“Re-entry for grown-ups vs. kids”….
A trip of a lifetime…. saved my pennies, took time (when for business reasons, didn’t have it to take), saw the greatest players in tennis in the most fantastic tennis facility in Melbourne, Australia, beautiful sites, great food, terrific friends, the stressors of home and work life disappeared for a glorious two weeks, and my electronic communication was limited to the hotel room where I had wi-fi…..
And now I’m back. Exhausted, jet lagged, need to take care of business, back to the routine of daily life, and I have a bit of a cold.
Why do I share these details? Certainly not to complain… not my nature. But…
WHAT IS RE-ENTRY LIKE FOR YOUR KIDS AT THE END OF THE SUMMER And how close to the start of school should you allow them to stay away?
Summer camp, summer trips, summer experiences take your kids on a new adventure. And they leave the cares, woes, stressors and most importantly, electronics behind. The longer they get to be away from home and imbedded in their different world, the greater is the long term impact on their new behaviors and ability to maintain calm and order.
Yes, most certainly re-entry can be challenging. And the older the child, the longer it does take to adjust to returning home. Why?
The younger child comes home, has lot to share, needs a really good bath from head to toe and back, and clean sheets for sleeping. And that’s it! They may need to brush up on a little reading to get the cobwebs out of their academic portion of their brains. Done.
A teen also has plenty to share, definitely needs a good shower, some space to chill, sensitivity to their newfound independence, and lots of sleep. Cobweb maintenance and they are good to go.
Us grownups need to do loads of laundry, put the suitcases away, go through the mail and pay the overdue bills, clean out the refrigerator because you left that one hidden lemon in the back, and get dressed and go to work ASAP.
Moral of the story: do not assume your child has the same difficulty with re-entry as you believe you would. If your child gets home 2-3 days before the start of school, don’t worry. Think about what THEY truly must do to properly re-enter, and not you.
As for this traveler, “there is no place like home”….