Waking the Dead

So okay, he's not really dead, just seventeen. I have recently found ice water as an effective method of getting my son out of bed.  It sounds mean (even to me) but a school suspension due to chronic tardiness was not only a wake-up call to him but to me as well. 

Ben comes by it honestly.  I don't get up well either. Clearly that leaves out early morning as a favorite time for me and since the world doesn't revolve around me or him we must adapt. My problems with punctuality are not confined to the a.m. hours.  I arrive to most functions and appointments either right at the appointed time or five minutes after, no matter the time of day.  It's not that I intend to be late, it's just that I always need to do "one more thing" and I always believe in  the possibility I can make it on time. It would just take a perfect set of circumstances. You know- like making every traffic light, not getting stuck behind the slow driver in the left lane who will not move over no matter how close I get to his bumper, and certainly no police visible in route. The time has come for me to get with the program and get there on time.

 As with any issue in life the first step is acknowledging it. Here goes, my name is Tracey and I am a chronoptimist.( I love this word I found the word on the urban dictionary site.) This is the definition

Chronoptimist -A person who always under estimates the time necessary to do something or get somewhere.

It was and is comforting to know that I am not alone in my lateness. However, this offers absolutely no solace to my husband who prefers to arrive at least twenty minutes prior to any function or appointment.  You know what they say, opposites attract.  He didn't mind waiting on me in our courting days, I don't understand why it bothers him so much now. I do know he will be pleased with my attempts to be more prompt.  So today I solemnly vow to get up without pressing the snooze bar, to erase the phrase, "just one more thing before we leave" from my vocabulary, and to not believe that I can make it in the minimum amount of time required if everything goes well in route. Wish me luck or better yet say a little prayer for me and for those to whom I gave birth and are genetically predisposed chronoptimism.