Wellness Wednesday – Helping Kids With Back To School And September Is The Perfect Time To Get Back To Routine

August 12, 2026 11:07 am Published by

Because today is our annual Stuff the Studio event in support of the Inn of the Good Shepherd – we thought it would be a good chance to talk about our kids and mental health.

Back to school can be scary, stressful and overwhelming.

How do we help our kids adjust and manage the new experience? Jenny from Life’s Seasons Care and Support offers this advice to parents.

  1. Give kids somewhere to put the stress (they don’t always need to talk about their feelings- maybe they need movement, music, a shower, shooting hoops, 20 mins of quiet- regulation doesn’t always look like talking.
  2. Expect your kids to be tired the first week especially- new routines, lots of new things
  3. Watch for the invisible load- not always school work or homework- remembering instructions, new routines, navigating friendships, etc
  4. Give time and space for adjustment- maybe it’s not actually the work thats hard but navigating all the change (new teacher, expectations, etc)
  5. Notice what your child is carrying- not just the accomplishments (not focusing solely on grades, but asking “what felt like a lot today?”)
  6. Take inventory of yourself: are you as the parent or caregiver modeling how to handle stress well? How are you talking about the return to school? (Eg. In a negative light?)
  7. HOLD SPACE- often our kids don’t need us to solve every problem, they need a space to feel safe enough to let it out…asking “do you need me to help figuring out what to do or do you just need me to listen?”

As we think about the start of the school year, it’s also a great time to get back into a fitness routine.

Paul Skuza, General Manager of the Y in Sarnia, shares why September is so busy.

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This post was written by Carrie Buchanan