Shoes

I think I've blogged about this before, but I'm too lazy to check my previous posts. But some things are annoying enough to write about more than once.

There is something to me unfathomable about childrens' minds.

I know they are kids, and their brains aren't fully developed, but sometimes the things they do (or don't do) are perplexing.

A major example of this phenomenon would be: Getting Ready to Go Syndrome.

Whenever we leave the house I give my kids at least five minutes notice. When my big kids were small I would then add,

"Now you should go to the bathroom, put on your socks, find your shoes, put them on, and get whatever you need to bring with you in the car," as I still do for my three year old.

Seems to me that this would be helpful. But no. Those are just too many steps for their little noggins to handle. Perhaps their thoughts go something like this:

Time to go soon.... Going to the bathroom now....Washing hands..... I wonder what's for lunch..... Oh, what is that interesting thing on the floor (in the book...etc.)

...and they are lost.

When I yell one last "LETS GOOOOO!" they are caught, sockless, shoeless, stuffless...etc. As I make my way to the car they are either

a.) running around frantically searching for something
b.) yelling "where are my shoes?" or "I can't find my book" or "Mom! Wait!"
c.) still sitting on the toilet

Then there are the times when we drive away and one of the girls says, "Oops, I forgot my shoes." Forgot shoes. I guess for my kids shoes just seem optional. "No biggie," they say to themselves, "I'll just walk around Trader Joe's in my bare feet."

Or we go to violin lessons and one of them forget their....you guessed it... VIOLIN! Now wasting my time and energy is aggravating enough. But wasting my money is verboten.

I suppose this is potentially a pitfall of homeschooling. My kids don't have the rush, rush, rush every morning to get ready and out the door. So it is definitely not their forté.