you just get used to it
Wouldn't it be great if every place had a drive-thru window? I didn't appreciate drive-thrus until I had two kids. When it was just Daniel, running errands wasn't a big deal. Bring a snack, a juice cup and a toy, and he was good to go. Plus, there's just one of him and I have two arms, so it usually worked out. Now, of course, my arm: kid ratio is 1:1, which doesn't leave anything left over for carrying things like keys and extra diapers and groceries.
I just got back from a Starbucks run, something that makes me feel a little dirty and guilty for several reasons. The whole purpose, of course, was to get Daniel and Anya to sleep, something that is near impossible to do inside the house. Daniel resists naptime with his whole being, even though he desperately needs it, so most days I either walk him around the neighborhood in the stroller, or I cop out and drive somewhere. Today is yet another wet, miserable rainy day, so the stroller thing wasn't an option. Anyway, with gas costing what it does ($4.15/gallon in these parts) and cars polluting as they do, I hate driving for such a lame reason. Plus, there's the whole Starbucks not being a local company thing. And my three bucks going to a decadent latté instead of some household essential like food or toilet paper. And the disposable cup, even though it's made of recycled paper. But sometimes you just gotta do whatcha gotta do.
And I love the fact that Starbucks has a drive-thru window. Does that yuppify me? I love drive-up ATMs. The dry cleaner up the road has a drive-thru window, which would be quite handy if I ever had anything dry-cleaned. I wish the grocery store had a drive-thru. And the library (you know, for when you don't want to browse).
I've been thinking about this today in particular because this morning's errands were a series of annoying inconveniences and physical awkwardness. The kids behaved themselves, as they usually do, but still...We started off at Ace Hardware, where the sole purpose of the trip was to get a nightlight for Daniel's room. The newly-installed blackout drapes (which involved a trip to two different malls yesterday, ugh!) work so well that he woke up in the middle of the night scared of the dark, so Stu opened the door to his room, which let in the morning light, which got him up at the crack of dawn...so we had to get him a nightlight.
I was hoping to just run in, grab a nightlight, and run out, but Daniel saw the shopping cart with the car in front, so of course we had no choice but to use it. You know the car carts, right? They're about 20 feet long, totally awkward to push around, and kids LOVE them. Have you ever tried to navigate one of those things through the narrow aisles and tight corners of a hardware store with a baby on your hip? I don't recommend it. Twice we had to go the long way around the store to avoid getting stuck, and then Anya made a huge poop in her diaper (which could probably be heard halfway across the store) and I nearly knocked over an entire stack of mirrors trying to get out of there.
Once at the car, I put Anya down in the front seat to change her. I was out of wipes and had to use napkins, and poop got all over my rain jacket. (This will be important later.) There was, as always, running commentary from Daniel about what was going on. "Anya! Poop! Green poop! Mess!" But hey, I'm a mom. I'm getting used to this sort of thing. We had places to go, and I wasn't going to let a little poop stop me.
So we went to the library, where Daniel was more interested in running around than looking at books. Okay, fine. But at one point when he was looking out the window, I saw a puddle forming beneath him and realized that his diaper had totally leaked through. Would you believe I actually had a change of pants along? Amazing. But I had to change him in the bathroom with Anya in the Snugli front pack - because where else was I going to put her? On the back of the toilet? On the disgusting floor? Uh, no. - and then I went back to the place of the accident and tried to mop up the pee with an extra t-shirt I also had along. I probably should have reported this to the library staff, but I didn't. (Though my friend works there as the children's librarian, so Happy Stuff, if you're reading this, I'm really sorry. I'll get you guys some Lysol if you want...)
Next we went out for cocoa. Considering our previous errands, I knew it was risky, but I didn't want to go home yet and Daniel was asking for it so politely. Of course, as soon as we got to Borders, it started pouring rain...which wouldn't have mattered so much if my rain jacket hadn't just been covered in poop. So I grabbed the umbrella out of the trunk and balanced Anya on my hip, who by now was squirming and fussing with hunger (plus, she'd just pooped again) and just made do.
The rest of our outing went without major incident, I'm glad to say. I know I'm supposed to treasure every moment with my children while they're so little and sweet...but I have to admit that a part of me is looking forward to a time when they can clean up after themselves.
