NEED TO KNOW
Lauren Baltazar’s daughter had been crying every morning before school until Lauren came up with a creative solution
She told her little girl she’d been named the class “gate leader,” a made-up role that immediately turned tears into excitement
In an interview with PEOPLE, Lauren shares how the simple idea changed their mornings
Every morning had become a heartbreak. For days, Lauren Baltazar’s daughter would burst into tears before school, clinging to her mom’s leg and begging not to go — an all-too-familiar scene for parents of young students.
But one morning, Lauren decided to change the script. In a moment of exhausted inspiration, she told her little girl a little white lie.
“When the weekend ended and Monday came, she just started crying every morning,” Lauren tells PEOPLE. “She didn’t want to go to school. I was doing her hair that morning, and just out of nowhere, it popped into my head — okay, she cries every day at the gate. So I told her, ‘Your teacher texted me, and you’re the new gate leader.’ ”
Her daughter’s mood flipped almost instantly. The video Lauren captured that day, shared to TikTok with the text overlay “she’s been crying every morning for school sooo I lied,” shows the little girl proudly waving classmates through the school gate, smiling beside her teacher.
“Sorry not sorry!” Lauren captioned the post, a playful nod to the harmless fib. The video struck a chord online, quickly becoming a viral hit among parents who knew the struggle of morning drop-offs all too well.
Lauren says the idea came from sheer desperation. “I was stressing out. I have school myself and my older son’s in third grade,” she tells PEOPLE. “I didn’t know what to do, but after I told her about this new role, she just stopped crying. We went to school early, she stood there with her teacher, and they just let her join in. I was laughing because I hadn’t even told her teacher yet.”
Once the teacher learned about the spontaneous idea, he was fully supportive. “He was like, oh my God, yes, such a good idea!” Lauren recalls. “He said, ‘Whatever helps her come to school.’ ”
Since that morning, her daughter hasn’t looked back. She takes her gate duties seriously — and now she’s the one rushing her mom out the door each day.
Lauren Baltazar
Lauren’s daughter and her teacher
“She actually tells me, ‘Mommy, I didn’t cry today — high five!’ ” Lauren shares. “She even helps other kids who cry. She tells them their parents are coming back and that it’s okay.”
The change didn’t just ease her daughter’s anxiety. It opened up something new inside her. She began to see school not as something to fear, but as a place where she belonged.
“At first, she didn’t really have a connection with her teacher,” Lauren says. “But they clicked. She loves her teacher now — she even says before bed, ‘I wish Mr. G could be my teacher forever.’ ”
What began as a quick fix to a stressful morning became a lasting source of confidence. “She’s just happy to go to school,” Lauren says. “It made a whole 360 difference. She talks to everyone, she sits and has conversations now. She’s so social, and that makes me so happy.”
Lauren admits she never imagined such a small idea could make such a big difference. “I didn’t think that a little lie like that would change her whole mood about school,” she says. “But now I’m glad that I did it.”
For Lauren, the experience revealed something deeper about childhood — how much belonging truly matters. “There’s a lot of kids who cry at school, and it’s not because they don’t want to be there,” she reflects. “It’s because they don’t feel like they have a role. Most of them don’t just want to sit and listen. They think school will be all fun and play, so when it’s not, they feel lost.”
She adds thoughtfully, “Kids just want to feel appreciated. They have their little minds and little hearts — they’re not touched by anything harsh yet. They just want to see that they can do something, that something positive can happen, even in something they thought was boring.”
The transformation didn’t just affect her daughter — it also changed Lauren’s perspective as a parent. “I realized that kids crave that sense of purpose,” she says. “When she felt like she was helping others, it just unlocked something in her.”
And though it all started with a fib, Lauren says it ultimately reinforced empathy and honesty. “I did talk to her about the little lie,” she says. “But she didn’t seem to mind. I explained that it was so she could see how much she’s capable of, and now she gets that.”
Looking back, Lauren wouldn’t change a thing. “No, I think I would have done the same,” she says with a laugh. “If it wasn’t the gate leader role, it would’ve been something else — like helping pass out papers or assisting in the library. Just something so she’d feel useful and excited, like, ‘My teacher needs my help.’ ”
Lauren Baltazar
Lauren and her family
Her creativity resonated deeply with parents online, many of whom shared stories of finding their own ways to make school mornings easier. But what made the story linger isn’t just the viral moment — it’s the quiet beauty of a mother recognizing exactly what her child needed: a sense of purpose and pride.
“She really believes she’s helping those kids who are sad,” Lauren says. “And honestly, she is.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Now, mornings that once began in tears end in joy. “Every day she’s at that gate, waiting, ready to help,” Lauren says. “And every morning she’s the one telling me, ‘Come on, Mommy, we can’t be late — I have to be there for the other kids.’ ”
Read the original article on People
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.style.yahoo.com ’
