Running On Mom Time

RunningOnMomTime

Since becoming a mom to my two little guys (a preschooler and 6-month-old), I seem to have a chronic tardiness problem. I mean we are late pretty much wherever we go. My husband mentioned something about it the other day. I stammered and tried to deny it, but I knew he was right. Ugh. Why was it so difficult for me to simply arrive somewhere at the correct time?

I like to think of myself as a reasonably organized person. I take pride in being responsible and respectful and hope to instill these qualities in my children, too. But for some reason, even when I started preparing hours before our planned departure time, I found myself rushing out the door with my hair only half blow-dried, frantically grabbing for my keys and cell phone, yelling at my 3-year-old to “HURRY UP!” Frankly, it was embarrassing, I hated myself for yelling at him when I knew I was the one who needed to make a change. So I decided to make a list of actual reasons we had been late recently:

Reasons We Were Late :

3-year-old would not put on pants

3-year-old locked me out of the house

Forgot diaper bag (this happens approximately every other day)

Overslept due to tiredness from baby waking up 8 times during the night

Bumped into garage door sensor when unloading stroller and garage door would not close

Had to go back for extra underwear because of potty-training accident

Baby had diaper explosion at the exact moment I was loading the kids in the car

Pulled over to feed screaming baby in the car

Favorite Paw Patrol toy was missing

Stopped to take iPhone pictures of cute child in car en-route (not while driving, people!!)

When I looked back at the list, I had to laugh. A few of the reasons were downright ridiculous! I also saw a common theme: many of the reasons were out of my control (not the cute kid iPhone pic, I know). I had to accept that no matter how organized I am, situations out of my control are always a possibility, especially with two littles. I wish I could say I haven’t been late or yelled at my son to hurry since I had that realization. That’s not true at all. However, I will share a few of my secrets to adapting when you’re a chronically late and sleep-deprived mom like myself.

Stash diapers and underwear everywhere– Yes, I have a diaper bag for those items. I will inevitably leave the diaper bag at home, at the church nursery, or in our other vehicle. For that reason, you will also find several diapers and pairs of Spiderman underwear stashed in my purse, under my car seats, and in the basket of the stroller.

Hats– For you and the kids. This is one of my secret weapons. Rushing out the door, you realize you haven’t brushed your hair or your kids’ hair. Throw on that ball cap and your favorite yoga pants and suddenly you’re not the unshowered, slovenly mom, but the sporty mom who just finished working out. An adorable fedora will hide your child’s unbrushed hair, as well.

McCollumParkCoffee I feel like this should be obvious, but if you have a drive-thru coffee place nearby, swing by there real quick on the way to your destination. This will not cause you to arrive any earlier, but if you are going to be late anyway, why not grab a coffee and help yourself to feel less tired when you arrive?

As you can tell, I’m still a work-in-progress in terms of punctuality. I will more often than not show up to the meeting 5 minutes late with at least 1 child in tow, but I’m learning to accept that unpredictability is a part of motherhood. Now if I could just find my keys!

 

Lauren Davis
Lauren and her husband Dan live in El Dorado with their two boys (born 2011 and 2014). They have added a goldendoodle, a hedgehog and two cats to their family in recent years and are expecting a daughter to join their crew at the end of 2020! She is an elementary school secretary, a member of the Junior League of Wichita and the Tri-County CASA Board of Directors. Lauren spent much of her childhood in Lawrence, Kansas and moved to El Dorado about ten years ago after her husband graduated from pharmacy school. She gets by on a lot of coffee and loves all the messy, fun, wild and wonderful parts of being a mom.