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Women’s Wednesday- Back to School · Women's Wednesday with Susan Tran

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Hi everyone, Susan Tran here for Women's Wednesday
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on DC News Now and we are talking Back to School
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with Portia Moore, Portia Moore Thomas, I'm so
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sorry, our resident early child development specialist.
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Hi Portia. Hi. I cannot believe we're at the
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end of July and already talking about Back to
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School and when you said that this is a perfect
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time, I'm thinking no way. And now everything
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in the news, on the radio, is talking about back
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to school. So you were right. And we were just
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talking about camps, right, the last time I was
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here. Right, and that just felt like so not too
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long ago. So why is it important that at the
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end of July we're already preparing for back
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to school times? Exactly. It seems like it's
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so far, but you don't want to scramble last minute.
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And as I'm a parent with owning a business and,
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you know, there's so many things to navigate
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with motherhood and working and parenthood, if
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your father also, and we just make sure we're
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preparing not like a week in advance, but now.
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So we're just getting all those to do's and checklists
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done and we're not stressed out. Right, because
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we just did summer, right? They've been at camp,
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they've been swimming, making friends, having
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all of this free time. So how do we get them
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to... Start this transition. It's a lot One thing
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the parents have to transition to because they've
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been home possibly more if they're working parents
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The later camp times are different because I
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know my child's school starts at 8 a .m She has
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to be there by for campus like 9 or 10 so we
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can like trickle in like slowly But one thing
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is to set those bedtimes And then don't just
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like hey a start transition because like last
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night we had dinner at 8 p .m Which is their
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bedtime? Like 738 and so it's like set those
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routine times like Getting ready for nighttime
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dinner all those things start to like creep them
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up like 15 to 20 minutes every two or three days
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So that when it gets to that the day before or
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the week before school, it's not just like oh
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You've been going to bed at 10 now all of a sudden
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at 7 7 30 so that's one thing for bedtimes and
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it's not just the bedtimes but like Structure
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things structure. So even in the morning, right?
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Like sometimes they can sleep in you know Yes,
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I want to sleep in so especially for camp so
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but now with school you have to catch that bus
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or you have to be in that carpool line So to
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make sure that okay if I believe that house is
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730 What time are they waking up and honestly
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not just have they been waking up at 7 7 30?
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You know, but now you need to make up 6 or 6
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30 Don't do it the night before. Let's creep
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into, let's slowly transition until that wake
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up time. So is it this process like a 10, 15
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minute every day or a couple of days and just...
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Couple of days. Because the parents need to ease
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in also. We've been sleeping a little bit also.
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So every couple of days, just so that it's an
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easier transition. And sometimes travel, because
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people are still traveling. And I do get that.
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But when you return, try your best to transition
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the wake up times, the going to sleep times,
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the routines as in dinner times, pajamas, teeth
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brushing, face washing, all those things. Just
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creep a little bit earlier so that your ideal
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time is right at that day or two days before
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school starts. OK, and so when we're talking
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about preparations how do you get them from free
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spirit it's been amazing during the summer and
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then now i have to kind of think about you know
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going back to school and getting those emotional
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anxieties just on par with where we need to be
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so you know it's so much anxiety i was thinking
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about even for for us for adults right if we
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have a new restaurant we're going to What do
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we do? Look at the menu, look at the reviews,
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look at the pictures. So it's preparing the child
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of what to expect. All right. So the playground,
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you can show them like if it's a new playground,
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a new school they're going to what the playground
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will look like. Maybe even going to the school
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to see if you can do a walk around to see where
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their classroom is going to be. I know they had
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back to school night and orientation before,
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but doing those things one on one, because even
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at orientation, it's all these kids and all these
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parents. And so if you're able to just go with
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your child, it's a little bit easier to like,
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hey, this is This is your school. This is your
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classroom. It can be only five minutes. Yeah,
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but how what about like just the emotions of
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being free -spirited and then now we have to
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be back to strong? Oh, yeah, have them ask them.
