More Important Than Punctuality

Our days are full of appointments and schedules, it's just the way it goes when your child needs extra support.  Many days I feel like we spend our family time together rushing to get out the door on time, in some sort of office, or rushing to get things done before bedtime.  And in our life, even preparation and routine doesn't guarantee being able to leave on time.


The mornings are especially crazy.  None of us are morning people and while our tasks are fairly routine, there is always something slowing us down.  Sometimes I had a bad night and am slower than usual in the morning.  Sometimes Nicholas has an attitude and is not cooperative.  Sometimes my wife has a bad night and she can't be as quick as she usually is.  Sometimes we have a combination of things.  Sometimes the shoe laces are knotted and take longer to get shoes on.  Once everything is finally done Nicholas and I fly out the door and power walk out the complex to his ride.  Sometimes we get there first, sometimes the ride is waiting.


For the past couple of weeks, after Nicholas rides off and I am making my way back inside, I take a few moments to look at Jupiter and Mars and try real hard to spot Venus.  They are aligning in the sky and were we live are very visible in the morning.  Then I look over and try to spot Sirius, the big blue star.**  I often point out planets and major stars in the sky to Nicholas while we wait for his ride.  However, lately we're just a tad bit behind schedule and there is no time to chat before he gets put in the car.

Today, after running out the door and I was half way down the stairs I remembered I forgot to grab a bag I was to send with Nicholas today.  Knowing he is faster than me, I asked him to go back and get it as I continued to make it down the stairs.  When I got to the bottom I automatically looked to where I knew the planets would be and spotted them.  And I realized that with the time changing this weekend I may not see them again because it will be too late by the time we make it out.  Nicholas comes running down the stairs with the bag and before he could continue to run out I stopped him and pointed out the planets.  And pointed out Sirius.  I knew we were a few minutes late and the car would be waiting for him out front. 

But this felt important.  Not because I love the sky and I want him to be as fascinated with the sky as I am, I've already accomplished that.  This was a great teachable moment that, honestly, I should have been embracing since I first noticed the planets getting close together.  Since I first spotted Sirius so bright in the sky a week ago that I had to make sure it wasn't something else.  This is an opportunity to be something more than just a rushing caregiver.  It's an opportunity to make him aware of what is around him.

So we spent about a minute looking at the sky and we were just a tad later than we would have been and the world did not end.  There are many things more important than strict punctuality.

This is from Monday, the big, bright one is Mars
the smaller one Jupiter, Venus is too small to be seen.

**I am in love with the night sky.  I often spend a great deal of time standing outside just looking up at the sky.  One of the great things about where we live is that while we are in a city and about a mile from downtown, we are also about 10 block from the ocean so there is a lot less light pollution looking south in the sky, making celestial objects visible.  I can look up and spot planets and major stars fairly easily and when in doubt I have my handy googlysky app (link is not to the app but to the website, look in your app store/play store to find it) to help.  I share this with Nicholas from time to time but not as often as I'd like since it is usually in the peace after he has gone to bed or off to school that I take the time to look up.