20 Parenting Posts That Perfectly Capture the Transition Between Summer Chaos and the Back to School Routines

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Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Aug 23, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Being a parent in the summer is incredibly challening; having to juggle an already chaotic normal routine with an extra eight more hours of kids thrown in is never going to be a breeze. Even if you've signed your little ones up for endless activities (which you, of course, have to drive them to), have hired babysitters for at least some of your busiest afternoons, or have become incredibly lax with your screentime rules, the pressure to keep your kids busy, entertained, and safe can leave parents counting the minutes until school starts up again. I confess I know a mother with a literal countdown timer on her phone!

There really is nothing quite like the first quiet morning after the kids are back to their normal routines; you finally get to finish and enjoy an entire cup of coffee and can go about your day without hearing "Let It Go" for the millionth time. It's all peace and good vibes until you remember the giant stack of forms you need to sign, the must-haves supplies list stuck to the fridge, and the twenty afterschool activities you have to put into your calendar and schedule your life around. 

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  • 01

    Screen time rules? Never heard of her.

    let me momsplain @letmemomsplain Before kids: my children will only eat organic meals. I will only buy educational toys. They will not watch any tv or have any screen time. After kids: "Here honey, take your iPad and happy meal to the living room rug and I'll put Nickelodeon on the tv for you."
    via @letmemomsplain
  • 02

    Snacks per day: 432. Sanity left: 0.

    Siobhan Thompson @vornietom. We have entered the season of no meal rules. Dessert is breakfast. Dinner is lunch. A snack is an entire honey-mustard ham
    via @vornietom
  • 03

    Every surface in my home is sticky, somehow.

    Lucy Huber @clhubes One thing I didn't realize before having kids is if you choose to do any activities on the weekends with your kids, you are also choosing for your house to be an absolute disaster for at least a week.
    via @clhubes
  • 04

    Pinterest moms, I salute you. I am not you.

    If I ever tell you "I'mma call you right back" just move on with your life WOLF
    via @parentnormal
  • 05

    Didn’t even make it to June before losing it.

    Amy Colleen ❤ @sewistwrites A cool thing about parenting little kids is that you can be trying to make a left turn into intense, aggressive traffic with poor visibility and still be required to sing at the top of your lungs, "THE ANTS GO MARCHING SIX BY SIX, HURRAH, HURRAH"
    via @sewistwrites
  • 06

    Every day is 47 hours long.

    2ORDAM ROODTY Dadman Walking @dadmann_walking my wife just grounded all kids from electronics and tv for 4 days and if you need me i'll be living anywhere else but here.
    via @dadmann_walking
  • 07

    I now understand why my mom looked tired every August.

    Karen @AntsyButterfly I love when I agree to play with my kid and he instructs me on what to do, only to tell me IG @AntsyButterfly I'm doing it wrong and I'm not playing good.
    via @AntsyButterfly
  • 08

    Who knew the pool could feel like a second job?

    SARCASTIC SM MOMMY Sarcastic Mommy ❤ @sarcasticmommy4 If you withstand 100+ degree heat to watch your child play a sport, you're automatically going to heaven. It's in the Bible. ...
    via @sarcasticmommy4
  • 09

    I’ve forgotten what silence sounds like.

    Simon Holland @simoncholland No one is full of more false hope than a parent bringing a chair to the beach.
    via @simoncholland
  • 10

    Car smells like goldfish crackers and chlorine.

    Dad and Buried @DadandBuried Get married and have kids so instead of literally doing whatever you want all the time you can be forced to schedule every waking moment of your existence around ungrateful banshees who refuse to nap and won't stop eating your potato chips.
    via @DadandBuried
  • 11

    We have officially run out of summer activities.

    Marcy G @BunAndLeggings When my kids come at me with "watch this" and do something lame I tell them to go show their dad too because if I have to suffer through this so should their father
    via @BunAndLeggings
  • 12

    Pool bag permanently lives in the car now.

    the Mom TruthBomb the Mom TruthBomb @momTruthBomb One of the most exciting things that can happen to a parent is one of their kid's activities getting canceled at the last minute. @momtruthbomb
    via @momTruthBomb
  • 13

    Summer brain has fully set in.

    Brianne M. Kohl @BrianneKohl My 8yo daughter met a girl at summer camp last year named "Internet." I said no way, that can't be her name but my daughter has been adamant. For almost a year we've been having this discussion. ANTOINETTE. I just found out her name is Antoinette.
    via @BrianneKohl
  • 14

    Labeling school supplies like I’m sending them to college.

    Raising Teens Today @raisingteenstoday Middle schoolers these days lug around 40-ounce Stanley cups like they're on a desert trek. Meanwhile, we survived on a single sip from a germ infested water fountain between classes and called it a day.
    via @raisingteenstoday
  • 15

    This is no longer a vacation — it’s a siege.

    Kristen Mulrooney @missmulrooney Every morning my 2 year old sits up in her bed and yells "HELP, I WOKE UP" and I think we can all relate
    via @missmulrooney
  • 16

    Target school supplies aisle = my Coachella.

    SARCASTIC MOMMY SM Sarcastic Mommy ❤ @sarcasticmommy4 Welcome back to school-this first week we'll ease back into it! Please bring a family pic, your fav family recipe made, a diorama of your kid's favorite summer activity & a piece of nature for a scavenger hunt. Don't forget to wear red Friday! www
    via @sarcasticmommy4
  • 17

    Bus pulling up = choir of angels.

    Two kinds of people when going back to school M
    via @parentnormal
  • 18

    House is quiet for the first time in months.

    Me, filling out multiple back-to-school forms for my kids, wondering why the school doesn't use the same forms from last year if we confirm nothing has changed. @jacana_mommy
    via @jacana_mommy
  • 19

    Missed them already… but also, freedom.

    Lunchbox the 1st Week of School Lunchbox the 4th Week of School TROPICAL TIE-DYE ROLF EDIBLE FRUIT- FLAVORED MASK K9C821 11:25 28
    via @drnicolebeurkens
  • 20

    Summer chaos: defeated. Routine: restored.

    Everyone's timeline soon... "My baby is headed back to school!" G
    via @happy_barina

Tags

school funny moms married with children summer fatherhood motherhood parenting back to school dad raising kids mom parents vacation
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