Thursday, March 22, 2012

Running late

I'm late, I'm late
For a very important date.
No time to say,
"Hello" --
Goodbye!
I'm late, I'm late, I'M LATE.

I don't remember just when I started getting annoyed at people who run late.  It may have been as a teenager during a conversation about how the same people are always late to church no matter what time it starts. In college I started setting my clocks ahead by 5 minutes so I could guarantee that I was on-time.  Even now, I know (or find out) how long it takes to drive somewhere, allow for traffic, and plan what time I have to leave the house to arrive on schedule.  It's just part of who I am.

However, I'm still amazed at how many people don't have a good grasp of time.  Since we just went through the whole "Spring Forward" time change a couple weeks ago, I still hear people blaming the change for their lateness.  Or, a personal favorite excuse is the "It's just so hard to get everyone ready by 9 o'clock.  (Don't most schools start by 9?  Aren't most people at work by 9?)  I've heard parents blame their late arrival on waiting for the kids to get ready.  Those same kids claim they had to wait on their parents.  Many people simply underestimate the time it takes to drive to their destination and can't understand how their 20-minute drive couldn't be accomplished in 10 minutes.

A couple years ago I came across an article that put it all in perspective.  I love the formula given to figure out how long it takes to get ready and out the door.  Basically, allow 20 minutes for a baby, 5 minutes for a child, 10 minutes for a teenager, and 15 minutes for parents.  So, if you use the formula, my family consists of 1 baby, 3 children, 2 teens and 2 parents: 20+5+5+5+10+10+15+15=85 minutes.  

My first thought was that there is no way it takes us an hour and a half to get out the door.   Then I started observing.  You know what, the formula is pretty spot-on!  If our family needs to go someplace and we are starting from square one with everyone changing clothes, putting on shoes, gathering diapers, loading into the van, etc., it is about 90 minutes before we pull out of the driveway.   Now obviously this isn't a hard and fast rule.  If I need to run a quick errand with my toddler and we're both  dressed, I have my hair and make-up done, he has a clean diaper, then we don't need 20 minutes (let alone the 20+15 indicated by the formula) to put on shoes, grab the diaper bag, and walk out the door.  Still, this one little trick has helped our family get where we need to be, when we need to be there and often with time to spare.  Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Hello, is anyone there?

Over the past couple weeks I've noticed a huge surge in blog views.  I figured that was great, until I noticed that most of them were from Google searches.  Plus, when I realized I lost my GFC widget, I'm wondering if I've completely lost all my followers and am going to be cyber-babbling to myself?  So, if you're out there reading this, PLEASE let me know!  And I'd love it if you followed me via Linky Followers or Bloglovin. :)

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Now on Bloglovin

So, if you notice the "Join the Classroom" box over there  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
you might notice that there's nothing but an empty space (or is it just showing up that way for me?). 
It seems that even though I have a .blogspot address, I was a victim of the "no more GFC for non-blogger blogs" fiasco.  I realize that I don't have many followers, so I can only build up.  But, if by some miracle you are seeing this on your blogroll or just happened across my little home on the web, I would love for you to follow me.  I'm also trying to get Linky Followers up, but it doesn't want to let me verify my account.

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