Time

It was 615, so I thought and it was time to get ready for school! I must’ve been about 8 years old, my mom had my clock set, I hit it and up it was I go! Wash my face, brush my teeth, hit the shower, throw on my clothes and head to the table for breakfast! The same routine everyday and although I had to be to school by 7 and we lived a good 15 minutes away from school, I would always arrive to school before the bell rang! I was always on time, In fact, I was always a little early! I could never really figure it out, it was like time moved slow but only in the morning, or was I just moving super fast in the morning but not likely. I mean that early in the morning, me moving quickly that early in the am? Yeah I doubt it but what was I missing? I couldn’t figure it out but I mean it couldn’t hurt right?! Never having a tardy on my record, it was all working out!

I was out one evening with my uncle and I saw this watch I just had to have! It was all black and digital, it was some kind of watch! We priced it and he told me that if I could come up with the money to pay half of it in two weeks that he would bring me back and pay the other half of it and it was all mine! I was excited but didn’t know how I would get the money together, I mean my allowance that I got every Friday was not going to be enough, so I asked my uncle what I should do! He owned a car wash and he told me that he would pay me 5 dollars for every car that I helped him detail after school. I would come home everyday, get my homework done and ask my mom to take me to help my uncle with detailing the cars! I didn’t tell her why but I had my reasons! Everyday I helped him almost everyday leading up to my deadline and by the time it was time to go back to the store to get my watch, I didn’t just have half of the money for the watch, I had made enough to pay for it all, taxes too. I pulled out my money and he told me to save my money and he paid for it! This was a dream come true, he told me that he was proud of me for all of my hard work I had put in!

But back to the other part of my story, I put on my watch and I checked that it was set correctly! I was styling and profiling with my new watch! I couldn’t wait to get back to school the next day and show it off! I made sure that I was in bed early that night after eating my dinner! I was going to be moving fast the next morning I couldn’t wait! The next morning came so quick, I heard my alarm go off, I turned it off and got up to get ready for the day! It was go time! I looked at my watch, admiring it, when I realized something very strange! My watch didn’t match the time on my alarm clock! My watch read 6 am and my alarm clock read 615! What? What in the world was happening? I know that I made sure my watch was set correctly the previous day and I never truly looked at my alarm clock unless it was time to wake up in the am! I changed up my routine only for that day, I ran all around the house looking for the time everywhere, and all of the clocks in the house matched my watch! What was really going on, how was every clock and my watch reading the same time but my alarm clock didn’t match it? I ran back to my room to make sure I wasn’t bugging out, and I confirmed that my alarm clock was set 15 minutes fast! I shook my head and headed to get ready for school! I sat down at the table to eat my breakfast and as I was talking to my mom when I told her what was going on that morning, when she simply laughed! I was confused, what was she laughing at? She then explained to me that she always set my alarm clock a little early to make sure that I would never be late! I was even more confused than before! I asked her why she would do such a thing, and it was at that time that she told me something that would stick with me for life! She said son, I did that for your own good! It is important to never be late for anything in life, in fact if you are on time, you are late, always strive to be early, budget time so that you always have extra time! She then emphasized that I shouldn’t take advantage of this now that I knew the truth! She made sure of that and to this day I am always the person that is always 10 to 15 minutes early, no matter where I am going! She taught me the importance of time and how to manage it! A valuable lesson that I teach my children now that I am a parent myself! Thanks Mom, even though it was something that I didn't truly appreciate it at the time, I do now and always will!