Time management fail

Today when I picked Alby up from nursery, ten minutes late as I got caught up in a phone call with work, I was given a slip of paper saying “It has come to my attention that some parents are not collecting their children at the correct times.  Please can you make sure that you arrive to collect your child at either 12:00pm or 3:00pm.  Parents who continue to arrive late will be charged for an extra session.”

Oooh, not good.  Serious Mummy time management fail.

My work day officially ends at 3pm, which is also the time that I am supposed to collect Alby from nursery.  With the nursery just a short walk from my front door, in theory I can leave my desk at 2:55pm and still be at nursery to collect him on time.

In reality however, at 2:55 I look at my computer and think “time to go”, I then move some papers around, look for my shoes, put on my shoes, think about whether I need a coat, find a coat, decide whether to carry Alby in the carrier or push chair… and I’m probably not getting out of the door for another ten minutes at the very least.

I am an expert at trying to do a hundred things in the time I have to do ten.  I marvel at people who are punctual.  It’s one of the many traits of that Mark has which make me sit back in wonder (well not sit back, rather run around like a headless chicken in wonder).

I’m not good at criticism.  Not at all.  That’s not in anyway to say that I think I’m perfect.  Far, far from it, I feel my faults very keenly and spend a lot of time seriously chastising myself for them.  And so, when somebody else criticises me it’s like the volume has been turned up in my head and what I thought was “bad” is now “horrifically terrible” and I am a hopeless failure.  The result is a bit of an internal emotional drama – I get defensive and grumpy for about half an hour, and then the determination and motivation kicks in. 

And that’s where I’m at now, and it’s a fantastic high to be on.  All this week I have been working out in my head how to structure the days – how to make sure that I can get through the housework, my job and still have quality time with Alby and Percy.  This is my second week into the deployment and my first week at home.  Little tweaks are being made all over the place and I’m actually grateful to the nursery for pointing out my chronic lateness because it helps to shape the bigger picture and adds to the kick up the arse I was halfway through giving myself.