I’ve got a question for all you moms out there: Have you ever been late?
Yeah, me neither.
Just kidding!
We’ve all been there.
We have an appointment, a meeting, an event, or just a playdate, and we want to be on time. In fact, it often looks and feels like we’re going to be on time. We’ve planned ahead. We have everything in order, and we are ready to head out the door.
But then, without fail, the inevitable happens. Actually, it seems that a good number of inevitables happen. And we’re running late, again.
Being on time is important, but honestly, there are so many unavoidable incidents that occur in the life of a mother. Getting out the door just isn’t easy when you’re also in charge of other humans.
So, the next time you’re waiting on a mom, and she’s late, know that she wants to be there on time. She tried. She really did. She just ran into trouble with the unavoidable.
Here are 51 reasons a mom might be late:
- She lost her keys
- She lost her wallet
- She lost her phone
- She dropped her phone in the toilet
- She couldn’t find her other shoe
- Her son couldn’t find his shoe
- Her daughter refused to wear clothes
- She couldn’t find the baby’s binky
- Her son spilled his cereal in his lap
- The dog peed on the floor
- The toddler peed on the floor
- She sat in something wet
- The 3-year-old changed her outfit
- The 3-year-old changed her outfit again
- Her daughter’s sock didn’t feel quite right
- She had to nurse the baby one more time
- The baby pooped on her while nursing
- The baby spit up on her while nursing
- She fell asleep on the couch
- Her youngest had a tantrum
- Her youngest had another tantrum
- The baby was still sleeping
- She spilled coffee down her shirt
- Her only clean clothes were still in the dryer
- She couldn’t find ANY clean clothes
- The potty-training child had another accident
- The potty-training child wouldn’t get off the potty
- The potty-training child fell into the potty
- Her son is playing hide and seek (and she still can’t find him)
- The toddler can’t find her favorite lovey
- The toddler can’t find her second favorite lovey
- She had to chase down her runaway toddler
- Her son would not get out of the driver’s seat
- Her preteens were fighting over the front passenger seat
- She locked her keys in the house
- She had to go back in the house for the snacks
- The 2-year-old wouldn’t get in her carseat
- The 4-year-old tripped and skinned his knee
- Her 3-year-old wanted to do it “by myself”
- She tried to do just one more task before leaving the house
- She made an emergency stop for a diaper explosion
- She made an emergency stop to grab the lovey that fell on the car floor
- She made an emergency stop for caffeine
- She turned left instead of right
- She turned right instead of left
- She plain forgot where she was going
- She forgot she had plans
- She decided to slow down this morning
- She read one more book to her children
- She cuddled her baby without concern for the time
- She decided today was a good day to just stay home
Yes, we want to be on time, we really do.
If we’re late, please extend us a little grace.
The inevitable and unavoidable are always keeping us on our toes. And sometimes, it might just be that taking care of that is even more important than being on time.