I'm the self-designated Time Cop in our family - another way of saying I'm completely anal when it comes to getting places on time (or better yet early).

"Early In, Early Out" is my motto. I always like to arrive 5 or 10 minutes early to scope out the lay of the land, get comfortable with my surroundings, and build in margins for unexpected delays. This approach serves me extremely well at work where it comes across as good planning, but on the home front it's a little overbearing at times.

To make matters worse, I married someone who is completely the opposite. She likes to be 10 or 15 minutes late to almost everything (except her hair appointments of course), and we're always the last couple to leave the party or the church parking lot.

It's a lot of work to get anywhere on time with 3 kids. But instead of standing at the bottom of the stairs and calling out the time every few minutes (my usual routine), I'm starting to learn that a less stressful way to get the family places on time is to play a more active role in getting the kids ready to leave. I'm not good at doing the girl's hair, so I leave that to my wife, but I'm plenty capable of helping brush teeth, getting them dressed, putting the dog away, etc.

This may sound completely obvious to many of you, but for some reason it's taken me a long time to figure this one out... and I still haven't perfected the technique by any means.

I've also started to realize that being on time is not nearly as important as just being together. Getting to our destination a little late is often a good trade-off for getting there in good spirits - without the anxiety and stress of me continually barking at my kids and wife to get ready on time.