Celebrate National Working Parents Day with CareerBuilder’s back-to-school parent hacks

September 16 is National Working Parents Day and if you’re a working parent, CareerBuilder salutes you. In honor of the day, we asked our hardworking employees to share their best tips for getting their kids out the door and off to school without (too much) drama. Here what they’ve got to say to help you and yours start the school day the right way.

Time travel

“Teenage ‘get out of bed’ hack edition: I set the clocks ahead 10 minutes in my boys’ rooms to help prevent them from being late. I also like to use our Google Home to set fun songs (mom’s choice!) to play just in their bedrooms to get them up! Also, I set the alarm clock across the room so when it goes off, they have to get up to turn it off!” — Emily Savage, social media strategist

Space, the final frontier

“During this summer break me and my kid have covered many superhero movies. Adding to his imagination, we both will be going on vacation to the Moon provided he is up for school every day. Now with each passing day, his excitement level is increasing. On the flip side, I am wondering what he will do with me on ‘D day.’” — Vishal Saxena, QA manager

Leave it at the door

“This isn’t exactly a hack, but the main thing that keeps us sane is simply preparing the night before – making sure shoes are located and set by the door (Why are they always hiding in random places?!), homework/books are in backpacks, and we know what’s going in lunches. These are the three things that cause us stress in the morning, so taking care of them the night before leaves some breathing room for the morning. – Katie Hathaway, HR operations analyst

The heel-toe express

“My husband tells the kids they will miss the bus if they don’t get going, and it’s a loooooong walk to school with those short little legs! That usually does the trick!” – Liz Johnson, manager, HR operations

License to drive

“To motivate my very slow-moving teenage son, I told him he needed to be up, ready, and out the door by 6:50am in order to drive himself to school. If not, he had to ride with Mom and little brother through the carpool line to high school/middle school drop off. It worked!” — Robin Castro, sr. talent acquisitions specialist

Tech talk

“For us it is having the clothes ready the night before bed on time and backpack and all things by the door and ready to go. Plus, a little threat of, ‘If you are not ready and out the door on time you will lose technology privileges for the day.’ (This is the one that works the most — well that or the bribery of candy!) — Jacklyn Dean, manager, client support

Head on over to our social channels on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to share your best back-to-school #parentinghacks. And if your career needs a boost, check out our back-to-school giveaway and enter for a chance to win one of 10 free professional coaching sessions courtesy of CareerBuilder.