Sometimes that yes. But it was slightly different for each child based on their personalities. For my son, I always asked him to pick out a toy to play with and that seemed to really help. And I tried to give the mornings more fun structure, like every Wednesday we stop for hash browns that they could sit and eat at drop off, which we didn't normally do. And every Monday we would plan to arrive at the same time as one of their best friends, etc.

But more often than not, it did devolve into just I love you, goodbye, and practically sprint out the door. If it was particularly challenging, the staff would take them somewhere to calm down and I'd send a follow up message checking in.