After Ellie's AM nap I decided to take the girls to the grocery store. It was before Audrey's nap..which is always a little risky, but I decided to chance it, with the help of McDonalds fries on the way there to tide her over before lunch... ;-)
It's always more work in general to go anywhere with the girls, but getting in & out of the car seems to be one thing I always dread. I NOW LOVE DRIVE THRUS! Not that I personally didn't appreciate pharmacy trips on the way home from the hospital or enjoy burgers, fries, tacos or a large gallon size of Root Beer on my own.... but I now long for places like Quiznos, Great Harvest Bread & GROCERY stores (yeah right..) to get with the program & add a drive through window already! Geesh, don't these places think about Moms with small children?? It sounds silly but it's something we adults totally take for granted. One buckle & you're out & walking! Until you're a Mom.
Picture this: One buckle, open door. Put keys in pocket. Close door, open door #2. Strap baby carrier to self, making sure all those 23 buckles are in place. Lean in, unbuckle 2 buckles, remove baby from car seat. Strap baby in, buckle, buckle, buckle.. Close door. Walk around car, open door. Lean in & grab shopping cart cover from behind car seats for your pneumonia-ridden child. Place under arm pit. Unbuckle 2 buckles from antsy toddler. Instruct to hold sippy cup and any remainder of fries. Place antsy toddler on hip, while she continues to ask to walk, right beside baby in front pack and on the opposite side of shopping cart cover. Close door. Slightly panic because you're not sure if you remembered to put car keys within easy reach once you stepped out of car. Check pocket. Fumble through purse. Check other pocket. Remove keys, lock door behind you. Remain calm & walk with dignity & confidence. Hobble into store for shopping cart to situate the cover, children and your sanity before you begin shopping under a strict timeline of when someone gets cranky, poopy or hungry. Oh and at this point I've most likely received many a looks from the elderly population with a sigh & a tilt of the head of empathy remembering when...
Despite the chaos -before- actually entering the store, everything was going great, I was making wise & healthy food choices (okay somehow Fishy Crackers & a plastic inflated bright pink BALL got put into the cart....note to self: avoid that aisle next time...), we were on our way to the check stand.
I smiled & chatted with the check stand lady, glad we'd been quick enough everyone was still happy & that going down for a nap should be as routine as if we'd never left the house. And then I swiped my new credit card. The lady kindly informed me that they did not accept credit card there. I cried a little inside. I did a peripheral glance towards the growing line of people behind me. I died a little more inside when the man behind me readjusted himself with a tilt of the head out of impatience, no empathy from the middle-aged overweight impatient man population, apparently. I smiled & told the lady I could not pay. She offered to have them bag my things so that I could go get money & come back. She apparently was unaware how many buckles it takes to "go & come back"!!!!! :-) I agreed and after a small conversation about how this lady would need to have the beloved new pink ball back, which had already been explained to this lady that "this ball is mine. It's my ball.." I left my pride behind & walked out of that store just as we walked in. No groceries, but arms full.
Buckle, buckle, everyone back in car. This grocery store happened to be the one at the end of town, farthest away from our house, which just slightly added to the stress of "quickly going back home & back to the store" to reclaim my pride. We made it & I'm not even ashamed to say I left my children in the car while I ran inside our house to grab the cash on the counter I assumed I would not need due to new credit card. We live in a safe everyone-watches-out-for-one-another neighborhood & to my credit I locked them inside for the brief 27 seconds I was away. And if you're still judging my parenting and especially are not a parent read up a few paragraphs to see why I may have decided not to go through that again.. :-)
Back to the store, back to get our things, back home. Thankfully Audrey stayed pretty cheerful through the whole thing, and ended up taking a good long nap once we did finally get back home.
And Thankfully I actually did have money, just not when & where I needed it at the time.
Some days my loving husband suggests I take the girls someplace while he is away working, for fun. Some days he comes home from somewhere & encourages me such&such would be a fun little "outing" to go on with the girls, by myself, for fun. I continue to reassure him that sometimes it's just a lot of work, and that I enjoy being home and/or strolling somewhere instead. He is a wonderful daddy & an appreciative husband, but has, for the record, never taken the girls out together anywhere by himself besides once or twice to eager helpful grandparent hands. :-)
And, unfortunately, he may never now that I posted the logistics of what a car ride entails! :-/
YOU CAN DO IT!! :-)
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