For some families, mornings are the best time of day. The children are happy and refreshed after a good night's rest and ready to interact positively with the world around them. For others, it can be a time when chaos reigns, tempers flare and tears flow.

According to Barbara K. Polland, professor of child and adolescent development at California State University, Northridge, Calif., and author of No Directions on the Package: Questions and Answers for Parents with Children from Birth to Age 12 (Celestial Arts, 2000), difficulties in getting children ready in the morning span both cultures and continents. She has heard parents express similar frustrations in all parts of the world.

Whether your family's experience fits one extreme or the other or perhaps lies somewhere in between, there are many ways to smooth out morning routines and get off to a great start.

Problems in the morning are often rooted in the fact that things should have been done the night before. "Backpacks should be at the front door and clothes should be laid out," says Polland.

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