Having Twins is No Excuse! How To Be On Time with Kids

Tough love time.  Having kids, and twins specifically, is not an excuse to be late.  I don’t understand chronically late people.  I especially don’t understand when people are chronically late and blame it on their children.  Don’t get me wrong, the occasional late? I get it.  I’ve dealt with the giant poop just before you walk out the door.  In fact, I’ve had the triple poop back when I had 3 kids 2 and under.  It happens.  But late every time you go somewhere?  Just because you have kids?  It’s unacceptable.  Yep, tough love here.  You can get places on time with kids, and you for sure can get places on time with twins.  Here is how to (almost) always be on time with twins.

Look, I don’t think there is ever an excuse to be late all the time.  That is just poor planning. Having twins is not a free pass to never be on time.  But before I get to into this I do want to point out that there will be times you are late, especially as a twin mom.  Like I said, the double (or even a big single) poop can set you back.  In the newborn days, you might not have a schedule down.  Give yourself grace.  But do not for a second think you are clear to always be late from the moment you bring home two babies.

Is this harsh? Yes.  But quite frankly being late all the time is rude.  You are deciding that you and your needs are more important than those of the people you are meeting.  More than that you are teaching your kids that being on time doesn’t matter.  It does.  But there are ways to help.

How To Be On Time With Twins

Plan Ahead

This is one of those No kidding methods.  We all know to plan ahead.  But are you really doing it?  If you need to be somewhere early in the morning are you setting out what you need the night before?  This is the time to really work on planning skills.  Twins take work, but twin moms are made tough.  Think through everything that needs to happen before you get out the door.  Write a list if you have to. Most of the time you know when you need to be somewhere.  If you need to be at the doctor’s at 4 pm and your babies take an hour to nurse, start feeding them before 3:30.  Be logical and make the effort to be on time.

Do One Less Thing

Coco Chanel said you should look in the mirror and take off one accessory before you leave the house.  Twin moms need to think similarly.  Do one less thing before you leave the house.  I used to have this problem. I like to leave things complete, so I would try to clean up one more toy.  Or I would want to just toss in one last load of laundry, wash one more dish.  Now I do one less thing.  Being on time is more important to me than making sure every single breakfast dish is put away.  Can’t deal with knowing the cereal is left out while you drive your kids to school? Refer to the above and plan ahead better.  Or get used to leaving the little things undone so you can handle the big things.  There is time to clean up when you get home.

Bring Less Stuff

Yes, I know babies need a lot of stuff.  And yes, I know twins means double the stuff.  But you really don’t need to bring that much out with you.  Having twins and 3 under 3 taught me to streamline.  You already have to get the kids where they need to be, don’t make it harder on yourself by bringing more stuff.  That means we don’t take toys out if we don’t need to.  Sure, if we are waiting for an appointment or something we bring a couple of things.  But a trip to Target? They don’t need anything.  Same for water or snacks.  Most of our outings are just an hour or two.  They can wait.  I keep the car stocked with diapers, wipes, extra clothes, and a towel.  (Keep a towel in your car. You never know when it will come in handy.)  If I use something in the car I replace it as soon as we get home. Otherwise, all we really take is the kids.

Time It Out

I am completely serious here, time out how long it takes you to load and unload your kids.  Every phone these days has a timer and it will help so much.  I knew when Ali and Sammy were babies it took me about 3.5 minutes to get everyone out of the car, girls in the stroller, and have all of us ready to walk to our destination.  Now with practice, that got faster.  But I knew to build that time into our total travel time.  With a potty training toddler, we added on more time knowing that we would need to find a bathroom as soon as we got to our destination.  Add that time to your plans for being on time.  Make the effort to know how long you take to get things done and plan ahead.

 

Make Being On Time a Priority

Being on time is about prioritizing.  Do you value where you are going enough to be on time?  Do you respect the people you are meeting enough to be on time?  Being late sends a message to your children too.  It’s a simple one, that it is okay to be late.  But is it?  When you have a job you need to be on time.  Being on time also shows that you respect yourself.  So you need to decide, what do you want to hold as a priority?

Look, I totally understand that being late happens sometimes.  Cars break down, kids have meltdowns, life just happens.  But it should not be something that happens all the time.  Having kids is not an excuse to be late all the time.  And for sure having twins is not an excuse to be late all the time.  Having twins can be tough, but that is your parenting lot in life.  You have to make it work.  And you will.  Because twin moms are made tough.  So stop using your twins as an excuse. Be on time.

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