One forward-looking question before a single demand is made. Gives the brain a reason to get up. Children who resist waking up are often responding to an absence of reason to be awake. This creates one in under 10 seconds.

How to do it

1Enter the room. Before curtains, before anything: "What's the first nice thing happening today?"
2Wait. One answer. Even breakfast counts.
3"Good. That's what we're getting up for." Then start the routine.

Variations

Shrug or 'I don't know': don't repeat the question — answer it yourself out loud ("Mine's finding out if the coffee's ready") and keep moving. They usually add their own answer once yours is out there.
Close it inside the same line every time — "Good. That's what we're getting up for" — then move straight into the first physical step of the routine, so the good thing becomes the reason to get up, not a pause before it.

💡 Parent tip

The question before everything. Before curtains, before any demand. If it comes after a command, it loses its power.

What your child develops

Future orientation — a forward-looking thought interrupts morning inertia
Positive framing — reframes getting up as moving toward something rather than complying with a command
Emotional priming — a pleasant thought first changes the chemical starting point of the morning