Not every kid is the type to barely say goodbye to Mom before barreling into the classroom each morning; many kids are quite the opposite, and though they may actually love school, they don't love being away from home, their parents, and their creature comforts all day. When Louise Mallett's youngest son was feeling apprehensive about his first-ever all-day of school, the mom came up with a genius way to curb his nervousness [2] — and her solution is something parents can use in any situation in which they're away from their kids while still fostering independence [3].

"So my littlest baby had his first all-dayer at school today, having been in for a couple of morning settling-in sessions," the mom wrote in a post to Facebook. "I could tell he was feeling a little emotional this morning, so we had a chat and came up with the idea of having a heart each and if we pressed it, it sent a hug to the other one . . . it totally worked! I drew a heart on both our hands and gave him a spare one on his arm in case the one on his hand wore off. We 'charged' them by holding hands on the way to school and when I picked [him] up I said, 'Did you get my hugs?' and he happily said, 'Yep!'"

Louise's son admitted he had to press his heart for a long time during the day but that he didn't cry at all, despite having shed tears at a few of his half-day preview mornings the previous week. Now that her little boy is all set at school, thanks to her brilliant concept, Louise let it sink in that she actually needs the hug button just as much as her son does: "Here's to many more happy days at school while I sit at home with the dog and cry that all my babies are at school now."