SCHOOL DAZE

Today was the first day of school for Thing 2.  She's a Junior now.  Where in the HELL did time go, is what I ask myself.  Never mind that Thing 1 is now a sophomore in college.  My little Princess is a Junior.  That means next year she'll be a Senior and graduating from High School and my gray hairs are popping out left and right.

Anyway.

This morning marked the first in yet another series of trying to drag her lazy teenage butt out of bed at the unGodly hour of 6:45.  In the morning.  And anyone who knows Thing 2 knows that she and "morning" do not get along all that great.  A Morning Person she is most assuredly is Not.

The sight of her wrapped in a blanket and lurching down the hallway towards daylight and her breakfast of Eggo Chocolate Chip waffles is always something that can only be seen to be believed.  And don't try to talk to her; you'll get whines and moans and "Why are you talking to me?  You KNOW I'm not awake yet! GOD!!" which only makes me chatter like a magpie just to drive her nuts.

Because it's fun to do that.

School starts at the head-scratching time of 7:47am.  Not 7:45.  Not even 7:50.  7:47.  Which I so don't get.


And we live 2.5 miles from school.


So guess who was late to school on her first day?

Why was she late to school on her first day, you ask?


I'll tell you.


SOMEONE has really lousy Time Management Skills and that Someone is NOT me.  There's a reason we call her "The Dawdler."  It takes her 15 minutes to brush her teeth, although sometimes I doubt she's actually brushed them.  Then she has to read Google News, answer any texts that may have come while she was (not) brushing her teeth, watch "Saved by the Bell," slooooowly get dressed and slooooooowly brush her hair.

At 7:15 I start saying, "Come ON!  It's time to go!"

At 7:20 I pound on her door and yell, "LET'S GO!"

At 7:25 I yell, "GODDAMMIT KAYLYN, NOW!!"


At 7:30 she finally moseys out to the car and tells me, "Chill, Mom.  It doesn't take that long to get there."

Oh, but it does.

It took 20 minutes to drive the 2.5 miles to the Unofficial Drop Off location, which is the industrial/business center one block west of the school.  If I would have actually dropped her off AT school, it would have added another 10 to 15 minutes to the trip because of the amount of traffic in that one block area and the fact that there is only a single entrance into the school.  Which is why I don't drop her off at the school.

Had we left the house at 7:15, it would have taken about 5 minutes to make the drive.

But for every 5 minutes later we leave, traffic starts backing up and it adds another 5 minutes of drive time.  Which is why leaving at 7:30 took 20 minutes to drive 2.5 miles, thanks to 4 intersections in a 1/4 mile stretch, which includes a freeway off-ramp with its own traffic signal and a freeway on-ramp with its own traffic signal which is about 150' from the off-ramp traffic signal.  Which is why we sat at one intersection for 4 green light rotations and never moved an inch.


Which is why we arrived at the Drop Off spot at 7:50 and she still had to walk a block to the school.


Which is why we'll be leaving just a tad earlier tomorrow.

I'll still have to yell at her to move her ass, though.


Because she is The Dawdler.