This is no surprise to any parent who has had to replace the school bus because her little procrastinators missed the yellow one. After Mom finally gets them out of the house and has a moment to relax, they REAPPEAR at the door, "Mom, the bus was gone!"

Notice they don't say WE missed the bus, they say IT was gone. Who's fault is this? The bus driver for coming right when he was supposed to?

The best progress on this problem will come from getting the priorities straight. If the most pleasant parts of the morning routine come first, and life's regular drudgeries are left until you hear the brakes of the bus, the procrastination will only get worse. So the enjoyable parts of the morning - breakfast, comics and fooling around - need to follow getting dressed, last-minute homework, and lunch decisions. It's too easy to procrastinate if you dread the task.

Another tempting strategy is to just say, "Well, if you miss the bus you'll have to suffer the consequences." But the consequences will be a more complicated day for you or just missing school for the kids. They would suffer in the long run, but children don't often think 10 minutes into the future let alone years.

The consequences have to come in smaller amounts and at the time the choices of what to do next are being made. Here's a suggestion to make the situation a little easier. Develop a regular morning routine with the most procrastinated parts early. If dressing is always a chore and breakfast is always a playtime, then dressing first will help. Dressing first, shoes on, then downstairs for breakfast. If playtime, reading, and TV are the troublesome parts, then homework, books and papers together and ready to go must come first, then the last-minute play or read.

One mother I know uses stickers for getting each task done in order and on time every morning. Another Mom uses points on the allowance chart - one point for getting dressed by 10 minutes of seven, one for having all the items for school ready at the door by seven o'clock. Then the less crucial activities can proceed without points.

Many parents I talk to about the morning problem also offer this advice: Pay attention in the morning. A little extra appreciation for getting the morning tasks done and extra conversation and attention at breakfast, are appreciated. If your child seems unresponsive, it's still best to try out a few days before deciding, "She's just not a morning person."