Please Be on Time (at least when you are going somewhere with me)

I am NEVER late...and I'm almost ALWAYS 10 minutes early. If I'm not early...you should probably call me to see if I'm okay (you know, make sure I wasn't in a car accident or check to see if my kids don't have me locked up in the basement). I think this stems from always being late growing up. My mom (sorry Mom-you know I LOVE you) has a small problem with time management so we were usually running behind. Granted-if I had 5 kids I would probably have a harder time getting places on time too. It actually drives my mom crazy most of the time that I am always 10 minutes early (ie: I said I would be over to drop off my kids at 7:00 and when I show up at 6:50 and she is still not dressed...but really-was she going to be dressed with her hair and make-up done in the next 10 minutes...probably not).

I have gotten a little better over time (I now show up at school at 2:40 to pick up Katie instead of 2:20-even though she isn't done until 2:50). Yet it has gotten even easier to be early now that my kids can get their own shoes and coats on (I don't have to build 15 minutes into our exit plan to allow for getting them ready to leave the house or buckling them into their car seats).

I think the thing that bothers me the most about people who are late is that my time is valuable too! I understand that there are legitimate reasons for running late (my car battery died, my daughter threw up before we left the house) but I still feel that most of it is poor time management and a lack of respect for other people's time (sorry to offend people here but I have to get this off my chest)! I am a busy working mother too and nothing annoys me more than working my butt of to get somewhere on time just so I can wait for someone else to meet me wherever we are going!!