I think I have been saying that for almost 10 years and it rarely actually happens. I believe I am in the changing of the times. Now that my kids are crossing the bridge of crazy little people that cannot do anything on their own to every now and then they can do something without it being an act of Congress.

Just like many of you, I have children that make it seem like everytime we leave almost anywhere, someone can’t find his or her shoe. After all, my daughter is almost 10 and my boys are twin five-year-olds.

For the last 10 years, it has been a planned mission to leave the house, but it took at least 30-40 minutes to complete said mission as we had to find the bottle, then it was sippy cups, and then we moved to snacks and changes of clothes, and now we are at the missing shoe stage. Though every now and then, we get it just right where I can say, “Put on your shoes… Now, we are leaving,” and it actually works!

I say it and then get my own stuff, and then what do you know, I have three fully-clothed, clean-faced, two-shoe-wearing kids at my front door. Don’t get me wrong, they are still fighting on who is first and who gets to push the button for the garage door to open, but they are there.

Seeing this makes me feel that we may just turn out to be an almost normal family, at least from the outside looking in. To all my friends who I see still in the crazy times of “planning to leave,” do remember what my late Grandmother always told me my whole life, “This too shall pass.” But then again, I could be wrong, or it could be a fluke as it doesn’t happen often. I hope it does improve, but hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day. ■