Sorry I’m Late T-Shirt – Is it ok to be late when you have kids?

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My friends will tell you that I’m hardly ever late! In fact, I am usually places 10 mins early and then texting my friends asking where they are. Ha! But when I am late, it’s most definitely because of Molly. I’m totally blaming her! He he 😉

So when I saw this cute graphic tee by Jillian Harris (my fellow Bachelorette alum and friend! Check out her AMAZING blog HERE) and matching “I’m the reason we’re late” onesie for Molly, I HAD to get them! I mean come one, does it get much cuter? I think not. In fact, I have a few friends who could REALLY use these matching outfits. Ha! I still love them despite being notoriously late 😉

I wore this faux leather jacket over the tee. I got it because it’s such a great price at under $100. And these leopard print flats! I love these flats. They are a fun alternative to doing a pop a color – instead it’s a pop of leopard 😉 And like I usually do, I’m wearing my favorite $19 leggings 🙂

Can you relate to what this outfit says? Is having a baby an excuse to be late?

I think it is sometimes…but not always or even often. I, like may parents, have been spit up on when we are about to walk out the door. Or have had Molly have a “blow out” diaper the second we put her in her car-seat to leave, but we still end up being on time. I guess that’s because we always leave the house 20-30 mins early if we know we have somewhere to be. That’s a big reason why we are usually early places. I would so much rather be early than late, even if that means I have to sit around a wait for a little. I dunno. That’s just me. I also realize I only have one child and this could get much more difficult when Molly gets older or when two or more kiddos are in the picture. What do you guys think? Are kids a good excuse to be late? Rarely an excuse? Or never an excuse. I wanna hear your thoughts!

1. FAUX LEATHER JACKET | 2. SORRY I’M LATE TEE | 3. LEGGINGS | 4. LEOPARD FLATS | 5. “I’M THE REASON” ONESIE

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32 Thoughts

32 thoughts on “Sorry I’m Late T-Shirt – Is it ok to be late when you have kids?

  1. Yes, kids are definitely a good excuse to be late. I’m usually on time or early but there are times when you have no control over what your kids do. I have a 14 month son and I’ve learned that I can’t always have my way. I think most people understand when you have babies or young kids there will be times when you’ll be late.

      1. No, not an excuse. I have never been late unless someone that told me to pick them up is the one who is NOT ready when I go for them, then that’s when I too am late, but other then that I like to be on time everywhere. I’m at work by 7:15-7:30, not later, and we work from 8:00 to 5:00. But when I had my first child, I knew I had to get up earlier, to do what I had to do with the child, then get myself dress & ready to go to work. I understand that sometimes emergency situation come up, but don’t make it a habit of making excuses that your late because of the child.

      2. I have family members who plan afternoon parties at nap time no matter how many times we tell them the kids are usually sleeping then. So I just started accepting the invitation and showing up after the kids wake up.

  2. I don’t think they’re a good excuse to be late…chronically. Sometimes, sh*t happens (literally), but I try to avoid that by doing similarly to you. We ALWAYS leave extra early, or start getting ready really early. I have two boys – 4 & 1 year old. It’s a challenge, not gonna lie. But, I’ve always been a punctual person, so I feel like it’s more a personality thing. If you were late before when you didn’t have kids, you’re probably going to be even later once you’ve got them!
    My husband sometimes looks at me like I’m crazy when I say let’s start getting them ready now (2 hours before we have to leave), because I know how long it can take just to get my 4 year old to use the washroom and change his clothes!! lol

    1. Ha ha! Yes sh*t happens LITERALLY! I’ve been there. But I’m with you on this. I think it’s ok once in a while, but not often. I agree that it a personality thing. When you crazy about being on time (like me) you find a way to be on time 95% of the time. Kevin and I will leave the house an HOUR early sometimes to make sure we are on time to something 15 minutes away 😉

  3. I think it is ok to be late, its part of life. But i dont think its ok to ALWAYS be late and always blame it on the kids. I am a mother of a 3 year old boy and an almost 2 year old girl. I will say that as a new mom (with my son) and a new mom of 2 when my daughter came, it happened more at the beginning. I would either forget something for my son, or my daughter had a blowout/spit up/whatever….But as time goes and you get the hang of things, you know as a mom that you need to start getting ready earlier and start stepping out the door 10, 20, 30 minutes before because there is ALWAYS something that comes up, and it is not ok to ALWAYS be late.

    p.s. Molly is so cute!! my ovaries tickle and the baby fever kicks in every time! haha

    1. I can imagine it’s SO much harder with two! That’s why I was curious to know what other moms thought! I’m also SUPER curious to know what people who aren’t parents think.

