What Challenges Are You Facing as Kids Are Going Back to School?

My son is starting first grade. He is such a picky eater and peanut butter is one of the only foods he likes; however, he goes to a nut free school, so what do I send him to eat daily? He refuses any kind of lunch meat. He's talking about eating jelly on bread, which is okay, but what if he gets sick of that daily? I'm leaning toward having him buy lunch, but do I think he'll make healthy choices if left to choose on his own? Probably not. Other than that, I've already bought all his school supplies and new clothes, so I'm ready.

I know this isn't the question you asked - but I have my own for you. You said this is your daughter's third ankle fracture - that worries me. What did the orthopedist say about this being the third? Couple of things come to my mind - like it wasn't set properly the first time, or there's an underlying issue or weakness with this ankle or her bones in general. Is she being treated by a pediatric orthopedist? Should you consider taking her to a subspecialist?

My now 15 yr old daughter broke her ankle when she was 6 - as a result her knee, leg and hips are out of alignment and it will impact her as she gets older. She wears down her right shoe in an odd way - and she doesn't stand straight. Apparently any kind of fracture is likely to have an impact as you age - so the thought of 3 in the same area is concerning.

I hope your orthopedist is thorough and competent - if you have any doubts go to a children's hospital and get another opinion.

Other than that, welcome back to school! (We still ahve 3 weeks here in NY...)

Compared to some of the posts, my issue seems petty. My brother who lives out of the country came home to visit for August and took my daughter out of state with him to visit with our parents and he doesn't want to bring her back for the first day of school, because it's on a Friday, and then they have a 3 day weekend so he doesn't see the point. I suppose I could have kept her home , but she only gets to see my parents every couple of years, and has only gotten to visit with her dads family twice in her life, I felt that it would have been cruel to everyone to not let her go. So I don't know when my daughter will be home and if she's going to make the first day of school or not. Like I said, petty.

And to all of the other posters I truly hope all of your kids with medical issues are OK.

That's awful!
Makes my fitting room horror stories seem inadequate now.

Extra free time, darn my life!

I hope they figure out why her ankle keeps breaking, poor thing. :(

wow....has your daughter had any physical therapy to strengthen her ankle? My son injured his at age 12....was casted for 6 weeks, wore an air cast for the next 3 months - while still using crutches....& then used an ankle wrap for all sports following that. He had PT thru the air cast phase, & then home exercises until fully-released.

He is almost 24 & that ankle is still weaker than the other leg....which is seriously an issue, because that other leg is the one that just went thru hip replacement last year! He hates it when that ankle blows....as he says, "he doesn't have a good leg to walk on".

Now for your real question: my challenge this year is dealing with learning the ins/outs of being a Band Mom. School starts at 8:15- but for band, my son has to be there at 7:30. The bus does not come until 7:25/7:30....which means I have to provide transportation. We live in a small town....so it's just a quickie drive, BUT my daycare opens at 7am - which means he's at school at least 30 minutes before Band starts. Sometimes the doors aren't even open when we get there! What a pain, & I dread winter! & at this point, I'm not ready for him to be riding in a car with older kids... & we don't have another parent close by to take him.

Boo Hoo - just call me a cry baby....:)

Scheduling, drop off, pick up, child care. I have a k and a pre-k. Pre-k gets out at 11:15, K gets out at 3 and mommy gets off work at 5! So.... K will go to the YMCA afterschool care, but what about pre-k? I don't know. Maybe I will try to take my lunch at 11 to pick up and drive her to her regular provider? But hat will be pricey, and time consuming. Maybe a daycare to pick her up, again, pricey. Maybe dad can do it? Not sure yet. But that's my challenge.

Oh, and getting the kids butts in bed early enough to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.

Oh so many things, schedules and simply the idea of going to school. We've homeschooled for years now, but this year I will have two kids in public school. Different schools, one who will be bused and one who I will have to drive to and from. Then a full 5th grade course load for my homeschooler, while keeping the 8 month old entertained, and all the joys and commitments of being 14 weeks pregnant. it should be fun, but the first week or two is certainly going to be interesting as we figure it all out.

My son has trouble with change, even when he is happy and excited about it. It is starting to dawn on him that he will be changing schools next week and we are starting to deal with an onslaught of bad behavior. I know he's just looking for re-assurance that the rest of his world is not changing, but god, keeping on top of disciplining him is wearing me out! I'm crossing my fingers that he won't give the teacher too hard a time!

My son has just been diagnosed with epilepsy, and I am so scared for him, in case he has a seizure while at school.
I think everyone has challenges, just some are more challenging I guess!

Aw, poor thing!

Well, DD is my only, she just started K today...tear drop :-(, so my biggest challenges right now are a) getting used to the idea of her growing up (I have not been taking it well) and b) finding a part time job to occupy my days & help out with our income. I have an interview tomorrow (yay!) so, hopefully the stars will align.

Sorry your about your DD's ankle issues - ouchy!

my oldest son has been getting bronchitis every 3 months. last year he missed 2 1/2 weeks of school at the start because it turned into pneumonia. not looking forward to that.

this is my first year sending a child so all is a bit overwhelming and to top it off we live super close like two blocks away so a huge change to our morning routine of an added walk. Although beneficial much different.

Sry about your daughters ankles. although not completely the same we had the challenge of our oldest a now very petite 6 yr old and issues with nursmaids elbow. her right elbow would pop out of place so many times doing suck simple things like just pulling her velcro on her shoes. Poor thing :(

My son starts middle school this year and the bus comes at 6:20 so we have to get up 2 hours earlier so change to the morning routine. I am trying to change my hours at work so I can pick him up by 3:30 instead of 5:30.

Sad news about your daughter. I hope they find a way to fix it for good so its not always breaking or find out whats causing that.