So you know how those ADHD people have no clock in their head?

[gcvmom]

Well husband has once again proved it to be true in his own particular case.

He took easy child and difficult child 2 to the beach yesterday. Parked in a metered spot. Fed the meter some quarters and noted the time they left. Used his phone to keep track of the time they were there. Told the kids when it was getting close to time for them to leave, and although they encouraged him to just go put some more quarters in the meter because they all (husband included) wanted to stay a bit longer, he declined because he didn't feel like walking to the car (wasn't more than a 1/4 mile away). So I guess they finally got out of the water and headed back. But then somehow he got sidetracked when they were on their way back to the car what with rinsing themselves off, rinsing their boogie boards off, rinsing difficult child 2's head off which got missed the first time... etc., etc.

So as they are approaching the car, they see the meter maid, and husband has this sinking feeling and says to her, "You probably just gave me a ticket, didn't you?" To which she, of course, just shrugs and says "I don't know." I mean, how is she supposed to know which car is his? And as he gets to the car, sure enough he sees an envelope on the windshield -- a $53 ticket because the meter had expired. So he walks back to the lady and asks if there's anything he can do about the ticket, and of course there isn't -- she says she has no way of knowing how long the meter had been expired. She's right! Heck, I don't think husband even knew how long it had been expired.

He's been kicking himself all day today. I don't have to say a thing!

I did remind him, though, that he's done far worse. Like the time he got ticketed twice in one week at the train station for not having current tags on his car. Tags that I'd GIVEN to him months before that he just had never bothered to apply to the license plates.

His birthday's coming up soon... maybe I should get him a new WATCH with an ALARM... and a roll of quarters for those pesky meters!

 

[skeeter]

at work we call it "J. time" for my boss. "J. time" is 10 minutes after whenever the meeting is supposed to start. The only time J is on time is when we meet with the VPs - and she does that by having me come and GET her at her cube.

 

[mstang67chic]

So that's an ADHD thing huh? LOL Explains a LOT around here! difficult child one day, asked when we were leaving for his therapist appointment. The appointment was at 1:00 and he seemed surprised that we were going to leave by 12:45.

"Mom...the appointment isn't until 1."

"Yes difficult child, but it takes 10 minutes to get there. You have to figure travel time in when you plan for these things."

"Oh." (which, in difficult child-speak, translates into "HUH?")

I guess he thinks you can just leave and get there instantly. Or that he can spend 20 minutes in the bathroom at 6:43am and still have time to get to his bus stop before the bus comes at SEVEN!!!

At least husband recognized that he messed up. If he was checking his phone, maybe he should have set the alarm on THAT for 10 minutes before he wanted to start back to the car.

 

[DammitJanet]

That must mean I am definitely not ADHD. I am almost phobic about being late. I leave early for everything...lol. You know they say some people are going to be late for their own funerals? Well I am going to be early for mine...lol.

If I have an appointment at 2, even if I know where I am going, been there a million times, it is 10 minutes away, I leave at 1.

When I was working my hours were from 8 to 5. The building was opened at 7 by the cleaning crew. I was sitting in the parking lot every single morning when they arrived to open the doors. I had already been to Mcdonalds to get my Diet Coke and Egg McMuffin. I was waiting for them to let me in so I could sit at my desk and eat, read the paper and get ready for my day. I would finish my breakfast and then start getting my desk and papers in order to be prepared. I didnt like being rushed.

I have to be early!

 

[gcvmom]

Skeeter, I have some relatives who are like that

'Stang, this is just one more lovely hindsight example for him. Story of his life it seems.

Janet, what's weird to me is that, like you, when he has a set appointment for something, he is very paranoid about being late and wants to leave waaaay too early for it. So I KNOW he can be on time for things. I guess he just has trouble accurately estimating just how much time he needs -- it's either too much or not enough. Projects around here start out that way, too. He'll jump into something that will take much longer than he realizes, then he ends up running out of time to finish it and never comes back to finish later!

 

[totoro]

I am the same way! But because I know I am bad and have been, now I am paranoid like Janet. Mostly I have been paranoid most of my life, but because of those few times that I am late... I freak!
If we are late to one of K's apt's especially if it is because of husband!!!! I am fuming. I start getting anxious.
If it is because of me. I feel like I am going to hyper ventilate. LOL
I have gotten better, a tiny bit. Sorta

 

[susiestar]

My mom has trouble being on time. With her it is more that she thinks that projects and errands will only take 1/3 the time they do. AND she thinks that if she just "hurries" she can pack an hour's worth of stuff into 10 minutes.

On days she says she will give thank you a ride to school we have to call and tell school he will be late. No matter what. She knows school starts at 8:50 but SWEARS each month that they change the time. They have not changed the time in over 20 years.

If he misses the bus (a rarity) thank you would rather call a taxi than Gma. He once thanked the ONE taxi driver (only one is on duty at any time in our town) because she got him to school on time and if he called Gma he would miss the first class. She has given him 3 taxi rides to school for free. I have a gift card that they just mark off the price of the ride on. She always refuses to sign it or take money from him "because he is so cute and wants to go to school so bad".

My brother is worse. He will just not show up for DAYS if he is scheduled to help us with something. If he DOES show up he spends hours talking instead of working. he is never less than an hour late.

I use the alarm on my cell phone a LOT. It is very handy in getting us moving so we are not late. I have one doctor who will not see you if you are 5 minutes late and do not call. He almost never keeps you waiting even 1 minute. He also never rushes you.

Do to him I am actually more "on time" in the rest of my life.

 

[KTMom91]

I have one of each. Hubby "piddles", finding something that either needs to go with us, or has to be done first, or...and Miss KT leaves way too early and then complains that there's nothing to do and she hates waiting. To get all three of us somewhere on time is like herding cats.

 

[trinityroyal]

We have the whole smorgasbord around here as well.
difficult child can't organize himself out the door, but freaks out if anyone else is 30 seconds later than the scheduled time.
husband is usu. organized and ready to go befoire the rest of the group. But...he hates to sit idly waiting and will start a project just to "kill time". However, once he gets started, he gets roped in. He also underestimates the time required to complete a job.
Step D considers appointment times to be guidelines at best, entirely subject to her whim.
Little easy child will dig in his heels and dawdle if he doesn't want to go to something, but is usually pretty biddable.
Add babies into the mix, and getting out the door is an adventure.