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How are you feeling about school? Get those questions
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out so that they have anxiety over but just give
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them like a familiar of Being familiar to what
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they're going to so ask some questions. It's
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like hey, how do you feel? What are you excited
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about for the school year? And actually, they
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can picture themselves in their classroom. And
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so those anxiety and those worries kind of. Ease
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away as you talk about it more with a parent
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or even if you have a cousin or brother or maybe
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or a sibling or maybe someone their same age
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or around, you know, say, hey, like I went to
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that classroom last year or I was in that teacher's
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classroom last year. It's going to be totally
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OK. And so as you're more familiar with things,
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I know for me, and like I said, as restaurants,
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the anxiety kind of like loosens and I feel better.
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And what about just kind of getting them in the
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right frame of mind? and adjusting, especially
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if you have a child who has ADHD and you need
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to kind of get them ready for, instead of, you
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know, kind of free roaming for days on end to
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now we have structured time. I know, it's talking
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about it. You know, talking about it all the
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time. What school's gonna look like, what the
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time is gonna look like. A lot of... School can
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be overwhelming, camp can be overwhelming, transitions
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can be overwhelming. So the more we talk about
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it and we just sit down and listen to our children,
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we can read books about it also. There's so many
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books about start of kindergarten, start of a
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new school, meeting new friends. There's so many
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groups that do meet over the summer and before.
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I know there's what's at groups and group meet
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groups within your school, within your class.
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And so you can link up with parents and say,
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hey, can my child link up with your child? so
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they have a familiar face that they know before
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school starts. And so all those things to set
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up for success for the school year. You don't
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want your child to be nervous and they don't
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know anyone. They don't know the school. They
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don't know the systems in place. Even for carpool.
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I know for me, I'm so anxious. The first day
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I'm like, where do I go? Where does the car go?
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I've never done carpool, right? And so now, with
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those WhatsApp groups, you can even ask if it's
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a new school. Hey, how does carpool work? Where
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should we pool in? OK, we're going to hold that
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thought and come back. You're watching Women's
7:02
Wednesday. Stay with us. Welcome back to Women's
7:07
Wednesday. I'm Susan Tran and we have a Portia
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Moore Thomas joining us, our child development
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specialist and we're talking about back to school
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and a big concern, kind of filled with a bit
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of anxiety too, is sending off your child to
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kindergarten for the first time. What do we do?
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It's anxious -ridden for parents and probably
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for a child as well. Yes, especially if they
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came from home. Even daycare centers, that ratio
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is lower. They have that more one -on -one time.
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Having them go independently to the bathroom
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is so important. It's not just you doing it for
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them, it's showing them how to do it and helping
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them do it. So pulling down their pants, sitting
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on the potty, right, correctly so they're not
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peeing on their clothes, wiping themselves is
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so, so important for number one and number two,
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and not doing it for them, showing them how to
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do it, right? Some people take two balloons with
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wiping, which is, I mean, it's fun. It's engaging,
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but also it shows - shows them how to clean themselves,
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pull your pants up, flush the toilet, and wash
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your hands. And not just a quick wash your hands,
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you're using soap, using front, back, all the
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things, right? So steps to potty training, or
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not potty training, because they're already potty
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trained, but steps to actually going potty, so
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they're confident and independent in the bathroom.
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Also, opening book bags. Opening lunch boxes
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you sometimes that little clip to open the lunch
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box is difficult, right? And so you want to teach
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them how to use those fine motor that thumb to
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push up that tab where their Spoon is gonna be
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their paper towers are gonna be so you want to
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make sure that you show them and help them do
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these things Don't do them for it because you
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won't be there in their classroom or lunch or
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lunch room, right? So you want to make sure that
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you help them? And you're preparing them for
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the success of being kind of independent for
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perhaps the first time. What about the question
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of dry runs? Do you go through the whole routine?
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Is too many times a possibility? Is there once,
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twice? What is it? Not at all. Now that let's
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say you're eating lunch somewhere, have them
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open up the lunchbox. If they're going potty,
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of course you're there, but you step outside.
