How to have a smooth Transition after School

Hey parents, are you finding that at your child's school conferences the teachers have no complaints but you're noticing that as soon as you get through the door after school your child's having a meltdown or even unloading on you? First of all, congratulations! That means you're their safe place, our safe parent, and they feel comfortable showing their how they're really feeling with you.

A lot of times this happens because children are experiencing what we call restraint fatigue. All day at school, I'm staying in my seat, I'm being quiet, I'm not showing any of the bigger needs that I think might get me in trouble. Now I'm with my safe place or at my safe place with my safe person and I'm gonna just let it loose.

Here are some strategies that you can do to help your child. First, create a ritual at pickup. We have a snack. We have a song we listen to. Something to transition from the rough day at school to the pleasant family time you're now planning on having. Immediately at home, no expectations. Let's have 10 15 minutes to just go relax, have some downtime, whatever that looks like for your child.

After that, you can start to ease into the afternoon plans. But remember this is a really hard time for your child because they're trying so hard all day so it's okay to create a safe space for them at home to ease into that.