When my kids were little and they were enjoying an activity, as it neared time to leave whatever we were doing, I would give a fifteen-minute warning and then a five-minute warning. I found that if I suddenly said “well, it’s time to go home” I got tantrums and fighting because my kids needed time to transition. They needed time to wrap their heads around the fact that they were going to have to leave something they were liking and having fun doing. Now as adults they laugh at memories of being at the pool or park with me shouting “Fifteen-minute warning” and then again, “five-minute warning.” It was kind of awkward for me to make a spectacle of myself shouting like that but the result was no tantrums and no fighting, and cooperative kids.
