by Kristen Bagwell

What does your morning routine look like? Calm, regimented, lovely...or is it like my house: remembering what you thought you'd planned out and actually didn't, about 4 minutes before you have to leave...making 11 trips to the car so you don't drop coffee on the baby in his car seat, and also to remember the makeup basket for the commute post-kids...not to mention the smoothie, and the 2 school bags, and the granola bar for the 4-year old...anyway.

I am not sure why, but every day I intend to leave home at 7:15, and every day I leave at 7:23am. It's only 8 minutes, you say, but to me it's 7:20freakin3am. Again. In case you wondered, those 8 minutes cause me an additional 15 of sitting in traffic, and usually (for some reason) drop-off takes longer later in the morning. I realize that sounds dramatic for a mere 8 minutes, but I am not kidding...8 minutes causes me to be at least 21 minutes later than I intended.

I had a revolutionary thought this morning: who cares?! As long as I don't have an 8am call, who cares that I am sliding into my chair at 8:09am? I have the luxury of a flexible job, where "in office" arrival time can vary if need be. (Which is awesome because clearly, a time clock would cause me serious angst.) The kids are going to be dropped off early and picked up roughly 8 hours later, regardless. They are fine. Repeat after me: they are fine.

What difference does it make if I impose 14 additional minutes of commute upon myself? Shouldn't I be using this time to warm up my voice for the day (car singing...you should try it), to scrawl unintelligible notes on my car notepad if I enjoy a rare moment of clarity, and to actually sip my coffee rather than chug it? Yet for some reason, I stress myself out each day trying to get to work as early as possible, when I am not sure that anyone is actually watching. Hmm.

Maybe now is the time to re-read Rachel's tips for a smooth morning routine, and to continue to try and plan ahead. Or, I could choose to relax a little and give myself a break. (If I learn to do this, ever, I will rent a billboard.) Is it just me, or is your weekday morning an exercise in "nutty"?