291/365: 15 minutes

When trying to be somewhere on time, I always budget 15 minutes for getting the kids out of the house and buckled into their car seats with the car in gear to leave the driveway.

Now it may sound like an excessive amount of time, but first you have to get BOTH kids out of the house, with all their bags, special toy of the moment, sippy cups, etc. Next you have to get both kids INTO the car. That means rounding up the straggler looking at a special bug or picking a special daisy, or maybe the kid who is trying to launch a toy down the driveway. Once everyone is INSIDE the car (though un-buckled because in the time it takes to buckle in one wiggly kid the other kid is gone again) you have to take turns taming the wiggles and getting them safely restrained. This also includes answering a lot of random questions and having to look at and pick up random toys and books from the floor. Trying to get two wild excited monkeys into their seats is no easy feat. Especially with one too young to respond to threats. ;-) Amazingly enough I use up all 15 of those minutes almost every time!

So here is a picture to remind me of this "season" because I know that one day it'll pass and I'll be the mom that can leave the parking lot in mere minutes instead of the last one to leave the parking lot!