      1. I’m not a parent but get the chance to babysit my nephews who are 1 year old and 3 years old quite a bit. I live with my brother for part of the week so I see what it takes to parent these kids and let me say, I have a new found respect for mothers and fathers out there! I agree that once in a while it’s ok to be late because things happen that you can’t control, but I don’t think it’s an excuse to be late every time you go somewhere.

  4. It always bothered me when people used kids as an excuse for being late. And now that I have a child… It still bugs me!! We are like you and alway leave early so even if something comes up, we are still on time. And now that I have a kid it bothers me when other people are running late. I’ll often make plans around my sons schedule, so when other people run late it stresses me out… we only have a certain amount of time to be out in between naps, feedings etc! My son is one week older than Molly 🙂 love seeing your snaps and updates about her!

  5. Since you mentioned being curious what non-parents think, I’ll just chime in here 🙂 I think it’s OK some of the time. Two of my best friends have kids, so I definitely understand that parents are often on their babies’ schedules and don’t hold that against them. I think it only becomes an issue when it’s an ALL the time excuse, because you know that sometimes it will take you longer to get ready, which is something you should account for. But, like you said, sometimes things happen when you walk out the door, so obviously sometimes you are going to be late, and I think that’s OK.
    Then again, I often think I have more time to get ready than I do or that it takes less time to get somewhere than it really does and end up being a few minutes late, so I’m not sure my opinion on the matter is worth much 😛

  6. As a non-parent I think its a valid excuse. HOWEVER, I agree with your process and most of what everyone else is saying here – only in an emergency under circumstances completely out of your control. If you’re able to plan ahead (like you) then do it. Its your new normal so you have to learn how to adjust your timing. You just everything else after having a kid, this is just another thing. I am noticing with a lot of my friends who have one kid or 4 kids, they want an “out.” Or they want sympathy. Again, being a non-parent I have to constantly check myself to see if I’m being judgmental. Usually I think I’m justified in being annoyed with the parents looking for the sympathy. In most cases, you chose to have your child/children. Your decision so you have to handle the situation. If you accept that as a parent and you realize this is your situation you chose, then it doesn’t even phase me. That’s why we wish you alllll the luck! ;o)

  7. I’m like you, always early or on time. Two kids later, I’m still early or on time! It just takes a little more planning to get out the door, but it’s our new normal. I never understood why some people are chronically late, but when I show up early with 2 kids and my friends with no kids are late, I feel like they have even less of an excuse. I’m easy going and laid back so I don’t mind it too much, just wonder why in the world that even happens ??

  8. Off topic and you probably already knew this, but I only found out a couple weeks ago that Ergo sold Orbit baby so all products are discontinued. I just spent forever trying to find a toddler seat even though our son is only 3mo and won’t be needing it for a while! So frustrating. I love our Orbit infant car seat and stroller.

  9. I’m not a parent but I have plenty of friends and family who have kids and it’s very 50/50 on families who are always late vs. always early or on time. I have one family member that is always so late we’ve started telling him things start an hour to half hour before the actual start time because he’s never close to on time. I think it can get a bit ridiculous when it’s constant but when someone is on time 95% of the time and they show up late once or twice, you know something must have actually slowed them down because it’s not typical and I wouldn’t get upset over it. I try to be pretty understanding and it’s a lot easier when it’s not all the time!

