Why I'm Late to Work

My Daily Goal:  To leave the house by 6:55am; drop Parker at Kari’s at 7:10am, and get to Steward School by 7:45am (when my work day starts). School starts for Ainsley at 8:00am. This is what happened today, which unfortunately is more our standard routine than not. 

5:15am – Alarm goes off.

5:22 – Get out of bed.

5:23 – Get in the shower.

5:33 – Get dressed.

5:36 – Apply make-up.

5:42 – Make bed.

5:43 – Check phone for missed text message; read funny Facebook post.

5:46 – Let dogs outside.

[for the past 2 weeks we've been babysitting my parent's lab, who is basically a clone of our Dixie]

5:47 – Run outside to see why dogs are barking.

5:48 – Try to coax dogs away from opossum that has climbed up the smallest tree in the yard and can’t figure out how to get away.

5:53 – Finally get dogs back in the house; Ainsley has come downstairs carrying her clothes.

[We lay her clothes out each night. I still can't figure out why she has to carry them downstairs instead of putting them on in her bedroom...]

5:54 – Feed dogs.

5:56 – Turn on cartoons.

5:57 – Get breakfast for Ainsley.

5:59 – Walk into bathroom to dry my hair.

6:00 –Parker comes downstairs.

6:01 – Get breakfast for Parker.

6:03 – Argue with Parker about appropriate breakfast foods.

6:05 – Get second breakfast for Ainsley; ask her to get dressed.

6:07 – Give up on arguing with Parker and take him upstairs to get dressed.

6:08 – Parker doesn’t like the shirt I picked out. Try another one.

6:09 – Can’t find the other shoe that Parker wants to wear.

6:10 – Tell Ainsley to get dressed.

6:11 – Change the cartoon they are watching.

6:12 – Walk into bathroom to dry my hair.

6:13 – Dogs are wrestling; put them outside.

6:14 – Get another breakfast for Parker after he spills his cereal all over the floor.

6:15 – Let dogs back in house so they can clean up spilled cereal.

6:16 – Finish cleaning up.

6:17 – Walk into bathroom to do my hair.

6:21 – Half my hair is dry; take Parker to the potty.

6:24 – Give Parker treat for using the potty.

6:25 – Plead with Ainsley to get dressed.

6:26 – Walk into bathroom to dry other half of my hair.

6:30 – Turn the cartoon back on after they accidentally turn off the TV while fighting over the remote.

6:31 – Dogs are wrestling; put them outside.

6:32 – Brush teeth while flat iron warms up.

6:33 – Get Ainsley third breakfast.

6:35 – Notice that Ainsley has taken out half the things in her backpack. Repack bag and double-check for missing items.

6:38 – Walk into bathroom; forgot to turn on flat iron.

6:39 – Put my shoes, water bottle, and kids’ backpacks in the car while waiting for flat iron to warm up.

6:41 – Check upstairs to make sure lights and fans are turned off in kids’ rooms.

6:43 – Dogs are barking; let them in.

6:43:30 – Put the dogs back out when I realize they have muddy feet.

6:44 – Dry dogs’ feet.

6:46 – Brush Ainsley’s hair.

6:49 – Console Ainsley after hair-brushing-meltown.

6:51 – Ask kids to put on their shoes - it's almost time to go!

6:52 – Walk into bathroom to finish hair.

6:57 – Hair is finished.

6:58 - Yell at kids to put on their shoes. 

6:59 – Search for missing shoe that was there just a minute ago.

7:01 – Find missing shoe; tell kids to get in car.

7:03 – Give dogs a treat; tell them not to destroy anything.

7:04 – Parker doesn't want to leave; carry him to the car.

7:05 – Buckle Parker in car; ask Ainsley to buckle herself.

7:06 – Go back in the house to find Parker’s blankie.

7:08 – Go back in garage to find that neither kid is buckled; they are fighting over a happy meal toy.

7:09 – Buckle both kids in car while explaining the importance of leaving the house on time.

7:11 – Go back in the house for my phone; turn off lights.

7:13 – Pull out of garage. 

7:27 – Pull into Kari’s driveway.

7:28 – Get Parker into her house; chat for a few minutes about him.

7:32 – Get into car; get a snack out of the console for Ainsley.

7:33 – Leave Kari’s house.

7:45 – Traffic on 288 - we missed our no-traffic window. 

7:46 - Give Ainsley another lecture about the importance of listening to me so we can leave the house on time.

7:56 – Exit off 288.

7:59 – Tell Ainsley to put her shoes back on.

8:00 – Pull into school parking lot.

8:01 – Get Ainsley out of the car and start to walk through the parking lot.

8:02 – Turn around and go back to car; forgot my phone.

8:05 – Walk into school and get a late pass from Ms. Dunville.

8:06 – Kiss Ainsley goodbye and shoo her down the hallway to class.

8:07 - Try to ignore the stares of the teachers who know that, not only is my daughter late to school, but I am also late to work.

8:08 – Walk into my office and wonder why I can’t get to work on time.

We'll try again tomorrow...