I’ll be right back.” She eventually stopped needing the announcement every time.

Then one afternoon she spent almost an hour painting at the dining room table while I worked in the next room.

When I came to check on her, she looked up and said, “I’m okay, Mom.

You can finish.” It was such a normal request that I nearly cried.

Dr.

Patel encouraged us to make routines predictable without making them rigid.

We chose a bedtime ritual: two stories, a drink of water, and three things that had been good that day.