
When the Routine Goes Out the Window
From Sage Sisters by Anne Pizzuti and Kate Doerksen
June 9, 2026 · 60 min · Episode 84
About this episode
Kate and Anne discuss managing summer routines, handling change, and the impact of technology on attention spans.
Summer is here and routines are officially hanging on by a thread. Kate and Anne are getting into all of it this week — how to manage the schedule shift when summer throws everything off, what to do when you have a kid who does not handle change well, surviving swim season, the bedtime debate when summer hits, and why everyone in the house is just too tired right now. Plus a tech tip that stopped us in our tracks — the average adult checks their phone 200 times a day and the average teen 100 times. We are talking about what that actually does to attention spans and how small habit changes can make a real difference. Highs, lows, a truly incredible teacher story that will make you tear up, and the honest truth about how we are holding it all together right now. Spoiler — barely. Everything is not awful: Kim Rohlf, a second-grade teacher at Westwood Elementary in Ankeny, Iowa, spent months handmaking personalized quilts for every single student in her class before retiring after 35 years Tech Tip: Lower distractions. The average adult checks their phone 200 times per day, and the average teen 100 times per day. It does harm attention span although data not showing that it’s…
People in this episode
Hosts: Anne Pizzuti, Kate Doerksen
Topics covered
- summer routines
- managing change
- bedtime debates
- attention spans
- tech tips
- teacher stories
Keywords
- summer routines
- parenting
- attention span
- tech tips
- teacher stories
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Westwood Elementary, Ankeny, Iowa
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