For months, mornings were the hardest part of the day for a family from Orange Country, California.

Devin McGovern and his wife, Marlene Martinez, were battling tearful school drop offs with their daughter, Veronica.

McGovern, 46, told Newsweek that Veronica was born during the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore never attended daycare, making the first week of preschool difficult.

“Big tears; wanting mom and dad,” McGovern said. “We were told by other parents and teachers [that] it gets better, and this was normal. Then preschool became TK [transitional kindergarten ] and then kindergarten, and we still had struggles.”

Some mornings were easier than others, but many were heartbreaking. “These were not just small crocodile tears with an occasional, ‘My belly hurts’ and ‘I don’t w

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