It's amazing how even the simple things like eating lunch out and grocery shopping become quite the feat with toddlers. Especially when you are outnumbered. That's why when my mother-in-law called to ask me if I wanted to meet her and my niece for lunch I hesitated for a split second. I thought over the scenario of a not quite 3 year old, 2 year old and a 1 year old with only two adults. It could get pretty ugly but throwing caution to the wind, I agreed. Yeah, this is me living life on the edge these days, haha.
We met at a local diner and amazingly the three behaved quite well. Several people stopped by our table on their way out to tell us how well behaved our children were! I smiled sweetly and said thank you while thinking, in about 2 seconds one of them will probably fling a whole plate of food on the floor and they will all be screaming at the top of their lungs. But much to my surprise the meal went quite smoothly. After putting jackets on I carried my youngest while I held my older son's hand and his little cousin held his hand and they followed me out of the restaurant. We received lots of smiles on the way out. I have to admit they must have looked adorable. Not because they look alike but because they are such contrasts. My 13 month old son is still bald with light brown eyes, my older son has straight black hair and dark eyes and my niece has beautiful blond curls with blue eyes. My heart swelled with pride of these cuties as we walked out. This was one dining in public experience that we could mark as a success.
And then there is grocery shopping. I will be honest grocery shopping is the only kind of shopping I do these days. With two toddlers and living on a tight budget there is rarely time or money for any other kind of shopping. I realized soon after the birth of my second son that this was not going to be an easy task. I remember those first couple months when I would have to strategically plan trips to the grocery store to avoid nap and feeding times. I would have to strap a baby carrier on to the front of me and put the other one in the cart and it was the middle of winter. It has gotten slightly easier. Now the challenge is when the cart gets too full my not quite 3 year-old has to walk. Oh he loves this, but his little hands are touching everything. I tell him the cart is so heavy he has to help push, this works for about 3 minutes. Then there is the check-out line with the rows of candy at eye level. This has not become too much of an issue yet, but I know it will. Some days it goes smoothly others not so much!
For instance, one time I needed to run in for 2 dozen eggs. I thought I could do this easily and quickly without a cart. Well you can picture, one baby on my hip, 2 dozen eggs under the other arm and trying to keep hold of a toddlers hand. To top it off the one check out line at that entrance was a mile long. After the third elderly lady told me to get a cart that I was going to have scrambled eggs, I bit my tongue when I wanted to tell them to mind their own business! I drug my children to the other end of the store to check out and then after I peered outside and saw it was raining buckets I decided to finally get a cart. As we stood outside under the roof waiting for the rain to stop (because of course I didn't have an umbrella) a nice man offered his umbrella so we could get to our car! Sigh...lesson learned there is no such thing as an easy in and out for one item with two kids!
These are things I never even thought of before children. Anyone who has had two children under two years old understands the struggle of sometimes just getting them from point A to point B. In and out of car seats, across parking lots and through doors! It can be so tiring and stressful that sometimes it is easier to just stay home. But then we usually are finally driven to a point of insanity that you have to get out. And you find the strength to do incredible feats like taking them to the mall and actually trying on and buying something you desperately needed while avoiding all meltdowns. Chalk one up to parents who manage to do many things with toddlers in tow!
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