Sigh....Tardies

[egoldber]

Alarms are great things! I am among the terminally punctual LOL, but my oldest is not. She sets 4 alarms: wake-up, done with breakfast, 15 minute warning, and then time to head to the bus stop. The alarms have helped so much! I don't have to nag her any more.

[pastrygirl]

We use tons of alarms in the morning, too. Two for waking up, and then several 5-minute ones for doing different tasks (dressing, brushing, etc.).

[vonfirmath]

I am very thankful DS rides the bus. It comes at 6:55am for a 7:40am school start time.

If we're running late, we just take him to school but still get him there in plenty of time.

It is MUCH more convenient for him to take the bus so that is what we are aiming for. So if we miss it, we're very close to being ready. Of course, close to 7:40a, the traffic in the school drop off lane is HORRIBLE. The traffic is worse than the tardy for me!

[bisous]

Yes to alarms! I was just telling my friend the other day that of all the features on my iPhone, I use the low tech alarms the very most!

I have alarms set for getting into the car. Unfortunately my kids have reinterpreted that alarm to mean "Oh crap now I REALLY need to get dressed" instead of "time to get in the car" and I'm working on that with them. We still haven't figured it all out. Evidently we can only be on time for school if I become super grouchy in the mornings. I'd say getting the kids off to school on time is my single least favorite time period of the day!

[123LuckyMom]

Until college I was always late to everything. In college I made a friend who was even later. Dealing with her extensive delays made me realize how truly rude it is to others always to be the one who's late, and I decided I was going to fix the problem!!! I set all my clocks back 10 minutes, and even though I knew they were wrong, I made myself abide by them. I set alarms-- old fashioned ones on my alarm clock, and if I was less than 10 minutes away from my faux departure time, I would never do that one last thing. I tried also to be hyper realistic about how long it would take me to do things, and then I'd add on a 10 minute buffer. My goal was to be at least 5 minutes EARLY to everything. I brought a book. I absolutely was able to change my ways. Nowadays I use alarms on my phone a lot, and I still always make sure I set a time for myself to leave that's at least 5 minutes earlier than I need. And now I have my phone to use while I'm waiting for the late people!!!

[ZeeBaby]

I get up at 6;15 to get myself and the kids ready and out of the door on time. DD2's bus leaves at 7:42 and DD1 needs to be at school by 8:30. I drive DD1. I use between 6:15-7 to get myself ready. I turn on the light for the kids at 6:55 and get them out of bed by 7. I found that turning on their light just 5 mins earlier gives them a chance to roll around in bed and makes it less of a struggle for me to get them out of bed. I will get their clothes together while they are brushing their teeth and washing their faces. I get them down to breakfast by 7:20. It is still a struggle to make sure DD2 gets on her bus on time, but we manage. I use an alarm as well. It really helps.

[ShanaMama]

Crap!!!! They are holding DS's report card and I got called into the principal's office because we had too many tardies this quarter. It's my fault. I just need to get up and going 5 minutes earlier for heck's sake. Yes, all he is missing is the opening prayer before announcements at the morning assembly. But rules are rules.

I think I got called to the office once as a kid. And now I get to go as an adult. This is embarrassing--I am on the PTA executive committee and a room mom. Yeesh. It's like getting a speeding ticket and you know the police officer.

Sigh.....

I know the mortification. When DD1 was in first grade her teacher asked me if she disliked coming to school. I was completely baffled until she pointed out that DD was late so often. I answered shamefacedly that I was just unable to get my act together in the morning due to pregnancy. (I consider that a semi-reasonable excuse but boy, was I embarrassed to answer that question!) She had a bus to catch, I just couldn't get her out the door on time. Now, my girls are so anxious to be on time that I have to fight them from leaving more than 10 mins early. They'd rather skip breakfast and stand outside in the cold for 20 mins. I guess they are scarred from my perpetual lateness.

[StantonHyde]

On day 3 of on-timeness. I got DD to her school so early that nobody else was there and she sat with me in the car for 5 minutes until somebody else showed up! (DS's school starts at 8, DD at 8:30) My goal is to cut the tardies in half! I can live with that. (I know myself too well to say we will never be late again!! At least DD is never tardy...)