Life with children is colorful, noisy, and full of surprises. They laugh, argue, cuddle, and play. They cry and dawdle, and sometimes doors slam. Children regularly challenge us, especially during developmental phases or when they show their temperament. For parents, this means continually adapting to the child and their development. But most of the stress does not come from the child, but from the many tasks in our everyday life: work, household chores, cooking, cleaning, shopping, appointments, and visits. A relaxing afternoon then quickly turns hectic when a dentist visit is approaching and the child prefers to play. The teeth are still not brushed and the favorite toy has suddenly disappeared. The clock is ticking and patience is running out. »Because of your dawdling, we are now late for the dentist.« Sentences like these slip out when our nerves are frayed. But with them we only put children under pressure, because punctuality is the responsibility of the parents alone. It is best to prepare your child in good time for an upcoming appointment. Better not to say: »You can play for a while, but then we have to brush our teeth«, because children don’t understand what ›for a while‹. Only through clear time statements like »In ten minutes we will brush our teeth« do they develop a sense of what ten minutes or half an hour mean. Support your child with an egg timer, a sand timer, or by showing them on the clock how much time is left. Be sure to keep to your agreements and involve your child in the preparation. For example, the child packs their favorite toy in the backpack, or you write a shopping list together. Small children are usually very motivated to help their parents. When shopping, your child learns numbers almost in passing by putting two cucumbers or four kiwis in the cart. This way, the next appointment or grocery shopping might begin a little calmer and with less stress.