School: Back to school shopping ripoffs?

Whether your kids are heading to preschool or setting foot into their first year at middle school, back to school season can be a dangerous trigger for temper tantrums, anxiety and sleepless nights before that dreaded First Day.

Some kids are blessed with a positive attitude about school and are marking off their calendars with excitement and anticipation. Others choose a more 'difficult' approach and will bless you with episodes of crying, bouts of anger and a complete refusal to cooperate. If your kids are too young for anger management classes, and approaching back to school season with a less-than-stellar attitude, here are six ways to stop back to school temper tantrums in their tracks:

1. Play 'Let's Make a Deal'. It's tough to negotiate during the middle of a meltdown, so you need to prepare for this one in advance. Slowly start to bring up the Back to School Event coming up in a few weeks to test the waters and help your kids come up with a plan for each morning. Make a deal - get some type of commitment from them - to ensure smooth sailing mornings before the day begins. Examples: "You can watch 10 minutes of cartoons if you get up right at 7 a.m."

2. Show them the light. Incentivize good behavior by offering them a reward for getting through the morning stress-free and sticking with their routine. Slow and steady progress is the goal, and rewards can be a simple way for them to get into some positive back to school habits. Example: "You can play soccer with the neighbors right after school if we catch the bus on time."

3. Pretend like it's just another conversation. Making a big deal out of a temper tantrum usually makes it worse. Instead of entering a shouting match, just talk to your kids as if you're having a regular conversation. When they realize their message is not getting the results they want, they may quickly pipe down and resume a normal conversation.

4. Prepare for school the night before. Avoid the anxiety of running late and not having the bookbag packed by preparing the night before. Make this your evening routine so they can count on having a nutritious lunch ready to go, or having the supplies and accessories they need. Even organizing their clothes for the next day can free up your time in the morning and ensure they won't go through a 'wardrobe episode' at the final hour.

5. Describe what they're doing. Instead of fighting back and begging them to stop, try a different approach of communication. Explain the specific situation that triggered the tantrum; for example, "You spilled your cereal and now you won't have time to eat a good breakfast before school" and then offer a solution: "I'll you another bowl and clean this up while you finish." Reducing the magnitude of the 'problem' or situation at hand can help a child see through it and make their way back to a more positive state.

6. Give them choices. If your kids give you a hard time about what they 'want' for breakfast or what they 'want' to wear in the morning, give them choices. But only a few. Allow them to make a decision within a set of parameters; for example, "You can have any one of you favorites; Cheerios, Corn Flakes or Cocoa Krispies today; which one do you want?" This gives them a chance to understand they have options, and are in a position to make a decision. Open ended choices, or too many options, can be a tantrum in the making.

If back to school season is making you anxious with the anticipation of oncoming temper tantrums, plan ahead with any of these six strategies; and look forward to a more positive season!



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Buy what you need for the first day of school but don’t buy too much for the rest of the year. Some items, such as pencils and pens, might be useful to stock up on if there is a great sale. But since many stores overstock on items, you may actually be able to find some bargains by scanning for sales after the back to school rush is over.