Monday, October 4, 2010

traveling with 3 & the infinite wisdom of daddy

taking all 3 kids anywhere always involves a certain amount of planning, but taking them out solo is another story all together.
in addition to getting everyone freshly diapered, packing the diaper bag, & loading everyone into the van, there is also the ever present consideration of our means of mobility once we get where we're going. do we need the double stroller? emma's stroller? am i carrying some one? wearing some one? if i'm wearing, which wrap is best? will i have to nurse em while we're out? how many hands will i have free at any given time? how many & what type of doors will we have to navigate? spinning? automatic? manual? are they likely to be skinny doors, or will i be able to fit the stroller?

this may seem like an unhealthy preoccupation with ways and means (& especially doors), but there are few things worse than being trapped outside a building with a stroller that can't navigate the automatic door & no hands free to manuever a infant car seat carrier plus double stroller thru a entrance way while one or all of your kids are crying in some sort of distress. it also similarly sucks to try to nurse a baby while your 18 mo. old toddlers are not safely confined to their stroller, or being unable to wrangler one or both of said toddlers bc your baby-wearing apperatus doesn't give you sufficient maneuverability & you have no secure place to set down the littlest baby, who cannot yet sit unsupported. all of these are very important concerns when planning an outing of any sort with two 18 mo. olds & a 4 mo. old baby.

i mention all of this bc i have to take conrad to the doc this afternoon (persistant sick of some kind that's been getting progressively worse over the last 2 weeks) & have no one to watch the other 2 during the appointment. i am the only person i know who has braved taking all 3 kiddos somewhere public on their own, & while it can be done, it is not something any one in their right mind would choose to do unless they had to.

anyways, people often seem to take for granted just how much work it is & how much planning it takes to accomplish even the smallest errands with 3 babies. for instance-- my darling husband, who has never taken all 3 kids anywhere by himself, nor been alone with all 3 for longer than 2 hrs, very nearly escaped a frying pan to the head after a "helpful" sugestion. when i mentioned last night that i was running out to get milk so i didn't have to take everyone to the store today, the dear man calmly informed me that i really should just start running errands with all of the kids, bc, after all, i AM a mother of 3. i won't mention the immediate aftermath of such a stupid remark, suffice to say that if he ever tries to tell me how to do my job again, he may find himself a SINGLE father of 3.

i do love the man, but sometimes i wonder if he's swapped his brain for a sausage.

3 comments:

  1. Bahahaha...what in the world was that man thinking?? Oh wait, he wasn't! You should send him out for milk with all 3 and see how he feels then.. ;)

    I have no idea about 3 - but I can only imagine, as you have to plan for that stuff (doors, stroller vs carseat vs just carrying, diaper bag, toys, etc) with just ONE! I couldn't imagine multiplying that by three - so I completely applaud you for even attempting... I really don't think I could do it! You are supermom!!

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  2. I literally gasped at his response. He would have gotten a swift kick in the family jewels if it was me!!

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  3. I totally understand your preoccupation with the whole travel thing! It makes sense to me...

    And one child, or three, it's nice to go out for milk...BY YOURSELF... every now and then.

    He must have swapped his brain for a sausage, I agree.

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