Back-to-School Stress Is Real: Don't Forget to Prep Yourself, Too

The backpacks are packed. The school supplies have been purchased. The class schedules are set, the new clothes are ready, and somehow the styles you wore in the '90s are back in fashion.

Your kids may be ready for another school year, but are you?

Back-to-school season is a major transition for the entire household. Summer routines give way to earlier mornings, homework, activities, packed calendars, and a whole new set of responsibilities. Parents often spend so much time making sure their kids are prepared that they forget to prepare themselves.

And if the transition feels a little overwhelming, you're not imagining it.

A 2025 survey from the Kids Mental Health Foundation found that 40% of parents said their stress or mental load is higher during the school year than during the summer. Managing school schedules and routines was the most commonly cited contributor among parents experiencing increased stress.

There's also the financial side of getting everyone ready. A 2025 NerdWallet survey found that 56% of parents of K-12 or college students considered back-to-school season financially stressful, with parents planning to shop expecting to spend an average of $741.

But back-to-school isn't all stress. In a 2025 YouGov survey, about half of parents of K-12 students said they generally feel happy when summer ends and their children return to school.

That combination probably sounds familiar. You can be excited about getting back into a routine while also feeling overwhelmed by everything that routine requires.

The good news is that you don't have to overhaul your entire life to make the transition easier. A few simple changes can help you feel more prepared, more organized, and a little less like you're constantly trying to catch up.

Start Getting Back Into a Routine

Summer has a way of turning bedtime into more of a suggestion than a rule. Then school starts, and suddenly everyone needs to be awake at 6 a.m.

If your household has been operating on a relaxed summer schedule, start easing back toward school-year hours before the first day. Gradually moving bedtimes and wake-up times can make the transition less jarring than trying to change everything overnight.

And don't forget your own sleep schedule. Parents need rest, too. It's much easier to deal with a forgotten lunch, a missing shoe, or a last-minute homework crisis when you're not running on four hours of sleep.

The same goes for hydration. When you're moving from work to school pickup to sports practice to dinner, drinking enough water can easily fall to the bottom of the list. Keep a reusable water bottle somewhere you'll actually use it, whether that's at your desk, in the car, or next to your gym bag.

The kids may have shiny new water bottles for school. There's no reason you can't have one, too.

Get the Family Schedule Out of Your Head

One of the hardest parts of back-to-school season isn't necessarily the number of things you have to do. It's trying to remember all of them.

School events. Soccer practice. Music lessons. Doctor's appointments. Work deadlines. Birthdays. Homework. Carpool schedules. The occasional last-minute request for a poster board that is apparently due tomorrow.

Trying to keep all of that in your head is a recipe for unnecessary stress.

Instead, put the family schedule somewhere everyone can see it. A shared digital calendar can work well for older kids, while younger children may benefit from a physical calendar posted somewhere in the house.

Include your commitments, too. Your work schedule, appointments, exercise classes, and social plans belong on the calendar just as much as everyone else's.

As your kids get older, give them some responsibility for keeping track of their own activities. They may not do it perfectly at first, but learning to manage a schedule is a useful skill, and it means you don't have to be the only person who knows where everyone is supposed to be.

The goal isn't to create another complicated system.

It's to get the schedule out of your head and somewhere everyone can see it.

Make Room for Yourself

Once school starts, it can be surprisingly easy to disappear from your own schedule.

The day becomes a series of things you need to do for other people. Get everyone up. Get everyone fed. Get everyone where they need to go. Work. Pickups. Homework. Dinner. Clean up. Start over.

Somewhere in there, make room for something that belongs to you.

It doesn't need to be a two-hour spa treatment or an entire afternoon alone. Read a book. Take a walk. Work out. Sit outside with your coffee. Call a friend. Listen to music. Watch something that doesn't involve animated characters.

Or simply sit somewhere quiet and enjoy not being asked for anything.

Even a small amount of protected time can feel different when you intentionally make it part of the day instead of waiting for free time to appear.

