Honest - I'm Late Everywhere I Go
There are all kinds of people and mommas out there, but I'm a goer. I love to get out and get things done. When my babies are born, I always over do it because I hate staying home. While the new baby sleeps in his covered car seat, I am happy to run errands, shop, and just get out. As you know, besides the kids and my husband, I have been running a business from home for the past four years and blogging for the past two years. All of those things makes life full and enjoyable. The problem that I find about being busy and having my plate so full is that I'm late - EVERYWHERE. I've never been a super strict and punctual person, but I do love to be prepared and it feels great to be on time or even early. Unfortunately, I almost never get that feeling. I try to blame it on my phase of life, but if you invite me anywhere, just allow an extra 20 minutes. I'm very punctual with a 20 minute late arrival time - THAT you can count on.
Reasons We Are Currently Late - In General
1. A napping baby. I don't mess with Knox's naps. He isn't on a super strict schedule, but if he is napping, we stay put until he is done. Naptime is money to me and I definitely believe that the better rested the baby, the happier the family.
2. Blog (or business) related activities. I often snap some kind of outfit pic before we leave the house, which takes time. And if I'm home, I usually have a project out and orders in the works. Every spare minute gets used around here, and I usually try to stretch them too far.
3. My husband. I did not marry a man who can stick to a schedule. He does amazing things, but he needs unlimited time to do so. And he does things his own way. Like on Sunday when he did the dishes for me with Knox's help. The dishes got done and even Knox got washed - but it took a LONG time.
4. Small children related messes. Poopy diapers, peed underwear, spilled milk or juice, dumped toy boxes, lost toys, shoes in puddles, muddy clothes, and any other number of "are you kidding me?!?" events that for some reason always happen right before we leave the house. You never know what will happen next with kids!
The place that I hate being late to the most is church. Everything else in my life is pretty flexible - but church starts on time. And it's a large quiet-ish meeting. Everyone notices when you walk in late and up to the front where the only empty pews are. The number of bags you are carrying, the disposition of your children, and the higher heeled shoes that you are desperately trying to walk in are all on display as you interrupt the meeting. We have been late for church for years, but EVERY single week I vow to get up earlier and leave sooner. It is really exhausting to put so much effort into a 2-3 minute window of arrival time. (You know we aren't showing up 20 minutes early!) For months, every week I was arriving at church so angry and so short and so dang frustrated with my entire family - especially my husband. It took the whole meeting for me to get over it and by then I had practically missed the whole point of church! Talk about starting off church on the wrong foot.
A few weeks ago as we were starting off the same scenario of running late and rushing to get ready. I could feel the irritation building, and then I had the feeling to just let it go. I just decided to let go of the schedule. Trying to make it for the 9am meeting wasn't going to happen anyway, and what was ruining Sunday mornings wasn't us being late for church, it was my attitude about being late. We were already late and being mean and mad about it didn't make it more okay to be late. It was almost as if I thought being grouchy made me less guilty of the lateness - because I was blaming everyone else and making them pay for it with my bad attitude. I just let go of the frustration and kindly kept getting us ready to go. I stayed calm, helped the kids and waited for my husband. We were 45 minutes late. We missed almost the entire first meeting. In fact we just sat in the hall for the last ten minutes of it - BUT we were happy. We were all feeling good and glad to be there. Mom hadn't lost her mind and everyone had kept the peace. It was an eye opening morning.
And we are still late almost every week. And I still try to get us there on time every week. But I don't get angry anymore. It's never anyone's fault and I swear we are late for a different reason every week. But I am grateful to have figured out how to be a better example to my kids about what I believe and why we go to church. I am trying harder not to put the schedule above how I treat my family, even if it means missing half of church.
Are you as late as I am? Where do you dread arriving late? Or have you figured out the whole concept of being punctual? I'd love to hear your secrets for being on time!
PS- Did you get a chance to take my survey yet? If so, thank you so much! If not you can do so here and be entered to win the massage gift card and other fun beauty products!
