Wednesday, February 11, 2009

time and tide

"They" say that


and

wait for no man.



The Middle Carrotstick gets it -- the whole Time thing. He hates being late. He gets so cross with me when he is not 25 minutes early for school. ("Come on, Mom!" is our weekday morning mantra. If he could drive himself to school, he would.)

Whereas, the Oldest Carrotstick is a whole 'nuther story. She has absolutely no concept of time.

We have renamed her. She is now known as Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Czech-o-Slow-Poke-ia.

Because she really, truly, thinks that Time and Tide should, and will, wait for her.

Arrgh!!!!!

Any tips for dealing with the chronometrically challenged?

9 comments:

Head Nurse or Patient- you be the judge said...

Can't fight genetics-

And Middle Carrot stick can come live with us- I HATE to be LATE :)

Kellye said...

I think that people who really value time are the people who feel loved by people spending time with them. Therefore wasting another persons time seems like a big deal to them. I have a sister who is chronically late and couldn't care less about who's time she is wasting. We have started telling her that things are an hour earlier than they actually are. She is still usually late, just not as late. We have also realized that we just have to leave, or start without her. If she misses it, it is no one's fault but her own.

Allyson said...

I wish I had words of comfort and wisdom for you at this time but sadyl my concept of time, as Shem could attest, would be closer to that of Her Royal Highness.

Amber said...

The Love and Logic solution would be to let her take as much time as she likes. No complaints. No problem. Just let her know calmly when the car will be driving off or some event will start. No reminders. No lecture. No emotion. Just a big dose of empathy if she ends up missing something important or has to walk in the snow. A comment such as "That must be hard to be so cold. Would you like some hot cocoa?" The big trick for this to work is to extend empathy and very few other words, if any.

Did you ever see one of my children chasing our van a few years ago? After a few times, my child figured out that the van really would leave. Bummer.

Everyone is much happier.

Kellye said...

Hey Amber do you think that would work with Jon?

Jeanne said...

I'm not much help. It made me giggle to read your post.
My thoughts: I have a sister who is OBSESSED with being on time to the point of a breakdown when she is 5 minutes late. There's got to be a happy medium.
and...
your daughter is very beautiful and in this picture I can see how much she looks like you. What a lucky girl!

Amy said...

Good luck there. I find I'm on time to some things..family related,(they tell me to be at the house earlier than I need to be, knowing I will be at least 15 min. late). or even work related different story. I think it depends on what I CARE about being on time for.

Shem said...

I had a roommate who was constantly late to everything. Her dad gave her some advice. He said that the message you send to others when you are late is that you are more important than the person waiting for you. This worked for her, for a while, as she did NOT want to offend others.

Now, if OCS thinks she is the Queen Bee, as most teenagers do, this may not work at all.

Good Luck!

Heather said...

I agree with Amber's advice. I think that will really help...I know it's going to help at my house now, because I'm trying it out! Amber...you really know how to do things! My suggestion is changing the clocks...we set ours ahead a little and it helps some. My alarm clock is 20 minutes fast so I'll think I'm sleeping in just a little. The clocks in my kitchen, living room, and car are 3 minutes fast, so we can make sure to be on time to school and church. It works for school, but not for church so far this year. We're still adjusting to the 9 o'clock schedule. We were only 5 minutes late today, though. Maybe I should set that clock to 8 minutes ahead instead of 3!