I just got back from a Starbucks run, something that makes me feel a little dirty and guilty for several reasons. The whole purpose, of course, was to get Daniel and Anya to sleep, something that is near impossible to do inside the house. Daniel resists naptime with his whole being, even though he desperately needs it, so most days I either walk him around the neighborhood in the stroller, or I cop out and drive somewhere. Today is yet another wet, miserable rainy day, so the stroller thing wasn't an option. Anyway, with gas costing what it does ($4.15/gallon in these parts) and cars polluting as they do, I hate driving for such a lame reason. Plus, there's the whole Starbucks not being a local company thing. And my three bucks going to a decadent latté instead of some household essential like food or toilet paper. And the disposable cup, even though it's made of recycled paper. But sometimes you just gotta do whatcha gotta do.
And I love the fact that Starbucks has a drive-thru window. Does that yuppify me? I love drive-up ATMs. The dry cleaner up the road has a drive-thru window, which would be quite handy if I ever had anything dry-cleaned. I wish the grocery store had a drive-thru. And the library (you know, for when you don't want to browse).
I've been thinking about this today in particular because this morning's errands were a series of annoying inconveniences and physical awkwardness. The kids behaved themselves, as they usually do, but still...We started off at Ace Hardware, where the sole purpose of the trip was to get a nightlight for Daniel's room. The newly-installed blackout drapes (which involved a trip to two different malls yesterday, ugh!) work so well that he woke up in the middle of the night scared of the dark, so Stu opened the door to his room, which let in the morning light, which got him up at the crack of dawn...so we had to get him a nightlight.
I was hoping to just run in, grab a nightlight, and run out, but Daniel saw the shopping cart with the car in front, so of course we had no choice but to use it. You know the car carts, right? They're about 20 feet long, totally awkward to push around, and kids LOVE them. Have you ever tried to navigate one of those things through the narrow aisles and tight corners of a hardware store with a baby on your hip? I don't recommend it. Twice we had to go the long way around the store to avoid getting stuck, and then Anya made a huge poop in her diaper (which could probably be heard halfway across the store) and I nearly knocked over an entire stack of mirrors trying to get out of there.
Once at the car, I put Anya down in the front seat to change her. I was out of wipes and had to use napkins, and poop got all over my rain jacket. (This will be important later.) There was, as always, running commentary from Daniel about what was going on. "Anya! Poop! Green poop! Mess!" But hey, I'm a mom. I'm getting used to this sort of thing. We had places to go, and I wasn't going to let a little poop stop me.
So we went to the library, where Daniel was more interested in running around than looking at books. Okay, fine. But at one point when he was looking out the window, I saw a puddle forming beneath him and realized that his diaper had totally leaked through. Would you believe I actually had a change of pants along? Amazing. But I had to change him in the bathroom with Anya in the Snugli front pack - because where else was I going to put her? On the back of the toilet? On the disgusting floor? Uh, no. - and then I went back to the place of the accident and tried to mop up the pee with an extra t-shirt I also had along. I probably should have reported this to the library staff, but I didn't. (Though my friend works there as the children's librarian, so Happy Stuff, if you're reading this, I'm really sorry. I'll get you guys some Lysol if you want...)
Next we went out for cocoa. Considering our previous errands, I knew it was risky, but I didn't want to go home yet and Daniel was asking for it so politely. Of course, as soon as we got to Borders, it started pouring rain...which wouldn't have mattered so much if my rain jacket hadn't just been covered in poop. So I grabbed the umbrella out of the trunk and balanced Anya on my hip, who by now was squirming and fussing with hunger (plus, she'd just pooped again) and just made do.
The rest of our outing went without major incident, I'm glad to say. I know I'm supposed to treasure every moment with my children while they're so little and sweet...but I have to admit that a part of me is looking forward to a time when they can clean up after themselves.
Comments
And, i hear you on the drive-up Starbuck's. A woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do, especially if she's the mother of a toddler and an infant. After all, we're what Starbuck's is all about. (Well, I'm about to be, in August.)
By the way, do you use a double stroller with Daniel and Anya when you go for walks? If so, how's that working for ya?
We don't have a double stroller...to be honest, I find them a little unwieldy and obnoxious, plus there's no way one would fit in our little car. I put Anya in the front pack and Daniel in the stroller. Anya's nearly strong enough to go in the back pack, so that will be the next step.
Congrats :)