I got up at my usual time this morning and started the daily routine. About an hour later I started rousing the troops, except that today, after quite a few late nights, no one responded. I tried again with the same result. That was when I decided to leave them be and that Noon Mass would be a fine alternative to the morning I had planned.
Since I had some time to myself I was checking out a few new things on the ole internet when I came across a post about how one woman gave up saying "hurry up". Now I believe that I am the queen of hurry up because I probably say it in between every other word that I utter. Had the troupes actually gotten up this morning I'm sure I would have said it at least 10 times as we tried to get out the door.
After reading, and still having the house to myself, I started thinking about what it would be like to not have to say that at all. By that I mean, what if you never rushed around and just went with the flow, being present to every minute. I know this is the opposite extreme and after a short time I realized that it is not very realistic. At some point in your life you have to realize that there are time constraints, that you do need to be at a certain place at a certain time. Teaching your children these things is important because always being late because you didn't want to rush imposes on other people and other places in a way that is not good.
So where does "hurry up" fit in? Here are some ways that I think can help to eliminate the need for saying these words so often that they become blocked out!
* Being organized goes a long way towards eradicating the need for these words. As the mom, if I'm not on top of my game, why would my kids be? If I'm doing something last minute that doesn't really need to be done, then why won't my kids be. Darn those kids! They sure to learn what they see, don't they?
* Just because I'm organized, however, doesn't mean everyone else in the house is! Teaching the kids to be organized ahead of time (having things ready the night before, putting away their clothing and shoes so they can find them the next day, etc) is another big help.
* Realizing that there are times that really aren't as "time-sensitive" as you think they are. Sometimes there is a little wiggle room in the schedule, or it isn't a big deal if you wait an additional 5 minutes to "smell the roses". See these for what they are, a gift, and forgo the urge to hurry everyone along.
* Find a different way to get your point across instead of just using the same old, exasperated sigh of "Hurry up or we are going to be late!". To get us going in the morning, either my daughter or myself has started walking through the house giving 5 minute warnings: "Five minutes. Time to get shoes and coats on!" This has helped immensely (except for the days that everyone tunes those out, too!).
* Sometimes you just have to leave that straggler who refuses to get their act together behind (assuming, of course, that they are old enough to be left behind!). Do this a few times and I think they'll start to be a bit more accountable.
In summary, I really do think that there are proactive things that can be done to let go of that urge to always hurry everyone along. Teaching the kind act of being on time is an important one, but, as I've learned, constantly yelling "hurry up" is not the way to teach that lesson! My biggest thing right now is to stop and think about what I say and ask myself whether it really needs to be said or not. My knee-jerk reaction is to grumble and hurry, but I bet that if I gave it some thought, I'd realize that quite often I don't need to do that.
Sometimes I get frustrated when my plan changes, but this morning I realized that it was okay to let everyone chill and it ended up being a profitable morning all around. I hope you have a great, un-hurried day!
God Bless!
