Middle School Back-to-School Night for Parents of Preteens

With back-to-school night the night before the TypeAMom Conference, I knew I would it would be a scheduling challenge to say the least. How would I do back-to-school night with a preteen and teen in middle school with two different schedules. And then there was the packing for TypeAMom Conference? How would I get it done?

Back-to-school night in elementary school is straightforward. You meet your child’s teacher. Read a poem your child has written for you. Hear the PTA’s pitch. That’s it. Straight in to school . Get it done.

Why Is Middle School Back-to-School Night Difficult?

Middle school Back-to-School Night is an endurance race…a race to the finish…may the best man win. With a 6^th grader and an 8^th grader with two completely different schedules, it became apparent that my husband and I would both need to go Back-to-School night. Can you say scheduling nightmare?

How To Solve Back-to-School Night Dilemmas

I’m not a fan of both my husband and I going out on a weeknight. We barely go out on a weekend, let alone a week. My teen volunteered to babysit, but she has a minimum of an hour of homework per night, sometimes as much as two hours. The preteen needed to practice her clarinet. Weeknights in our house are action-packed.

A family resolution to go TV/screen free Monday-Thursday meant that the 6-year-old would have to go with us. When the teen babysits I often let the kid watch TV.

As I write this my head is spinning trying to remember the discussions my husband and I had as we worked out the details. I informed the preteen and teen that both needed to work on homework, read, play musical instruments, etc. Basically, the preteen and teen were plug free – no TV, no internet, no cell phone, etc. for Back-to-School night.

Middle School Back-to-School Night 

We left a glum, dejected preteen and teen to get busy, while the kid hopped in the car for the Back-to-School night. He brought his backpack, so that he could do his homework.

My husband and I divided and conquered Back-to-School night. The kid and I did 8^th grade.while my husband did 6^th grade. Why do I call middle school Back-to-School night an endurance test? Parents follow their preteen’s schedule which means my son and I changed classes 6 times.

The highlight for me was that my husband and I solved the problem of how to accomplish back-to-school night for two kids. My son was happy as a clam getting to snack on all the PTA fundraiser snack samples. Win!

When using her mom calendar for good not evil, Jill blogs about raising a kid, a preteen, and teen on Musings.

Related posts:

1. School is a different world for preteens
2. Preteen and the Middle School Locker
3. Help Your Child Transition to Middle School
4. Preteens and a Day Off School
5. Preteens Are Helpful