Eastern Time, Pacific Time.....and Toddler Time!

Macey is in this stage of life where she has no concept of time. Now, this used to work to my benefit as I could just pick her up and take her, move her, and proceed with our day as scheduled. Somewhere, somehow, this has all changed! AND NOW? Now I am on Toddler Time. Unfortunately, my work does not operate in this time zone...nor does any other person I know. But I am having a difficult time explaining this to Macey. So, we do our best to compromise. It goes something like this:
Grocery Shopping = 40 minutes for bananas, a pumpkin, and milk! Especially at Trader Joes, which is where we had to stop this morning...on our way to work...because Macey promised Baby Hazel (her dolly) that she would let her ride in the cart. Needless to say, I couldn't disappoint Baby Hazel, so we went to the store where Macey loves to push the tiny grocery carts around. This was not in our morning plans...but I reminded myself that it was important to her!
Leaving The House = 20 minutes, as it's important that she stops to turn on and off the light, kiss Murphy good-bye (twice, because she forgot to hug him),insists on getting into the car herself (which is something like climbing Mt. Everest), demands to buckle her own seatbelt (even though she never can, one must try at least 10 times before allowing help), and then needs to be in charge of the garage remote (to open, close, re-open, and re-close the door). Oh, and then there's always the blanket, bunny, or doll that she said she didn't want to bring....but has changed her mind halfway down the road!
Getting Dressed = 15 minutes, because when she sees me coming she leaps out of her princess chair and says, "Chase me Mommy!" I then engage in this amusing game of chase, and once I catch her I must carry her like a "sack of potatoes" over my shoulder or tears ensue. Then it's a fun game of seeing if I can wrangle her pajamas off of her as she giggles hysterically. Once she's pretty much down to the birthday suit, we have to get EVERY PAIR OF UNDERWEAR she owns, lay them out, and choose methodically which ones she will wear today. Once that's resolved, she must attempt to dress herself (which usually results in one or two items being backwords), then we re-dress, and then she has to attempt tying her own shoes. Now, if I'm not mistaken, tying shoes is something that is learned in kindergarten!!!! So you can feel my pain and agony as I see this impossible task unfold into tears and frustration, followed by "Them shoes broken. I wear slippers!"

Macey and "Baby Hazel" at Trader Joes