PSA: Be On Time! (and tips on how-to)

That's right: I'm doing a public service announcement. There is NOTHING I hate more than someone who is constantly running late. It's fine if its once or twice--but if people start needing to tell you that (the event) is (x-amount of time) earlier than it actually is, then you have a problem. Its not okay to chalk it up to "ohh haha, I'm never running on time." Its rude and inconsiderate. Parents of small children are the worst at this. They think that because they have a kid, its okay to show up late to everything. I'm not talking about the occasional "oh my gosh, THIS happened right before we walked out of the door." --I'm pretty sure we've all had that happen. I have TWO young kids AND one arm--yet I still get all of us ready and out the door on time EVERY time. Yes, I'm a very organized person, and of course that helps a lot--but I think parents seem to think "oh it only takes me 15 minutes to do my hair--then we'll be on our way." If a task normally takes you 15 minutes to do without kids, then plan on it taking an hour with kids. In the morning, when I'm getting ready, I cant even count the amount of times my kids come running up to me tattling, crying, or anything in between, and it stretches out the amount of time it takes me to get ready.

When Joe and I have somewhere to be, he always asks me what time I'll need to start getting ready (so that he can be sure he's ready by then and can watch the kids while I get ready). That's what a marriage is--its a partnership. Here's some steps to get you moms ready and out the door ON TIME:

1. Plan ahead. If you know the night before that you're, say, going to a picnic lunch play date, then make the lunches the night before. That way, if something goes wrong in the morning, you wont have to scramble and get food ready, therefore causing you to be late.

2. Say it takes you an hour to get ready and you're supposed to leave the house at 10:00. DO NOT start getting ready at 9:00--start getting ready at 8:00. Being on time isn't always beautiful--you may have to wake up earlier than you planned--but your friends and/or family will appreciate it. 

3. Have the diaper bag packed and ready to go at all times. I cant stress this enough. I cant even count the amount of times I've met up with friends who were late because they couldn't find (whatever it was) that was supposed to be in the diaper bag. Keep it stocked and ready for anything. If you do two diaper changes throughout the day while you're out and about, then as soon as you get home, stuff two more diapers back into the bag to replenish it. God forbid you're far from home one day without any diapers or wipes.

4. Set realistic times to meet up. If someone tries to get together at, say, 7:00 am, I say hell no. There's no way I could get up early enough to get myself and two kids fed and ready for the day at that time. If you set realistic times to meet up, you'll be more likely to stick to that time. 

5. If need be, pick your kids' outfits out the  night before. There's nothing worse than a toddler throwing a fit in the morning because she doesn't want to wear that dress. If you go through the outfit-picking-out stage the night before, then it wont be an issue the following morning.

6. Nap time. I get it--all of our kids nap. Don't set up a time to get together if its around your kid's nap time and you aren't willing to A.) skip it or B.) wake your kid up. I'll never forget the time I was stood up at the park for a play date because her daughter was still napping and she didn't want to wake her up. This was after the time we were supposed to meet up--and I was already at the park. Are you kidding me?

...If its an occasional thing for you to be late--somewhat of a rare occurrence, then that's fine. Like I said earlier, we've all had those days. If you don't have young kids and you're still always late, then you need to take a good look in the mirror and figure out what the issue is. Don't think I'm pissed at you for being late that one time. But if it happens every time--you'd better believe I'm irritated. I may or may not make it known, but here's your warning. Its not rocket science people--if I can do it, then you can too. Punctuality is key--if I rushed to get myself and my two kids up and ready for the day so that we could be on time and then you just stroll in whenever, its basically like telling me "I don't respect you or your time." ...and I don't like that one bit. It really isn't a hard concept--I'm always on time, if not early--you just have to make it a priority. :)