My alarm goes off every morning at 5:00 AM. Rarely do I get out of bed at that time. This morning was one where I quickly shut off the alarm and re-shut my eyes. I was nowhere ready to be awake.
As I was walking down the steps, past the boys room, I yelled out, “It’s time to get up. We don’t want to be rushing to get out the door.”
This was responded to by one of them saying, “Yeah, duh.” Which might be the most brilliant statement I have heard so far today. They do seem to understand the idea that we don’t want to be rushing out the door, even if they do not embody it.
Yesterday I thought we were going to have an easy time of it. We were going to Chucky Cheese for a birthday party, and when I looked at the clock and saw we had eight minutes until we should be backing down the driveway and we weren’t even attempting to get socks and shoes on I panicked.
The kids responded by doing nothing. I reminded them of where we were going and why and no response. It was like I was the only person in the house with respect for the concept of time.
This morning is going to be no different. I know it already. The good thing is we live five minutes from the church. We have rarely been late. I abhor tardiness to a degree that the thought of it makes me physically ill. We can control very little in life but we can show up and we can do so on time. That is something we can control.
I am not certain our presence adds much to the church nor do I know why I rushed so much to make it to Chucky Cheese on time, but I do feel like a personal failure when we are not on time. While our presence is not necessary at any of these places we are going it will occur in a timely manner.
Being on time and completing tasks with efficient precision is important to me and characteristics I want to pass on to my children.
David Huzzard Writes 