Back to School- An Opportunity for a New Routine

I’ve always loved the beginning of something new. Whether it be a new book, a new product we’ve developed, or the beginning of a new school year. New beginnings are opportunities for both growth and change. We’ve learned in our parenting journey that with a new school year comes the opportunity to let old habits fall away and for us to begin new healthier habits. Here are some thoughts, tricks, and ideas on using the new school year to instill good skincare habits.

• Know where you want to go- One of the best things we have started in our family is a time on Sundays to meet briefly to discuss where we are going. Sometimes this is with the kids, sometimes it’s just the parents. Make a conscious decision what routines and habits you want to instill in your family. We suggest implementing a healthy skincare routine in the morning and evening. Our kids have “five things” to do in the morning and evening, and we can simply ask them if they’ve done their five things. Pick five things that are important for your kids to get done each day.

• Ride the wave of excitement- A new package coming in the mail with your child’s name on it creates some excitement and buzz. We have found through customer feedback that when SoChok products come to the house, kids can’t wait to open them, investigate, and use them. This is a great opportunity to get them started in developing a routine of their own.

• Walk them through it- When products arrive, take some time to talk through what they have and how to use it. We learned the hard way that kids don’t intuitively know how to wash their face without using half of the cleanser or leaving the cap off a product, so it spills out. For this reason, all our products are well sealed and measured so a quick lesson and and encouraging follow-up will help kids know what to do and save you some headaches.

• Upset the Applecart- We have family friends who were renting a house and to change the patterns in their household around television, activities, and family routine, they moved just down the street. They were so committed to changing their patterns for the better that they changed their location to disrupt their current patterns and start something better. You don’t have to do that, but taking opportunity from the natural change of season, and the start of school can increase the likelihood of a new routine sticking. Things are changing anyway, so you get to sculpt what the new patterns look like. Think through realistic morning and bedtime routines that are age appropriate for your child and evolves as they develop and grow.

As this school year kicks off, we wish you a healthy transition, and healthy skin.