Two Things

Two Things I learned figured out this weekend (not sure why it took me an entire 5 weeks):

1. It takes a lot longer to get ready to go anywhere with two kids
2. You take everything with you when you go anywhere with two kids

Parent-friends out there, you hear what I’m sayin’, I know you do.

Remember back to when you were a single, or even dating or just married…when you wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, all you had to do was your mental check of:

• purse/wallet/money
• phone
• shoes (?)
• jacket
• keys

You checked yourself in the mirror, “Hey, looking good!”, and out the door you went!  It didn’t take long at all to get you ready and you weren’t really having to think of anyone else (even when you were married…well, most of the time at least!).

Now, with more than one child (one isn’t quite as dramatic as 2+ kids), it just gets out of hand.  For example, Saturday morning we were packing up to go to the market which is one of our favorite things to do especially since R wakes up at 7:30 am…  So we were getting the kids ready and this is how the checklist now looks:

• diapers for him
• diapers for her
• wipes
• burp cloths
• milk for him
• milk for her
• juice for him
• cooler bag with ice paks
• crackers for him
• change of clothes for him
• change of clothes for her
• jacket for him
• blanket for her (oops, we actually forgot this one…)
• socks for him
• shoes for him
• wallet/money
• phone
• keys
• water for us

I’m tired just now having listed all those things because in my mind I’m running around trying to get them all together and packed!!  Seriously, no more of the check the mirror and out the door we go.  It’s a production just to get out the door!  And God help us if R has a break-down!!

It’s definitely crazy.  But it’s crazy fun.  Andrew and I often laugh at each other when we feel like we’ve accomplished this feat…getting both kids in the car, then us (!!) and if we’ve not forgotten anything major or lost our minds with each other, we’ve had a major accomplishment!  High fives and fist bumps all around 😀  Woohoo!! We made it!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend because we sure did.  Life as a family of four (4!!!!) is THE.BEST.