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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Exactly how quickly can YOU get out the door?

With five children, it takes me a bare minimum of twenty minutes to get out the door. Bare minimum, folks. From the time that I am totally ready to go--twenty minutes. Twenty minutes to give walking orders ("Shoes on! Brush your hair!"), gather blankies, prepare a bottle, grab a sippy cup, remind everyone to make a potty run, check the diaper bag, change both of the little boys one last precautionary time ...

So if you're a realtor hoping to show my house, can you please keep this in mind? Telling me that you're a street away and want to show my house like now is just not doable. 

Twenty minutes. That's all I ask.

9 comments:

RRigdon said...

You can do it in 20 minutes? What's your secret?!!

It takes me 40.

Liz said...

yeah 20 minutes is good :)
i have 5 and i do alot before hand to get out the door (when i know we are going somewhere that day) but if i got a call and had to leave 20 minutes at least /

Anonymous said...

Let's see....today is Sunday. We "ought" to leave for church at 9:00am. Dh is here to help. Clothes are already picked out and ironed. I am showered. We have 3 kids, ages 5,3, and 14 months. I am 36 weeks pregnant. I'll let you know later if we make it or not.

When I am here by myself, it will take me a minimum 20 minutes once I am completely ready to go.

Unknown said...

Perhaps putting a lampshade on everyone's head might be an easier solution! LOL

{stand still, atticus!}

LOLOL

Unknown said...

How how how, do you do it in 20 minutes? Does that include in and out of car seats?

mary grace said...

Full of Joy, there is NO WAY I can do car seats in that length of time! Oliver is as uncooperative as you would expect a 2 yo to be when it comes to loading into the car. When you factor in lugging Manolin, a massive backpack full of goodies, the carrier of choice (currently the ergo) and snacks for the whole crew (lest we be detained and caught unawares) ... that's another 7 to 10 minutes right there.

Anonymous said...

I don't even have little ones and from the moment I mention to my teenage daughters that it is time to go it is at least 20 minutes, sometimes more. They have to brush their hair, the one with braces has to brush her teeth. They run around looking for their shoes, their purses, make sure they have their driver's permits...well, you get the picture. I give myself lots of lead time.;-)

Anonymous said...

Mary Grace, you're awesome. Twenty minutes is really good!

Car seats alone add another 10 minutes around here. I have one who can and will buckle himself on most days. The others have to be hand carried to the car and/or buckled by me.

Ajoy

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

Wow, that's impressive. I have one and she can take longer even though she is given notice. She is always changing her clothes.