A timer can actually be a useful addition to your grown-up back-to-school supplies here. Use one to give the kids a defined amount of time for homework before taking a break, keep music practice on schedule, or set aside 15 or 20 minutes when you're officially unavailable for anything that isn't an emergency.

Yes, your phone has a timer.

But sometimes putting the phone down is the whole point.

Don't Fill Every Minute

Getting back into a routine can create another temptation: filling every available space in the calendar.

School, work, sports, music lessons, appointments, homework, errands, dinner and repeat.

Structure is helpful, especially when everyone is adjusting to a new schedule. But that doesn't mean every minute needs to be scheduled. Leave some room for your kids to play, relax, see friends, or simply be bored. Leave some room for yourself, too.

An empty afternoon can be useful. It gives everyone a chance to decompress, and it gives you somewhere to put the unexpected things that inevitably happen during the school year.

Because they will happen.

Someone will forget their lunch. Someone will need a ride. Someone will suddenly remember a project that's due tomorrow. Something will run late.

A little breathing room makes those moments much easier to absorb.

Have Something in Your Back Pocket for the Busy Days

Of course, you can't always step away from the chaos.

Sometimes life's little stressors pile up faster than you can clear them away. The school pickup runs late. Your boss needs something five minutes before you're supposed to leave. Someone forgot their homework. Dinner needs to happen, but nobody remembered to take anything out of the freezer.

Those are the moments when having a few simple ways to support your own well-being can make a difference.

Receptra's Seriously Relax CBD gummies and tincture are formulated for daytime use and those everyday moments when life's little stressors start piling up. The tincure formula combines CBD with botanical ingredients including lavender and passionflower, making it easy to incorporate into a daily routine, and gummies have the added benefit of CBG. 

Because taking care of yourself doesn't always happen when everything is quiet and peaceful.

Sometimes it happens in the middle of a Tuesday.

As with any supplement, talk with your healthcare professional about whether CBD is appropriate for you, particularly if you take medications or have an underlying health condition.

Create a Better End to the Day

After a busy day, give yourself an opportunity to actually leave the day behind.

Phones and screens can make family life easier, but they can also make it difficult to mentally clock out. If you're checking school emails, work messages, social media, and the family calendar until the moment you fall asleep, your brain isn't getting much of a transition between "busy day" and "time to rest."

Consider creating a few screen-free periods for the whole family, particularly around meals and bedtime. And don't forget to give yourself the same consideration.

Then find a simple way to wind down. Take a shower. Read a few pages of a book. Stretch. Make a cup of tea. Sit somewhere quiet.

It doesn't have to be complicated or perfectly consistent.

The point is to create a small transition between "I am responsible for everything" and "the day is over."

Give Yourself Some Grace

The first few weeks of school probably won't go perfectly.

There will be forgotten lunches, missed alarms, schedule conflicts, homework emergencies, and at least one morning when someone can't find the shoes that are sitting directly in front of them.

That's life.

And it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong.

In fact, the fact that parents can feel both happy about the return to school and stressed by it is a pretty good reminder that there's no single "right" way to feel about the transition. You can enjoy having everyone back on a predictable schedule while still being tired by the demands that come with it.

You can be excited about the school year and overwhelmed by your calendar.

Both things can be true.

The goal isn't to become a perfectly organized parent who never gets stressed. It's to create routines that make busy days a little easier and give yourself enough room to handle the unexpected.

You've got the backpacks.

You've got the school supplies.

You've probably got enough snacks to feed a small soccer team.

Now add yourself to the back-to-school checklist.

Get your sleep schedule back on track. Keep your water bottle nearby. Put the family calendar somewhere everyone can see it. Protect a little time for yourself. And find a few simple ways to make the inevitable busy days feel a little more manageable.

Because taking care of yourself isn't selfish.

You're part of the family schedule, too.

Back-to-school may mean getting back into a routine. It doesn't mean you have to be wound up 24/7.