  10. I definitely think it depends on the circumstances. I think you’re right that for things like puke and poop blow-outs if you leave extra time you still won’t be late. The biggest barrier to being on time since having my now 9 month old is their nap schedule. It’s like he senses when we have plans to meet someone and instead of his 45-60 minute naps he’ll sleep 2 hours!! If we’re heading to something informal like hanging out at an immediate family member’s house then we’ll just update them with our timing based on how long he sleeps. They want a well rested baby to visit and play with so they’re completely fine with this. I love hosting family at our house since then if our baby is sleeping we can start things on time and he can just join when he wakes up.

    With friends I try to keep timing flexible and let them know when we’re actually heading out the door so they’re not stuck waiting somewhere for us. When meeting up with a friend that also has a baby all bets are off if the babies are on opposite nap schedules though! 🙂

    I’m curious when you arrive somewhere early with Molly does she get fussy/tired before you’re done with what you’re doing? Or is she able to nap out and about pretty easily? My son has major FOMO so if I were to show up somewhere too early he would get tired and grumpy before finishing a lunch/outing with a friend.

    If we’re going somewhere with a set start time like a wedding then I’ll absolutely wake him up from a nap to get somewhere on time/a little early. Otherwise I think as long as you keep people in the loop with your timing and they’re not stuck waiting on you, it’s fair to let your baby finish their nap so you all can have a nice time together and not a melt down ticking time bomb!

    The thing that’s ‘rude’ about being consistently late is not being considerate to other people’s time. I think if you have an open and honest dialogue with people about why you might have to have a slightly flexible meet up time it eliminates that inconsiderate factor!

    P.S. Thanks for having interesting and relatable topics on your blog, I love reading your suggestions and opinions!

    1. Good point about the nap schedule. If we get somewhere early, we will drive around the neighborhood for 20 mins while Molly is still in her car-seat and she will usually stay asleep in car. If she’s not sleeping, then we will bring car-seat/stroller into the place we are going and when it’s time to nap we will put white noise machine in car-seat/stroller and rock her back and forth with the shade drawn so she’s not distracted. It usually always works!

      1. Great suggestions! If my son falls asleep in the car on the way home I’ve definitely sat in the driveway until he wakes up… sometimes I wonder what my neighbors think as I’m sitting in my car for 30-40 minutes haha. A mobile white noise machine is something I’ve debated buying, I think I should probably go for it. They’re reasonably priced and if it helps with sleep it’s worth its weight in gold 🙂 Thanks for the ideas!

  11. Well, maybe the first couple of times this happens, however if you work at a place that I used to, even if you punched in (1) One Minute, Yes, One (1) minute past 7, you were late!!! So I would say it depends on where you’re going , Dr’s appt., work, meeting a friend/client etc.. I would say get yourself on an early schedule, give yourself more time than you think you’ll need to get ready to be out the door, do as many things as you can the night before. Honestly, when baby is young it can be hard, however when they grow up, terrible 2’s and fight with ya, it’s even more difficult

  12. I’m the EXACT same way. I’m forever leaving way too early and sitting in my car on my phone waiting for meetings to start, friends to show up, etc. I had a coach once who would always say “early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable” ? But I have no kids! Totally understandable when a Mom is late every once in a while.

  13. Non-parent here. I don’t mind people being late as long as it’s within reason. If we’re meeting for dinner at 6pm and you arrive at 6:05pm no harm, no foul. If you arrive at 6:15 or 6:20 and haven’t contacted me I’m either starting to worry if everything is ok or thinking you’ve forgotten. By 6:30pm I assume you’re not coming and I’m going ahead without you.

    People that are notoriously late for whatever reason are teaching their children that it’s ok to be late. Which sends me the message that your time is more important than mine. Nothing drives me more crazy than when I have a work meeting and I arrive 5 minutes prior to the meeting start time and the person leading the meeting arrives late (or even exactly on time) because then we’re behind and I may (or may not) have another meeting coming up. Basically, if you respect me then you respect my time! It’s that simple.

  14. Ha! I was sitting in the doctors office parking lot snap chatting my friend because I was 25 minutes early with my daughter. I never wanted to be that parent who used kids as an excuse for never showing up on time so now I am (to a fault) always super early. I’m fine with it though bc being late (or even right on time) gives me anxiety. Once in awhile though…sh*t happens. Literally.

