I feel like today was a half success. In the morning I had to take Sean to the doctor to get two of the shots that were unavailable at his two month check. I decided to go ahead and take all four of the kids because it would be a quick in and out appointment and they can't run away once we are in the office. I started packing them up at 9 o'clock (the appointment was not till 9:45). Getting them in to the car at home is easy, it just takes time. Getting them out of the car and into the Mobi (Sean) and the double stroller (Molly and Julia) with Cassidy walking is a little more complicated and it has to be done in just the right order. Crazy Molly always wants to walk when I need her to ride, and she wants to ride when I need her to walk, so there always seems to be a minor melt down involved. By the time we got to the office Sean was asleep, so the poor guy had to wake up to get two shots, yuck. He turned so red while getting the shots, but he didn't cry quite as much as last time, and he was again asleep by the time we got to the car. Getting the girls back into their car seats while parked in a parking lot is a little stressful sometimes and defintely has to be done in the right order, but I am always a little nervous having to leave one or two in the stroller while I attend to the others, afraid that someone driving is just not going to be paying attention. But there is no way to get them all out in one feel swoop and so I do the best, the fastest I can. So that trip went well. Minus Sean's crying every time the car would stop moving be it for a red light or a stop sign. He is not a car seat baby.
Cassidy and Molly had a play date today which was wonderful. Despite the fact that Julia took the shortest nap ever, as did Sean, it was still nice to have a little break. I should have taken Sean and Julia to drop off our absentee ballots and stop by the store, but I didn't think I had enough time and so I had to take all four kids to the store and the school (our voting place). So again getting them all in the car and out of the car. This time I let Molly and Cassidy walk. Molly is the x-factor and the main reason we don't get out much, even when all four are awake (rare that it is). She has a tendency to not listen, not stay close by, and to not pay attention to where she is walking. That makes it hard when I have to keep track of three other kids. If it was just her it's frustrating but when it is all of them, it's a deal breaker. But she did well at the school. Of course it only took one minute to drop off the ballots, but 5 minutes to get them all back in the car. Then the store. Oh the store. Not fun. Not pleasant. It was already 5 pm and that means close to dinner time. I don't know about you but from 430 on it is CHAOS. They must have an internal clock that tells them to go nuts. At one point Cassidy and Molly take off down one aisle and up the next. I have catch up. I guess it doesn't sound bad now but trying to get them to walk past all the yummy looking food without picking it up, grabbing the rolls out of the bins, touching the hot surface under the chickens, not grabbing the jars of food, go really tiring. Shopping with just Cassidy walking is slow enough at times but her and Molly... oh my. But we survived. We even saw a man from our ward who commented on how well we seemed to be doing. Thank you. We made it, barely. I won't be doing that again for awhile. Molly just needs to get a little easier to corral.
Sunday I took the four to church alone as Joe was sick. At least he was able to help get them ready and in the car. Sacrament meeting was entertaining. Molly went nuts, Cassidy was crying, Julia was a doll, and Sean spent most of the meeting being held by the couple behind us. The logistics of getting the four of them (and all the stuff they need) from the car to the church to the classes and them back into the car... Thank heavens for those who were willing to give us a hand, and for Grandpa (who isn't a member) meeting us at church to help during Sacrament. I felt the love.
Don't take this as complaining. I just thought it would be interesting to know the logistics of getting four kids four years old and under from point a to point b as a single individual. Pleasantly difficult.
