Ever since J took his big trip (did I tell you where? That great northern state that is above Canada!), we've tried to take some solo-baby time. Meaning I take one child and he takes the other, and we go about our business. This is usually on the weekend, but occasionally in the late afternoon during the week if he's come home early.
I like to pretend sometimes that I only have one child.
There, I said it. I feel bad for saying it, but it's true. And it's kind of fun - to pretend to live like everyone else does. Like my friends do. Oh, I have fifteen errands to run, but it's no big deal because my ONE BABY is really easy and happy, and I can just pop him/her out of the car seat and go into a store without a stroller! (If I did go in with a double stroller and just one child, it might look kinda funny, right?)
So last week I was determined to Get Stuff Done Outside The House. With a child. Which is something I don't usually try to do, because between food, schedules, strollers, and gear, it can be fairly overwhelming.
I first took MyBoy out for errand time. He was wonderful - peaceful and happy, always smiling and looking around, pointing and grunting as he does. And we got so much done, but by the end, I was lagging. That child is heavy, waaaaay heavy, and he doesn't hold on with his legs, so it's basically like toting a bag of lard around on your hip.
The next time, I took MyGirl, thinking hey, this chick is tiny and light, with the grip of a vice. And she was equally as delightful, plus more. The girl was so happy to be out alone with me, and was entranced with everything she saw, everyone that paid attention to her, pretty much everything. And she wanted to touch it, feel it, eat it, pull it, or poke it.
On our girl's day, I was out to look for a few cute new outfits to take on my upcoming Girl's Weekend. We went from boutique to boutique and I had more and more trouble trying to keep her contained, especially in the dressing room. We ended up exiting all the cute stores rather quickly, and guess where we ended up?
The regular backup shopping excursion...Target. Might as well have had both babes with me!
3 comments:
I hear you! When we split the kids it's way easier. E took J out for an hour on Saturday and S and I had great fun at home together, much less exhausting. And for other families, if one parent is out running errands with a kid, the other parent has free time, whereas for us, the other parent... is out running errands with a kid.
What I thought was really funny about your post too was that Sarah is lighter than Jordan, and S holds grips my hip with her legs when I hold her so she's way easy, whereas J, 3 1/2 pounds heavier, doesn't help at all so does feel like a sack of potatoes.
Perhaps you need a cheap single stroller (like an umbrella stroller?) for these occasions, to keep one contained?
I am jealous that you live somewhere that you can go boutique to boutique, even if you do end up at Target.
Congrats to you on your two weeks at home with the kids. Sounds like you all did great. I feel like I need to try making the transition to one nap, but I've been totally at a loss on how to do it. Your plan makes a lot of sense to me.
I've only been one with one babe at a time a couple of times, and it's like a breath of fresh air. Things do seem so EASY with just one, and I love being able to lavish the attention on whoever is with me. The kid with me is usually so well-behaved and happy to have me all to him/herself. I wish I could do that more often.
I love having just one to watch. It depends on which one I get, though :) D is action Jaxkson, he wants to run about and get into everything, and he can throw a temper tantrum like nobody's business. If I have N, it's a bit like watching paint dry. He wants to play quietly by himself, since he never gets to do it, and he doesn't want any help from Mom, unless he really wants me to read him a book or something. I swear I could take a drive down the street, and when I came back he would be quietly doing his own thing. At those times, I wonder "What do parents of singletons DO all day?"
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