Do ‘kids’ and ‘time management’ ever belong in the same sentence?
I am a working Mum and no doubt the hardest part of my work day is getting the kids out of the house on time, without fighting or tears. Today was a free dress and crazy sock day for my 4-year old, Tyler, and we were going well, on our way to being out of the door by 7:30am.
T-20 minutes
Out he comes dressed in shorts, mismatched socks, T-shirt and a very fashionable shirt over the top. I was impressed, he was smiling, I was smiling, the dog was even smiling. This is going to be a good day.
T!!
He comes back out, but this time in tracksuit pants and a jumper over his t-shirt and shorts. It’s 25C and the sun is beaming. Calm debate ensues for 3 minutes on thermal dynamics and their impact on legs, before he has an ‘aha’ moment and tells me the blue shorts are way cooler. Off he trots. I finish racing around the house, wrangling the 7-year old off the TV, pulling out the wet socks from his bag and tripping over the numerous random shoes lying in an obstacle course through the hall.
T+15 minutes
Tyler comes back to me in his shorts – hallelujah. Then he looks up at me and as we lock eyes I knew he was about to stitch me up. “Mummmm I don’t like these socks. I want to wear your cool socks”. The standoff number 2 gets to a few seconds before I decide to just grab him, along with my pink socks with avocados on them. I can’t afford the alternative 5 minutes of the dreaded begging and pleading. I’m sweating, the dog is refusing to go outside and its 7:45am. Time to go as I hustle everyone out the door – we can do this!
T+17 minutes
I’m at the finish line, the door handle is in sight when I hear that word that on some days fills me with love and on others, like today makes me grit my teeth in frustration… “mummmm”. I whirl around and silently beg to the gods that he’s going to just tell me I’m the greatest mum in the world but nooo.. the 4-year old fashionista has decided my avocado socks just ain’t cutting it in his high-end world. Oh no you don’t I mutter under my breath as I grab some white socks, chuck them in his bag and quickly usher the boys outside.
T+20 minutes
20 minutes late, but not bad in the scheme of things..
As busy parents, time is the cornerstone of our lives. We use it when deciding whether to rationalise or yell, when we’re looking up meal options for dinner, or when we lie in our beds at the end of the night and wonder how quickly they’re growing up.
The proud look on his face when he rocked up to see his friends in his pink avocado socks, blue shorts and red t-shirt made those extra minutes worth it and the hug I received filled my heart with all the love. Walking back out of the gate I almost made it before Tyler shouted out that he wanted his white socks.
Hmm, how much more time do I spend on this? 😊
Carla.