From one parent to another
Have you ever barked out:
Go Time: 8:20.
True story:
I had asked my son to brush his teeth while I did the dishes. A minute later, I still could not hear the electric toothbrush, so I went to find out what was taking so long.
He was standing in the bathroom, toothbrush forgotten in his hand, staring up at the light above him, perplexed.
“How can a lightbulb burn so brightly without burning up?”
He had forgotten what he was supposed to be doing—but only because he was completely absorbed in a genuinely thoughtful question. That kind of curiosity is truly valuable, and something I want to nurture. At the same time, we still had to get through the morning and leave on time (!!)
But that moment lit up a bright idea for me too:
Another (stern) reminder was not the answer. I needed something that could keep the next step visible and gently bring him back to it—without requiring me to repeat instructions from room to room or turn every distracted moment into a conflict.
The starting point came from an occupational therapist. She suggested making a physical routine board with push-button LED lights — the kind made for drawers — so our son could switch on a light each time he finished a task. We built it, we used it, and it helped. She deserves the credit for that original idea.
But after a while, the same board and the same lights stopped being interesting. That was when another light went off in my head: what if the buttons lived on a tablet, and what appeared on the screen changed every time?
Instead of fighting a continual need for novelty, the routine could meet it with something light, safe, and designed not to pull him into endless screen time. Each completed task could bring a small moment of discovery, making the routine itself continually rewarding.
That leap became TacTacGo. The occupational therapist gave us the foundation; I turned it into a dynamic tool our family could use every morning. It keeps the next step and the time visible, and changes the reward often enough to stay interesting.
TacTacGo cannot perform magic. The second sock still disappears, and an interesting question is still an interesting question.
But the app carries more of the routine, so I can spend less time being the voice that interrupts it.
Our mornings are now noticeably better. Both of my children still love using TacTacGo every day, even after more than a year.
My mission is to help more families start the day with less conflict—so children arrive at school feeling positive and ready to learn, and parents begin their workday feeling good about how the morning went.
Give it a try—it’s free. I believe it can make a real difference for your family too.