It's time to brush teeth

Morning with three kids all headed to school used to mean we were the soundtrack. Brush your teeth. Shoes on. Then again from the hallway. We were trying to keep everyone moving and watch the clock at the same time, and somehow the door still felt like a scramble every day.

So we handed those two cues to the smart speaker. At 8:52 it says, “It’s time to brush teeth.” At 8:58 it says, “It’s time to put on shoes.” Whatever speaker you already have in the house works. Same words, same times, every school day, and we do not have to be the ones saying them.

We are not nagging from the hallway anymore. The speaker is. That takes the edge off for us, and it takes some of the chase out of the morning for them too. They hear the cue and they move, and we get to stay a little calmer while we are also trying to get out the door.

It is only two announcements, but mornings feel smoother when the reminder is not coming from a parent who is already half out the door themselves.