Mornings before school can easily turn into an exhausting cycle of repeating the same instructions: brush your teeth, put on your shoes, eat your breakfast. When you are the only one nudging things forward, resistance builds, and the start of the day can feel heavy before anyone even walks out the door.

The end of the school year is exciting. Homework disappears, alarm clocks are turned off, and summer adventures begin. But for many children, this exciting season also brings a surprising amount of change. During the school year, children thrive on predictable routines. They know when they'll wake up, who they'll see, when they'll eat, and what to expect throughout the day. Then, almost overnight, everything changes. Bedtimes become more flexible, mornings slow down, famil