Preschool says my 4-year-old is cheerful, cooperative, and having a good day. Then she gets home and suddenly everything is wrong.

I already bring a snack for pickup, keep the first part of the evening pretty simple, and try not to ask her a million questions about school. Even then, one sibling sitting too close or asking for the wrong toy can set her off.

I'm not expecting her to come home perfectly cheerful. I just feel like there's a very sharp difference between the kid her teachers describe at pickup and the kid who walks through our door twenty minutes later.

If your child also seemed to save everything for after school, what did that first hour at home usually look like?