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You know, hey, do you need some help? You peek
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in and make sure what they're doing is correct.
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But right now you can start. There's never too
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many times for those daily tasks that life that
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lasts a lifetime. So you can always do those
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tasks. OK. And in terms of dry runs to the school
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drop off, pick up. Is that a good thing? It's
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a great thing. My daughter, when she started
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kindergarten, because she was at the preschool
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for four or five years, right? It's a transition
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for me too. We went to the school about like
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five or six times like, hey, this is your school.
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Look at the front of it. It's so much fun. We
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went to the orientation. Again, it's very overwhelming.
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We didn't do a walkthrough without the orientation.
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So it was a lot of students. My daughter is also
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very social. But if you have someone like you
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said, ADHD or someone that a lot of people. are
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overwhelmed, contact the school administration.
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See if you can just visit. Two three minutes
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to do a walk through the school Where is the
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classroom at where they put their book bag their
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coat when it becomes cold outside? Where they'll
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enter their door because sometimes kindergarten
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is a different door than the main door because
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the main door is just like so many kids And also
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for you like I talked before a carpool, you know
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as parents You don't want to be nervous and the
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line is backed up. You don't know what you're
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doing So see what you need to do for carpool
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and maybe like when they walk you through it.
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You kind of run through it by yourself How do
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you talk to your child about it? You know, especially
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if they might be a little nervous already. You
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don't want to amp that up. But how do you have
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the conversation? Accept that they're going to
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be nervous and don't talk them out of nervous.
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And I tell my teachers all the time at their
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preschool, it's OK to feel nervous. Kids need
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to feel that emotion. Adults need to feel that
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emotion, right? It's how do we get through it?
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Breathe in, breathe out, and let's picture your
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school day. Let's picture how the first day is
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gonna go, how the first six weeks are gonna go,
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how the holidays are gonna go. You wanna make
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sure that they know. You're going to be there
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from seven to two or eight to three or nine to
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four. The timing, hey, mommy is going to pick
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you up. You're going to take the bus or you're
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going to walk home. Maybe even for that, that
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first day you walk to where the bus stop is going
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to be. You walk to school to see how far it's
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gonna be. You drive them to see what the drive
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is gonna look like. So all those things to help
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those nerves, because mommies and daddies are
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nervous too. It's like their first day at a new
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school. If you've been home with them or you've
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been at a daycare for three or four or five years,
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it's nervous also to accept those nerves and
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just help them understand what they'll be doing.
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Are there questions that you should be asking
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them or? conversation starters. Yes. What do
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you want to learn? So much fun. So they could
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be like, I don't know. Maybe I want to learn
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this and this. Because when you first go to school
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with a new teacher and so many new friends, it's
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exciting. And some people, I know my daughter
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one time was like, I want to learn about unicorns.
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I'm like, well, maybe they'll teach about unicorns.
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You know and don't shut them down if they want
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to learn about unicorns or they want to learn
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about history Whatever they want to do. Oh my
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goodness gracious. That is so exciting Let's
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let's look a unicorn book right now, right? So
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they get excited about what? They may do in the
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future and their brain goes wild at that age
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So okay in for some parents this will be the
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first time they're kind of not together And they're
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separated And what about how to get them to tell
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you about their day without just the common response
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of, oh, it was good? Yeah, like, how was your
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day? And they're like, good. Right, because they're
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five or six or whatever. And when people ask
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about how my day, I'm like, it was OK. Work was
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work. But a good thing is, what was the favorite
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part of your day? And like, OK, sometimes they
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say PE or sometimes they say lunch. When they
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say lunch, I was like, oh, what did your friend
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eat today? Not what you ate. I know what you
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ate. Well, hopefully you ate all your food. What
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did your friend eat today? Or how did you help
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someone today? That's such a great question because
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one thing, it's giving back and they understand
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that, hey, mommy and daddy wants you to help
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someone today. Or maybe even they don't even
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think about like, hey, how did I help someone?