  15. Urgh. It drives me crazy when mommy friends are late. I used to give them a lot of leeway as I had no idea what it was to be a mom but now that I have a 3 month old, I just don’t understand how it happens so regularly. Like you, I’ve had spit up and blow outs happen as I’m leaving the house and STILL managed to be on time – I factor the likelihood of these incidents into my timings!

    In 3 months I haven’t cancelled a single thing because of my LO and have been late only once (because of traffic, not baby!) – my dad drilled it into me that being late is a sign that you don’t think the time of the person you’re meeting is as valuable as your own and even now, I can’t get that out of my head.

    I have friends who will be “on time” to meet me but then spend 40 minutes driving round in circles trying to get their baby to sleep. I’m a working mom. I’m sorry but I just don’t have time to wait for you for 40 minutes. Sorry for the rant – lateness is a pet peeve!

  16. Nope, to me it’s never an excuse. You know that you have to get you and a little one ready, so you start early. Even if “things happen”, you’re prepared because you started early and got everything ready. I used to do what I could the night before. Then I’d get the rest ready before I got ready and then I’d get my daughter ready and we’d go.

    My dad was a very prompt person and I’m a retired Army wife. There is no “late” in military life. I was raised that it was disrespectful and Army life instilled it in me. Even all the times that hubby was deployed and I was on my own, I was never late!!

  17. Even as a non parent I understand that you can’t always control what your kids do. So there are going to be times when you are late because of them. I do side eye some parents who use their kids as an excuse every time. It is okay to say it’s your kids if you have kept people waiting for you. At some point its time to start planning your outings better for you and your child(ren) if this is constantly the case.

  18. I do think that there are circumstances when we absolutely try our best to be on time with kids but it just doesn’t happen, but i don’t feel good about it. I don’t agree with using the kid excuse all the time, tardiness actually is one of my pet peeves! I always try earnestly to be reasonably on time +/- 15 minutes, and i have three kiddos. But I go into planning things KNOWING that my kids will take extra time, so I start getting them ready extra early. My oldest son starts kindergarten this year, so being late for school isn’t going to go over very well, so might as well practice trying to be on time for life in general…Being on time is a necessity for many things- like school bell, catching a plane, going to a show, most people show up early for these things so its absolutely doable. I do give parents a break with newborns, because nursing/changing diaper blowouts, etc are kind of unpredictable ( i have a 2.5 month old daughter so know this well) but if i’m going to be late i always try to give as much notice as possible with an apologetic text. I have to say I have one chronically late friend that can never stick to any plan and always uses her kids as an excuse to show up excessively late for everything, and it really stresses me out trying to make plans with her. I have given up trying. I feel it has affected our friendship negatively even though she is a well-intentioned and kind person, and I don’t want to make others feel that way at all.

  19. Every now and then, of course, but not as an all the time excuse. I HATE being late, but even before kids there are just things out of our control that can make us late and the same is true once children are added to the mix. I will say, I do think that the person who was always late BEFORE they had kids will still be the person who is always late AFTER they have kids and they don’t get to suddenly blame their children :).

  20. It looks like I’m the oddball out here, but I’m your typical Type B personality type that has definitely ALWAYS struggled with being on time! My parents were always late, so growing up in a home when there’s always “five more minutes” to sleep or “one more minute” in the shower, etc etc. that sort-of becomes your time table! I’ve had to rewire my mind since being married to a very prompt, on-time husband and adding two kiddos to the mix. It has definitely changed things for me and actually made me desire to be a more on-time person, believe it or not! I mean, I definitely still struggle! But I think the people who are probably struggling to be late with children, are the same who struggled without children. And I totally don’t think children should be an excuse for us to keep bad habits, but unfortunately they can sometimes make it easy for us to blame!

  21. Ali,

    Been following you since the Pavelka days. I adore you. I just wanted to say first that Molly is so cute I love every post of yours. Second, I just wanted to comment on how beautiful you look after having Molly. You were always stunning but there is just a huge glow on your face and your hair is so pretty growing out and stuff. You look so happy, God bless you and your family!!

    XOXO

  22. Random question, but where are Miss Molly’s headbands bows from? I love them and can’t seem to find any like them. Thanks!

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