The January return. The adjustment that takes ten days.

The first full week back to school in New York was this week. My son went back Monday with the expression of someone re-entering a body of water they'd forgotten was cold. By Thursday, he'd remembered the temperature and stopped noticing it.

The adjustment period after a significant school holiday is consistently ten to fourteen days. This is not a specific child's difficulty — it is the standard biological and psychological adjustment for the school-age nervous system after a period of rest and different routine.

The first week is the hardest. Everything that was normal before the holiday has to be re-established as normal. The waking time. The social dynamics. The relationship with the teacher. The content that was briefly abandoned. The child has to pick up each of these threads and re-attach them to the daily fabric.

Parents often experience the first week back as a behavioural regression — irritability, resistance, the evening crashes that had stopped during the holiday. This is not regression. It is the cost of re-entry. It is expected and temporary.

Ten to fourteen days. The adjustment is consistent and predictable. Knowing this changes how you respond to the first week's complaints.

Ten to fourteen days. The adjustment is consistent and predictable. Knowing this changes how you respond to the first week's complaints.