My daughter and I seem to have a different concept of time, or maybe it is just a different approach to time.
Jemma’s approach is more “just in time”, but I like to be a bit more prepared than that in most situations.
As a very young child, barely two years old I think, bedtime was not necessarily sleep time. She was happy to go to bed at the set time, and then sleep when she was ready. So bedtime was book or colouring time. It was not unknown for me to take a colouring pencil and book out of her sleeping hands when turning off her light. We jokingly said the child was born to be on the stage. Little did we know! Her first love was ballet. She trained at tertiary level, with a Tertiary Diploma in dance from the WA Academy of Performing Arts. She did not end up performing a lot but did have a career in dance teaching for several years, which involved competition and concerts to co-ordinate.
As she grew up, I was often frustrated as Jemma just did not seem to understand that to be ready on time meant actually getting ready! I remember one occasion when I practically threw her into the car, no shoes and socks, hair unbrushed so that we could get where we were going on time. In retrospect, this was part of her ongoing approach – just in time was good enough.
As she progressed at school, this still seemed to be her approach. If she had a project to complete, it was always late on the night before it was due. Late nights to complete the work did not worry her. What was particularly frustrating for me though was that she always got good marks for her work!
Even as an adult, she will still not have the same sense of time. She will often still be up early in the morning “completing something”. As she works from home, it is always tempting to work into the early hours, or she might be finishing a piece of crochet, or just reading a book.
Overall, I do not think that Jemma is a mistress to time; she manages to achieve all she needs to on time. In general her children are at school on time, at their various activities on time. And she completes the work assignments on time. It is me who found time a cruel mistress in my frustration over her approach, but I do need to accept she is who she is.
Joy Shirley
May 2019
Jemma’s approach is more “just in time”, but I like to be a bit more prepared than that in most situations.
As a very young child, barely two years old I think, bedtime was not necessarily sleep time. She was happy to go to bed at the set time, and then sleep when she was ready. So bedtime was book or colouring time. It was not unknown for me to take a colouring pencil and book out of her sleeping hands when turning off her light. We jokingly said the child was born to be on the stage. Little did we know! Her first love was ballet. She trained at tertiary level, with a Tertiary Diploma in dance from the WA Academy of Performing Arts. She did not end up performing a lot but did have a career in dance teaching for several years, which involved competition and concerts to co-ordinate.
As she grew up, I was often frustrated as Jemma just did not seem to understand that to be ready on time meant actually getting ready! I remember one occasion when I practically threw her into the car, no shoes and socks, hair unbrushed so that we could get where we were going on time. In retrospect, this was part of her ongoing approach – just in time was good enough.
As she progressed at school, this still seemed to be her approach. If she had a project to complete, it was always late on the night before it was due. Late nights to complete the work did not worry her. What was particularly frustrating for me though was that she always got good marks for her work!
Even as an adult, she will still not have the same sense of time. She will often still be up early in the morning “completing something”. As she works from home, it is always tempting to work into the early hours, or she might be finishing a piece of crochet, or just reading a book.
Overall, I do not think that Jemma is a mistress to time; she manages to achieve all she needs to on time. In general her children are at school on time, at their various activities on time. And she completes the work assignments on time. It is me who found time a cruel mistress in my frustration over her approach, but I do need to accept she is who she is.
Joy Shirley
May 2019
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