The Kids Are Back in School—Now What? A Busy Mom’s Guide to Glorious Nothingness

It’s happened. The backpacks are packed, the lunches are labeled, and after one last shoeless scramble to the door, the school bus pulled away—with all of your children on it.

You stand in the doorway. The house is... quiet. Still. Clean-ish. You hear birds chirping. Is this what peace sounds like?

You are a mom in the first week of school. And girl, you’ve earned a moment.

So what should you do now that your house isn’t echoing with snack demands, “Mooooooom” every 6 minutes, and that suspicious silence that always means something is being broken?

Let me walk you through your new temporary lifestyle: Survival Mode: Off. Decompression Mode: Activated.

1. Drink Your Coffee While It’s Hot. Just Because You Can.

No reheating. No forgotten mug in the microwave.

Just you, a warm mug, and maybe even a book or a scroll through your phone without someone asking for the Wi-Fi password for the 17th time.

This is the luxury resort experience—minus the resort.

2. Sit. Like, Actually Sit.

Take your body, which has been in motion for the past 10 weeks, and place it gently on the couch.

Not to fold laundry. Not to peel stickers off the cushions. Just sit. Let your spine reacquaint itself with back support.

Bonus points if you stare into space for a few minutes like a Victorian woman recovering from a fainting spell.

3. Watch Grown-Up TV

Turn on Netflix or Hulu and watch something with actual plot development, dialogue that doesn’t involve cartoon animals, and zero musical numbers about teamwork.

Even if it’s just 30 minutes of HGTV while you fold a towel, you deserve to reconnect with the adult world.

(Warning: you may still hear imaginary theme songs from “Bluey” or “Cocomelon.” It’s normal. It fades.)

4. Do Nothing—And Don’t Apologize for It

Repeat after me: I do not need to be productive today. You’ve been “on” for weeks. Summer isn’t a vacation for moms—it’s a second full-time job with worse hours and no HR department.

Take a nap. Scroll Instagram. Read a trashy novel. Sit in the car for 10 minutes before going inside just because it’s quiet.

This is your reset week. Not your get-it-all-done-immediately week.

5. Go to Target. Alone. With a Coffee. And No One in the Cart.

You haven’t truly lived until you’ve aimlessly wandered the aisles of Target during school hours. No tiny hands sneaking candy. No urgent potty breaks. Just you, the Dollar Spot, and 46 candles you don’t need.

This is therapy. Let it happen.

6. Shower. Moisturize. Stare at the Wall in a Towel.

You know that post-shower pause, when you just sit in a towel, hair wet, questioning the meaning of life?

Do that. It’s not wasted time. It’s a sacred ritual of motherhood recovery.

7. Don’t Clean—At Least Not Yet

Yes, the house looks like summer exploded inside it. But it will still be messy tomorrow.

Take one day (or three) to ignore the dishes, the laundry, and the floor that’s somehow sticky again. Your peace of mind increases your productivity.

8. Celebrate Your Survival

You made it through summer. You navigated vacations, playdates, screen time debates, popsicle stickiness, and 11 billion snack requests.

You deserve to be celebrated—and by you is good enough.

Grab a pastry. Order the fancy latte. Buy yourself the good chocolate and don’t hide it behind the frozen peas this time.

This Is Your Time Mom

In a few weeks, you’ll be back in the thick of it—sports practices, homework battles, fundraisers, forgotten permission slips. But right now? For this brief, beautiful first-week-of-school window?

Do less. Rest more. Enjoy the silence.

And if anyone asks what you did today, just smile and say, "I did absolutely nothing. And it was glorious."