I said “just this once” to myself more times than I can count, and every time I believed it was the exception that would ruin us. There was a stretch where I did no. 4 on this list. Held the line. Told myself if I softened even one morning, I’d never get her back from it. So we held it, and the mornings got worse, not better. She stopped believing I was safe to fall apart in front of, so she stopped doing it in front of me and started shutting down in the car park instead. What actually turned it was no. 1. Starting smaller than felt necessary. Some mornings that meant the school gate. Some mornings it meant the car park, and calling that a win. For a long time it felt like doing nothing. She missed over 100 days that year. She’s at her first-choice university now. Nothing on this list is wrong on paper. But most of it is built for a kid who’s tired - not a kid whose body is stuck on alarm. Save this for the morning you need reminding which one you’re actually look...