Back to School Rituals

Brian Lehrer (0:08)

Brian Lehrer on WNYC. To end the show today, we're going to invite your calls and texts about your back to school rituals. New York City Public Schools welcome students back tomorrow, after maybe one of the longest summer breaks ever, because Labor Day was so far into September this year. Many other school districts in our area started before Labor Day. So our question is, especially for parents of kids currently in school, anywhere from 3K through high school, what kinds of back to school rituals do you have in your family? If your kids are old enough to remember the pandemic lockdown, do you think they have a different relationship to back to school season than anyone who didn't go through that as a kid? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call a text. Again, two different questions, the central one for anybody, but who is especially the parent of a child currently in school, anywhere from 3K through high school, let's say anywhere in that range. What kinds of back to school rituals do you have in your family? Do you have back to school rituals in your family? Let's all in and shout them out. And separate question, if your kids are old enough to remember the pandemic lockdown and experience that with respect to their schooling, do you think they have a different relationship to back to school season than anyone who didn't go through that as a kid? Maybe they're more anxious to go back to school because they remember lockdown when they couldn't, or maybe they see it as even more of a negative and a lot of other kids who wish some of vacation would go on forever. How about your kids?

212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call or text. On the rituals, do you make any special plans, big or small, to mark the transition back to school? Do you take special photos in those first day of school outfits, special foods or treats that the kids can take with them for day one of the new school year, maybe to ease the pain if it's pain? Tell us about any back to school ritual that your family has, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

You can call or you can text, or we can even throw in some of you who don't have kids at home right now. But remember your own back to school rituals when you were a child. What pops to mind? I'll bet we have some memories right now, coursing through your heads. As I even asked the question to think not so much about your kids right now or maybe your kids are grown and you think, oh, when I was going back to school each fall, my parents used to fill in the blank, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

And if you or your kids experienced and are old enough to remember lockdown, went back to school meant back to devices, right? Is it more fun now to be heading back, to be in a room with other people? Has that changed your attitude or their attitude about going back to school made it more fun or maybe made it harder? Some kids liked homeschooling, 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, call or text. And teachers too. I don't know if we're going to have any teachers out there today, even in the city schools where the students go back tomorrow. I know the teachers already had to go back, but maybe you have a prep period now or because the students aren't there, you have the radio on in your classroom while you're setting up. Teachers too, do you have a gearing up for the new school ritual and have your attitudes or practices or some new rituals that you may have introduced changed since lockdown?

212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

If you or your child dreads going back, have you found a way to make it less stressful? And this is whether or not lockdown is a factor for them. What kind of ritual do you have in your family to make it less stressful for your child to go back to school or that your parents did for you to make it less stressful to go back to school when you really wish that summer vacation would just continue? Share your ideas and your rituals and your experiences at 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-969.

You can mention if they're different for different ages, right? You probably do something different for your kindergartener than for your middle school student or your high school student. What back to school rituals and traditions would you like to share with other listeners who maybe could learn from them even for tonight, if they have kids who are about to start back in school in the New York City system tomorrow? So parents of current school age children, you're welcome to call in. Anybody just remembering your own childhood rituals from your parents, you're welcome to call in. Teachers, if you're in the classroom with your radio on right now, somewhere in New York City because the kids don't return till tomorrow, what do you do on the first day or the first days of school to make it, I guess in many cases, less painful? Is that the right way to put it? Or just to engage the kids in a positive way when they'd maybe rather just be back in the park? 212-433-WNYC. And you can add your lockdown stories to any of those if you have them. 212-433-9692. Call or text. We'll take your calls and texts right after this.