NOTHING !!!

It’s 7:02 am on Monday and why am I at my computer instead of working?

Well……

I pride myself on never being late. 

Lisa too.

One thing we have tried to instill upon our daughters is to never be late.

It’s a trait we consider rude. 

It means you think your time is more valuable than someone else’s.

It’s something Kate lives by – but she takes it to the extreme.

Now, while Charlotte is not late to things, she will wait until the very last minute to not be late.

So, this morning I get to my 7:00am PT appointment.

               *Side Note 1 – yes, BigJimmy hurt his shoulder some time ago, rotator cuff injury.

And Of course I get there at 6:53 – always on time.

Except…… my appt wasn’t until 8:00

CURSES

No big deal, I’ll go to the Lion, it’s right next door.

               *Side Note 2 – you’ve of course read about my love of going to the grocery store, right?

CURSES AGAIN !!!

The Lion doesn’t open until 7:00

Defeated, I go home to wait until my regularly scheduled appointment at 8:00 because I didn’t want to wait outside for 4 or 5 minutes.

What am I to do with this extra hour?

               *Side Note 3 – you also read about my having all this extra time, right?

So I start thinking about time and not being late and I remembered an incident with Kate some years ago.

Remember how I said Kate took it to the extreme, this not being late mentality?

Well, it was some years ago.  I think Kate was in 7^th grade, it’s been a few years.

Back then I’d drive her to school, and we left at 7:25.

No, not 7:30 and not even 7:26 – NO – we left at 7:25

And like most mornings, Kate would give me a time check, “Dad, it’s 7:15”,  followed 6 minutes later with, “Dad it’s 7:21”.

Sometimes she’d throw in the extra, “We’re leaving in 4 minutes”.

One particular morning, she pushed the time check too far.

Now, I’m an early riser, so it’s not like she was getting me up to take her. 

Nope, I had been awake for a while, in fact, I usually got her up.

This particular morning, after the 4^th time announcement, I had had enough.

“Kate, I know what time it is – it’s ok”

She was not comforted by my calmness and the fact that by only being 9 minutes early to school, she’d be late by 1 minute from her wanting to be 10 minutes early.

After being made aware of the time FOR THE FIFTH TIME …..

I told her that enough was enough.

I made her sit on the couch for 1 minute.

Madder than a hornet, she sat on the couch and steamed.  Backpack on her lap just looking at the clock we have hanging in the living room.

After maybe 25 seconds, she expelled a breath of air in an audibly disgusted manner.

Nope, I’ll not be having that.  So I told her, “Okay – now we start the minute over again”.

The temperature in the room seemed to go up several degrees as you could feel the heat coming off of her.

After this horribly quiet minute where I knew not to make idle chit-chat, I announce, “Ok, let’s go”.

We made it to school 7 minutes ahead of time, but to her, she was 3 minutes late.

Back to present, it’s now 7:25 and I’m almost done with this post.

Now to proof and then post it for the entire world to see.

         *Side Note 4 – the entire world limited to the dozens of readers that find me.

So the early bird gets ….

NOTHING !!!

Well, nothing except my caring for your reading enjoyment.

• That Guy