Izaskun Cruz, LMFT
When we think about going back to school, our minds usually jump straight to the practical stuff.
Buying supplies, sorting out schedules, signing forms, homework, teachers, drop-offs and pick-ups, lunches, extracurriculars…and somehow trying to make it all fit into an already full week.
And that makes sense. That’s the part we, as parents, are responsible for.
But what does it mean for our children?
For them it is more like: Who am I going to sit with at lunch? Will I like my teachers? Will they like me? Am I going to be able to keep up? Will I fit in? Will I make friends? Or will I end up feeling alone?
Some kids are worried about being accepted, while others are afraid of being noticed in the wrong way.
School is so much more than a place for academics. It’s one of the first spaces where kids start figuring out who they are outside of their family.
It’s where they learn what it feels like to belong or not. Where they start dealing with authority figures who aren’t Mom or Dad.
Where they experience all of it at once: friendship, pressure, confidence, embarrassment, pride, disappointment, teamwork, rejection.
A single school day can ask a lot from a child and none of that shows up on a report card.
But it definitely shapes how they feel about school.
Maybe that’s why the start of a school year can feel so emotional. It’s not just a new academic year. It’s a whole new social world. New expectations. New chances to figure out who they’re becoming.
And maybe one of the best things we can do for them in this season isn’t to have all the answers.
It’s just to remember what it felt like when we were the ones walking into that classroom.
Because when we remember that, we stop seeing just a student who needs to succeed and we start seeing a child who’s just trying to find their place.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” Plato
