Tuesday, April 17, 2007

No Concept of Time

I tease my husband that he operates on his own timeline. He ALWAYS underestimates how long something will take. Our little joke now is that when he tells me something will take "20 minutes," I make him clarify if that is 20 minutes in his time, or according to the clocks used by the rest of the free world. My children have apparently picked this up from him.

When we go to the playground, a birthday party, Barnes & Noble, etc. I try to give the children a 5 minute, 3 minute and 1 minute warning before we go. Without exception, when I announce that we have "5 more minutes" the children say, "Noooooooo! 2 more minutes!" I get the same response with each subsequent warning. My mother-in-law pointed out recently, that perhaps because Time Out is 2 minutes, that seems like the longest time they can imagine. Makes sense to me!

Yesterday, I explained to the children that Mommy was going to go on a trip with Daddy for a couple of nights soon (more on that later). K replied with her standard: "But, but, but, I want to go WIFF you on your twip."

When I explained it was just for grown ups, P started crying (a very fake, but quite dramatic cry). R, who was sitting next to him, started patting him on the head and said, "It's OK, P. Look! Mommy's back al-weddy!"

9 comments:

keri said...

rusty is the same way with time (although he would definitely disagree with me!). he will say something happened a few months ago when in reality it happened like a year ago! too funny. looking forward to hearing about this "twip" you are going on!

Military Mommy said...

I thought my husband was the only one that did that! ;)

Michelle

Perri said...

Jen, that is so sweet. I love the way they comfort each other.

Sarah said...

We used to tell my sister a time about 30 minutes earlier than the actual one, if we all had to be somewhere. She was--and still is--notoriously late. It used to drive me crazy, but now it just makes me laugh. Her poor husband :)

Girl Raised in the South said...

I still remember Sarah calling ears "e-uus", so jot down somewhere your kids' pronunciations of little words. You'll treasure them someday. I've also decided there are two kinds of people, the on time, and the need more time, and they usually meet, fall in love and marry...

Erin said...

How cute!!! I love them!

Oh, and my Erik operates on the same time your Ryland does. It is so bad that my family even recognizes it. When they ask Erik how long it takes to drive from point A to point B, Erik will answer "An hour and a half." And, someone will chime in, "So, now, is that in Erik time or real time?"

Melissa said...

I've been lurking on your blog for a while now. Just wanted to say I hope you have a great trip!

Oh, and that your kids are adorable. ;p

Renee said...

Surpisingly my husband is quite the punctual person while I try to not always be quite so on time. Interestingly enough, his mom is full Cuban and NEVER on time. Like Sarah, we have learned to tell her to be somewhere 30 min-1 hour before in hopes that she'll get there on time. Can sometimes make for an interesting gathering when you're trying to plan a meal when hungry little boys are involved!

Can't wait to hear about your upcoming trip! Hope it's something FUN. :)

Justice Fergie said...

oooo a trip with Daddy? You lucky dog!