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And it builds their confidence to be like, I
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was a good friend. And already... You're speaking
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confidence into them, and they're eager to share
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about their day. You can say, what did your teacher
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help you with today? Also, my teacher actually
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helped me how to put my book away or how to learn
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this. You can ask them what their favorite subject
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is. My daughter loves math. And I'll say, well,
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did you learn about addition today? So just build
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on top of what they learned also. All right.
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We'll be right back. You're watching Women's
14:03
Wednesday. Welcome back to Women's Wednesday.
14:08
I'm Susan Tran. We are already talking about
14:10
Back to School with the Portia, Maura Thomas.
14:13
And I couldn't believe it, but it is happening.
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And not only do we have to get the kids prepared,
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we got to get the parents prepared as well. It's
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a pretty long to -do list. It's a long to -do
14:25
list. And it's not just about ordering all the
14:28
things. You know, I have Walmart. You have, I
14:30
used to go to Staples when I was younger, get
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the list. You have Target. You have Amazon you
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can order from. It's more about building that
14:37
confidence in your child and you also, of course.
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And it's also, like I said, going through the
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carpool line. It's the family calendar also.
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I know there's now the new technology that the
14:47
family calendar sits on the top of your, wherever
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you want in your workplace, on the wall, on your
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island of the... The kitchen and it says like
14:58
everything that you have to do for that day You
15:00
want to put in days off that they have early
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releases my school my child school ends at 2
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p .m Make sure you have those in the calendar
15:08
after school activities. They're here. You want
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to sign up for them? There's some deadlines that
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are coming make sure you add those to the calendar
15:14
also and some days little tip that if they have
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let's say Gymnastics or karate after school.
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I make sure I either pack those extra karate
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or gymnastic clothes in my car or in their book
15:27
bag. So I'm not running home to get them. So
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just FYI, this little tip. We do extras or the
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one that they need? The one that they need. OK.
15:35
Yes. Because you want to make sure that, hey,
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I know they're doing karate today. Look at the
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calendar. I know they're doing karate today.
15:40
Here's a karate outfit. I'm going to give it
15:41
to them for them to change after school so they
15:44
get in the car and we can go to karate. Bring
15:47
snacks. Also, I have like a snack compartment
15:49
in the back of my car because they are hungry
15:51
after school and I don't want any meltdowns.
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And so while I'm asking you what's your favorite
15:54
part of school or how did you help someone? I
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don't want like, oh, I'm hungry. Leave me alone.
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You know, they're eating and they're talking.
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And so it's like that conversation, which is
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that's a lot of planning. It's a lot of planning.
16:05
Yes. So the calendar helps in school supplies.
16:11
School supplies, I mean, get the list. I would
16:13
order it now. Some schools also, there's so many
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things. I mean, we had two boxes last year for
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Bell's first day at kindergarten. How do you
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afford that? Well, it was a lot of money. Yeah,
16:25
it was a lot. But there's some actual programs
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that if you need back to school items and you
16:30
can't afford it, look for the programs churches
16:32
offer them. Schools offer them to go and see
16:35
what back to school items you need. And if they
16:38
have them, if you cannot afford them, because
16:39
they are very expensive and it's a lot. But do
16:42
it now so that when. the time comes, sometimes
16:45
orientation or the week before you can drop off
16:48
the items. So not carrying all this stuff in
16:51
the first day. Right. Which can be a lot. Yeah.
16:54
And those are all of the things that they have
16:56
to physically bring to school or get physically
16:59
bring to school. There's things like headphones,
17:01
markers, tissues, toilet paper, not toilet paper,
17:04
but sometimes toilet paper, tissue paper, nap
17:06
mats for kindergarten. Or if you're going to
17:08
pre K for all the things they have. Okay. All
17:11
right. Go through the list. And you also had
17:14
this whole emergency contacts. Physicals. Okay.
17:18
My goodness. Scheduled appointments right now
17:20
because it's going to be the rush for parents.
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It doesn't matter if you play sports or not.
