Rethinking Back-to-School: 5 Lessons (and Oreo-Gate) | E213

Rethinking Back-to-School: 5 Lessons (and Oreo-Gate) | E213

September 2, 2026 · 37 min · Episode 213

About this episode

Andryanna shares five lessons learned from her experiences preparing for the school year and discusses the Oreo-gate debate.

After many first days, forgotten water bottles, uneaten lunches, chaotic mornings and three very different kids, Andryanna is heading into this school year with a different goal: preparing less for the perfect first week and more for a sustainable school year. In this episode, she shares five back-to-school lessons she’s learned along the way, including what recent conversations with parenting and education experts have changed about her approach. She also weighs in on the viral Oreo-gate debate and shares the hilarious story of her own kindergarten lunch wake-up call. In this episode: Why the same routines and expectations won’t work for every child; Creating systems that work with the kids you have; Supporting independence without becoming your child’s personal assistant; Asking what might be underneath behaviour before jumping in to fix it; Why protecting confidence matters, especially for kids who receive a lot of correction; Navigating siblings, different needs and the reality that fair is not equal; The difference between advocating for our kids and removing every uncomfortable experience; Andryanna’s take on Oreo-gate and what her own lunch-box experience taught her about…

People in this episode

Host: Andryanna Gonko

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Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Back to School Routines - Visual Task Charts for Kids

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