So here’s the challenge all parents of young children face: how can we get out the door in the morning without our children fighting us every step of the way? Sometimes kids refuse to get dressed, don’t want to eat the breakfast we served them, or are simply too immersed in an activity to listen to us. What can we do in these situations?So to help us get there, I asked for the help of Katy Wang who is the Lower School Director at Mission Montessori (which is the program for 3 - 6 year olds). She’s been in early childhood education for the past 15 years: she has her AMI Certification in Primary Montessori (ages 3 - 6), AMI Certification for Elementary (ages 6 - 12), Masters in Educational Leadership, and will soon complete her Masters in Montessori Education.Here are just some of the learnings from the episode with Katy: Respect your child: When your child says “I don’t want to go to school”, listen to her and treat her as you would a friend. You wouldn’t ignore your friend and let them know “I don’t care, you have to go to work.” No, you would empathize with them, “Yea, sometimes I don’t want to go to work either.”Model behavior: When you get frustrated with your child, it’s ok to be vulnerable, apologize to them, and take the time to explain why you’re frustrated. Model the behavior you want your children to have.Use the “head fake” technique: If the kids aren’t being responsive, try to snap them out of it by being playful (like when I pretended the dress was eating Juniper’s head). Or, spur their curiosity, like when I asked Juniper, “I wonder what activities she’s going to do at school.”Problem solve: If your child is focused on an activity in the morning, problem solve with them to refocus their attention: for example, when Juniper was engrossed in drawing in the morning, I could ask her “where do you think is a good place to hide your drawing in a secret place so that it’s untouched until you get back from school.”I want to thank Katy Wang and Mission Montessori for being a part of our episode today.I want your feedback, questions, anything really. I just want to talk to you and the best way to do it is by shooting me a tweet at @junloayza.If you found this episode of Dad Smarter Not Harder valuable, then I ask you to please pay-it-forward by forwarding this episode to one other parent. Your recommendation to another parent is the greatest compliment you can give me. Thank you very much.