17:24
You have to have an updated physical. Oh. Yes.
17:27
At the school. Okay. So you make sure you get
17:29
those done. All right. And then how do you get
17:32
parents ready? From if they have been spending
17:35
a whole lot of time with their parent their child
17:37
during the summer and it's been so much fun And
17:39
now well even traveling with them also One -on
17:43
-one time with them all the time. You got to
17:46
mentally prepare. You got to rip off that band
17:47
-aid And I tell parents all the time I think
17:50
I'm a little bit immune to it because with owning
17:52
the preschools I'm holding parents hand all the
17:55
time like oh my goodness my child's going DCPS
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starts at 3 and so my child's going to you know
18:00
DCPS at 3 I can't walk inside the class And I'm
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just like, meet that teacher. Meet the teacher.
18:06
Get to know the teacher. Because once you feel
18:09
comfortable with where your child is at, it's
18:12
like their second home. And it's nothing better
18:15
than being confident and really... Enjoying to
18:19
see enjoying seeing your child grow and how that
18:22
teachers are helping them grow and then at that
18:24
point of time You're like, you know what? They're
18:25
better. They're in better hands than I am You
18:27
know cuz not everyone could be a teacher and
18:29
so you want to make sure your child is learning
18:30
and growing and when you have that amazing teacher
18:32
Those nervous those nervous feelings go away
18:35
and you're like, you know what? I'll see them
18:36
after school Okay, just gotta rip off that band
18:39
-aid and trust that teacher. Is there a huge
18:42
list that You've put together for yourself to
18:46
just get Ready for the school year. Yeah. Yes.
18:49
Well, definitely those bedtimes Like I said,
18:52
we were eating dinner eight o 'clock tomorrow
18:53
last night. We can't be doing that August 23rd.
18:58
The first day of school is August 24th, right?
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So it you know every two days three days 15 20
19:03
minutes before bedtime ordering the class materials.
19:06
I already did it I'm a little bit pre -organized.
19:09
Because you've been doing it. I've been doing
19:12
it a long time. Exactly. Immunizations, get those
19:14
physicals. We already scheduled hours so that
19:15
they have them. And then also, I know you want
19:18
to dive in IEPs eventually. If you notice any
19:22
resources that your child can get, speech, there's
19:26
physical therapy, there is fine motor, there's
19:29
occupational therapy, there's behavior therapy.
19:31
If those things that you notice, talk to the
19:34
teacher. Have them assess them because early
19:36
intervention is key and resources, resources,
19:39
resources. That is such a huge conversation that
19:42
we're gonna have to do a whole segment on. And
19:45
so I'm glad that you're at least dipping our
19:48
toes into the conversation. It's on the checklist.
19:50
I know you got to be ready for all of this. And
19:53
finally one parent was asking what about all
19:56
of the things like you know in the morning they
19:59
have to rush out the door to catch the bus and
20:01
everything but they want to change their clothes
20:04
again they want to do their hair again um they're
20:08
slow at breakfast how do we motivate so one thing
20:11
what a lot of if you don't have uniforms By the
20:14
way, speaking of uniforms and the checklist,
20:16
they do have like a uniform swap at the private
20:18
school. So I meant to say that. So look at your
20:20
private school and see if you do a uniform swap,
20:21
which saves some money on uniforms. But with
20:23
running the door, there's this, there's like
20:26
a hanging thing that has Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
20:28
Thursday, Friday. They can pick out their clothes
20:30
for the whole entire week, which is very nice.
20:31
You put in whatever they're wearing in each little
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compartment. And so they put on their clothes,
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they wash their face, they brush their teeth.
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We like to do baths or showers the night before.
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And making a hearty breakfast is so important,
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making sure those brains are fueled, they're
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not tired, and so they're ready for the day,
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helps with anxiety also, and not rushing out
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the door. Let's take it slow because rushing
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gives me anxiety. All right, we gotta plan it
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all out and wish every parent good luck. You're
21:00
watching Women's Wednesday. Have a great one.