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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning. This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is to keep shoes by the door.

Getting out the door in the morning can sometimes be challenging, but there is no reason to be delayed by misplaced necessities.

So I've been doing a lot of interviews lately as I'm doing publicity for my upcoming book, Big Time.

We often talk about schedule issues and where time goes awry.

One of the most common pain points people ask me about is getting out the door in the morning.

The usual assumption is that if you have kids, and particularly if you have a lot of kids,

then there will just be general chaos. A frequent example of why you are running late is that a kid can't find

a missing shoe. Now, I will admit that we sometimes run late and have rushed mornings as well.

I don't think anyone is immune to that.

But I do find these questions interesting because in my house, we are almost never missing shoes.

We have plenty of other problems, but not that one. This is because people under the age of adulthood

are required to take off their shoes the second they come in the house

and to leave said shoes in the mudroom by the door. If any everyday shoe is ever found elsewhere

in the house, it will be immediately returned to the mudroom. Now, guests and adults can do whatever

they want. But my husband and I tend to follow the mudroom rule as well.

This taking off your shoes by the door habit has been done so often and for so many

years that my children automatically take off their shoes when they enter anyone else's

house as well.

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