With school approaching, many families are finding the season feels less like a break and more like a marathon, and experts say the wear is starting to show in both kids and parents.
For Samantha Burruss, a mother of three, summer means juggling work, camps and vacations while trying to keep her children fed, rested and happy. Weeks into the break, she said the exhaustion has caught up with her family.
“It’s busy. It’s exhausting. It’s draining. It’s very frustrating,” Burruss said.
Still, she said her family has learned to adjust.
“We just have to prioritize what’s important to us as a family,” Burruss said.
Pediatric physical therapist Libby Kelly said the back half of summer is often when she hears from parents the most.
“What I noticed the most when I see families over the summer is they don’t understand why all of a sudden they’re starting to see more behaviors, more irritability, more impulsivity,” Kelly said.
Kelly said the shift comes down to routine. During the school year, children know what to expect from one hour to the next. Summer removes that structure, and with weeks removed from any consistent schedule, the effects tend to surface.
“You woke up at the same time, you had the same school day routines,” Kelly said. “Then summer comes, and boom, you’re sleeping in, you’re staying up late, and the body doesn’t know what to do with all of that newness, all that novelty.”
Parents are feeling the strain as well, managing childcare, packed schedules, and the guilt that can come with trying to balance it all.
“We rely on our network,” Burruss said. “Definitely relying on my support system.”
With a few weeks of summer remaining, Kelly said families can take some simple steps to ease the transition. She recommends building in more movement and variety during the day, along with small doses of predictability, such as keeping the same snack routine, to help children feel more grounded. She also suggests parents start reintroducing school-year sleep schedules now, before classes resume.
“It really helps them feel like they know what’s coming next,” Kelly said.
Above all, Kelly said, parents should extend themselves some grace during the transition.
“The biggest thing as parents, the best thing that we can do, is really to be patient with ourselves as we’re trying to figure out how to help our kids,” Kelly said.
Kelly said that with the school year approaching, a few small adjustments now can make the return to routine go much more smoothly for the whole family.