Out and About

Today the kids and I went out for the first time in about a month I think. We might have gone out for vaccinations but other than that we've been laying pretty low. Part of that due to sickness and part due to weather, but mostly because very rarely do I feel it's worth the effort these days. This is so not like me! When it was just Jack we went out all the time. Most weeks we got out of the house at least 4 out of 5 weekdays. So I sorta feel like I'm on house arrest or something. Though no one is forcing us to stay in and I'm sure if I would try I could find plenty of places to go and things to do. Perhaps I've just gotten lazy. It's a lot of work to get everyone fed, dressed and out the door in the morning. And then to unload everyone and reload them and deal with the whining and crying, plus try and get home before it's time to eat again. Ahh! The twins are so much more scheduled than Jack ever was and they don't really do the best on outings. When Jack was a baby I took him everywhere and he did great. He slept in his car seat or in his stroller without much problem. Schaeffer and Logan refuse to sleep while we are out. They'll fall asleep in the car but as soon as I stop they wake up. So any time we go somewhere it is for sure a missed nap. Which isn't so bad occasionally and would be totally tolerable if they didn't scream and fuss in lieu of napping. Today I decided we needed to get out and I wanted to try and finish up the last of my Christmas shopping. So I sucked it up and put forth the effort. By the time we finished at Target I was ready to pull my hair out thanks to the never ending crying and whining coming from my brood. Plus when I finally pushed my stroller and cart through the thick slush to my van I was less than thrilled to find a vehicle parked so close to me on one side that I couldn't get my car seats in (and I have sliding doors-come on people!). Despite the disaster I decided we still had time to run to Best Buy, so on the quick drive I chatted with Jack about proper shopping behavior. This time I let him walk and surprisingly it went much better.  I guess that means we had about a 50% success rate on our outing today. Not too bad I guess. Thankfully everyone was quiet on the drive home. Now I have to decide whether or not that was worth all the effort!