As an ‘on the go’ homeschooling mom of 8, with multiple small trips throughout the week for different activities or appointments or what not, it is very important to have a system for being able to get places on time. When you are on time, it means you respect the other person, and shows how you seriously value their time, as well as your own. It’s also very important to get to extracurriculars early enough so that you don’t waste precious ‘paid’ time. I have great respect for those who keep time, while trying to do the same myself. I always try to reach early, at the venue; whether it be an appointment, homeschool activity, or other trip. I always get comments that I am always on time even with all the kids, to the point that our art teacher texted and asked if the kids were coming, when I was only 2 minutes late! Lol! (I also have another secret reason for the past 2 years for getting to a place on time. Unless I show up early enough, it will be a challenge to park our 12 seater van! So, in effect, more recently it has become a necessity!😜)
In this post, I hope to share my secrets for being on time all the time, as well as avoiding last minute frustration…….well most of the time. 😇
I am an alarm person. I tend to set reminders/alarms throughout the day for various things. This helps me free my mind of trying to remember to do something. In general, I have a tendency to get carried away with what I’m doing unless I remind myself that I need to stop or change pace. For that very reason, I set reminders/alarms on my phone throughout the day so I don’t have to constantly ‘think’ about doing something.
I apply the use of reminders/alarms before trips, too. First, I calculate how much time we might need to get ready for a trip, adding in a few minutes margin. Example, If I am to get out at 4 pm, and I have calculated 30 minutes of time needed to get ready, I set the reminder for 1 hour before the trip and tell kids to get ready and then continue what they were doing (other than playing outdoors), once they are ready.
For us, ‘getting ready’ is eating a snack, getting clothes ready/ ironing if needed, pumping baby’s milk/ feeding, bathing if needed, changing clothes and getting any backpacks or bags ready for the trip. So in this case, I would set the reminder for 3:00 pm and then start getting ready. Once ready, I then set the reminder to 5 minutes before we need to leave. Once that is done, we go back to the task we were engaged in before, but definitely on a much less stressful note, as you don’t need to be thinking in the back of your mind that you need to get ready! When the alarm rings, we hunt for shoes, and then we are out.
As mentioned before, I love to set alarms, so that it frees my mind to do something productive, up until the alarm goes off, knowing that I am in the safe zone, and don’t need to worry about getting ready yet. So I can concentrate fully on the task at hand and then start safely with a good margin at the set time. This method has worked for me for a while now. (One caveat is if you set too many alarms throughout the day, and then forget to keep your phone on silent mode when you’re in some place that needs to be quiet, it can prove disastrous. 😁)
There are few things I constantly keep in the van and periodically renew– including water bottles (inside a small ice-chest), couple of reading books for me and kids, spare clothes, diaper bag, backpack with extra diapers and wipes, and some snacks in a cooler bag. That way, in the last minute rush, I just need to remember to get my purse, and the baby’s milk and I can safely head out. If it’s a trip I know I’ll have good time to read, I’ll also take my mobile workstation with me. I also keep a spare shoes each atleast for the smaller kids, so that soon as I realize that the toddler went in with 2 completely different shoes and sizes, I can just smile and hand over a real pair, than get frustrated at the venue!
Another thing I do after each trip, is clean the van right after we get back. I throw out the trash, dust the floor, and pack up water if it’s running low. I also replace any spare clothes I ended up using. So next trip when it’s time to head outdoors, I don’t need to spend time on these right as we are about to leave.
Even though these are simple steps, it makes a big difference for me when it comes to getting out on time. I also found that cleaning/ replacing items in the van is much easier right after after a trip (even though you may be tired) than doing it later. If you do these small steps ahead of time, you can see that it’s not that hard to get out on time.
So in a nutshell,
- Set the alarm for way earlier than the time you need to get ready, and then get ready once the alarm goes off.
- Go back to doing what you were doing before, after getting ready.
- Set the alarm for 5 minutes before actually leaving, and head out!
- On getting back, tidy up the van and get it ready for next trip by throwing out trash, and refilling/replacing any necessary supplies.
And there you go! You can avoid lots of last minute frustration, and be on time! Kill 2 birds with one stone!