School is about to start.  We feel like the excitement to go back to school dwindles as you get older.  My (Emily) oldest daughter, Myla, is about to start Kindergarten.  She has been talking about being ready for a little over a year now!  We sharpened all of her pencils and got her school supplies ready.  She tells everyone that she runs into that she is sooooo excited to eat the school’s hot lunch!!! WHAT?! That’s not typical of your middle and high school kids!

We have seen students that are excited about school and love it each day, but we have also witnessed students that have no desire to come to school for multiple reasons (anxiety, depression, it’s too hard, bullying, the feeling of not being cool enough, etc.) The list could go on.  That being said, we want to give parents and students some ways in which you can make the best out of the 2018-2019 school year!

1. STOP COMPARING! What we feel is the most important, but also the hardest is to stop comparing yourself to others.  It’s easier said than done.  You don’t need to have the name brand shoes, clothes, and an awesome backpack.  It’s not important! To be honest, we shopped The Bean Sprout (a second-hand store) for Myla’s back to school clothes and she is more than excited about them.  She is using a complete glittery backpack that her dad cannot stand for back to school. Who cares!?! Start instilling this into your children at a young age. We know it’s not as easy as they get older. We get it. All we can do it is model it….and own it.
2. STOP BRAGGING!! Oh, you have the Patagonia sweatshirt that cost your parents $100…good for you.  That’s awesome that you can have a nice sweatshirt, but please don’t brag to others about it.  It’s just not okay.  Be humble.
3. JOIN SOMETHING! Anything. Join the school play, an athletic team, be a manager of an athletic team, join a club, etc.  Maybe even something you would never expect yourself to be part of. Looking back, we both wished we would have been in our school play.  They did an amazing job and who knows, we could totally be movie stars if we would have ;). This is the best way to meet new people and feel part of something. It helps build confidence…and great time management skills are built from this! Stay busy!
4. BE NICE. Be nice. Be nice.  If you see someone being picked on, stand up for them.  Don’t let others do that.  Looking back to our days in school, we always remember the kids that were nice to everyone.  Be that person.  Please don’t make fun of someone for their weight, what they wear, how they talk or look.  The reason people feel the need to make fun of others is because there is a deeper underlying issue inside themselves.  They need to figure that part of themselves out first, before going and making someone else feel miserable.  If you feel like putting someone down, reflect on yourself first, then suck it up and go love on them as much as possible. We know it is not always easy…but suck it up anyway.
5. BE THANKFUL.  Thank your parents for driving you to school or buying you good things to put in your lunch.  Thank your teachers for putting in extra time to make things great for you.  Thank the custodians, the cooks, the office ladies, the bus drivers the paras, etc.  They are all amazing individuals that want the best for you. When a teacher brings you a treat or hands you a piece of candy…say thank you. It goes a LONG way….coming from two teachers. 🙂
6. TRY HARD. Yeah, yeah, you hear this all the time. Duh! The reason we say this is because it builds such great skills.  Doing your homework, putting in the extra effort, being on time, and all of that is going to pay off as you get a big person job someday.
7.  Keep a TO-DO LIST or a calendar.  It feels so good to go to that to do list and check things off.  Even if you are checking off something like “eat lunch.”  Yes, we’ve been there.  Everyone puts things on their to-do list just to check it off, right?
8. COMPLIMENT PEOPLE. If you see someone that did something nice or did a good job on a test,  compliment them.  You know what it feels like to get a compliment.  So good! Try to give at least 2 compliments a day…and remember, those who need it most, might not get them at all. You might be the one person who brightened their day or even week.  You might be the reason they show up at school tomorrow. Seriously.
9. LIMIT that darn TECHNOLOGY.  It’s soooo hard and soooo addicting. We get it! We are with you here.  Set a goal for yourself.  Make it simple to start.  Put it away at dinner time, don’t bring it to your room with you at night, unfollow people that are not good people or bring you down, only watch youtube videos that are E-squared ;). JK!
10. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME with friends that aren’t good for you.  It’s not worth your time.  Find the friend that will listen to you, give you advice, help you out, talk good about you and others.  This is important.  It might mean someone you least expected to be your friend.  Be open to new friendships. We have heard (we cannot remember where) that you will become an average of the 5 people you hang out with the most. Do you want that? Reflect.

We hope you enjoyed our tips to having a great school year.  We wish you all the best of luck this school year and hope that you make new friends, laugh, crush your goals and learn lots!

P.S. Be nice to your parents.  They love you and work so hard for you!!