to jump into zoom calls!

Opt for quick and easy dinners in the first few weeks

Whilst you’re settling into how to balance school and work – we recommend that you prep your dinners in advance, things like tacos or veggie pasta dishes are easy to whip up – plus the leftovers make for a super simple lunch for you the next day. Check out our easy veggies recipes blog which offers simple and quick weeknight dinners.

To-Do lists work just as well at home as the office

We know you’re probably hyper organised at the office, with to-do lists, and strategy meetings and everything in between. Why not bring that level of organisation to the home? You can start simple with a list stuck to the fridge of meals and appointments – as well as any after school activities you might need.

There you have it, we hope you found our tips for balancing work and school useful. Best of luck with Back To School 2023!