"Punctuality is the politeness of princes ... Fr. l'exactitude est la politesse des rois, punctuality is the politeness of kings (attributed to Louis XVIII, 1755–1824)."
DH's sisters have an (entirely warranted) reputation in the family for lateness. Indeed there have been occasions when they have set out from Kent where they live (2 hours from us) at the time they were due to arrive, so we tend to tell them to get to wherever about 2 hours in advance of when they need to be there (christenings, weddings etc) They nearly missed DD3's wedding although for once it had not been entirely their fault but a massive pile-up and traffic jams on the M2 and M25 coming into London from Kent. Mind you we have been caught out ourselves when assuming this ETA+2 one Christmas many years ago when we were all lounging around in our PJs, un showered and un hairwashed when one of the DDs exclaimed OMG Granny's coming up the path!
Anyway this year they and nephew (22) were due to arrive on Christmas Eve sometime in the afternoon altough I had recommended attempting to get part of the journey done in daylight as the M25 can be a nightmare. I picked up DDs and SILs and granddog from the station around 4 and looked forward to the others' arrival, tea together maybe a festive mince pie? I had a phone call from one Sis IL around 6 and thought perhaps they were having the journey from hell, but oh no, they were just setting out. OK. I delayed supper (being smoked haddock chowder it would keep) and they arrived just before 10 having left at 7.30.
DH was furious at what he saw as their thoughtlessness - I just let it go as what could I have said or done without causing unpleasantness.
(I tend to err the other way - I am so afraid of getting lost/hitting bad traffic/breaking down/needing to find a loo that I tend to try to leave at least 30 minutes early!)
How do you acknowledge Easter.