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:

1. She lost her keys
2. She lost her wallet
3. She lost her phone
4. She dropped her phone in the toilet
5. She couldn’t find her other shoe
6. Her son couldn’t find his shoe
7. Her daughter refused to wear clothes
8. She couldn’t find the baby’s binky
9. Her son spilled his cereal in his lap
10. The dog peed on the floor
11. The toddler peed on the floor
12. She sat in something wet
13. The 3-year-old changed her outfit
14. The 3-year-old changed her outfit again
15. Her daughter’s sock didn’t feel quite right
16. She had to nurse the baby one more time
17. The baby pooped on her while nursing
18. The baby spit up on her while nursing
19. She fell asleep on the couch
20. Her youngest had a tantrum
21. Her youngest had another tantrum
22. The baby was still sleeping
23. She spilled coffee down her shirt
24. Her only clean clothes were still in the dryer
25. She couldn’t find ANY clean clothes
26. The potty-training child had another accident
27. The potty-training child wouldn’t get off the potty
28. The potty-training child fell into the potty
29. Her son is playing hide and seek (and she still can’t find him)
30. The toddler can’t find her favorite lovey
31. The toddler can’t find her second favorite lovey
32. She had to chase down her runaway toddler
33. Her son would not get out of the driver’s seat
34. Her preteens were fighting over the front passenger seat
35. She locked her keys in the house
36. She had to go back in the house for the snacks
37. The 2-year-old wouldn’t get in her carseat
38. The 4-year-old tripped and skinned his knee
39. Her 3-year-old wanted to do it “by myself”
40. She tried to do just one more task before leaving the house
41. She made an emergency stop for a diaper explosion
42. She made an emergency stop to grab the lovey that fell on the car floor
43. She made an emergency stop for caffeine
44. She turned left instead of right
45. She turned right instead of left
46. She plain forgot where she was going
47. She forgot she had plans
48. She decided to slow down this morning
49. She read one more book to her children
50. She cuddled her baby without concern for the time
51. 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.