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"Please go brush your teeth, get dressed and brush your hair." These are familiar morning requests that parents make to preschool and school-age children.

Also familiar are the reminders that often follow to get your child to complete these tasks: "Are you getting dressed? Did you brush your teeth yet?"

But fear not, parents. I have been studying the development of how young children think about the future for almost 20 years, and my research suggests that young children are forgetful and often delay necessary and important tasks.

If morning routine behavior is frustrating you, it may be helpful to know 3-year-olds struggle with remembering what they had to do in the first place. Four-year-olds are much better at remembering what they have to do, but are not very good at carrying out their intentions at the right time.

Even though 4-year-olds can easily report what they had to do, they often forget to actually do it.

How can parents support children's ability to remember their intentions and create routines that are easier for children to follow?

Research suggests it can help to modify children's environment by making cues more noticeable and reducing the difficulty of ongoing activities. This could mean arranging where items are stored so children can notice and easily access them and not asking a child to do something when they're occupied with another task.

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