Getting out with triplets

Last night only Hannah woke up and it was only twice.  Hopefully tonight they will all sleep through the whole night. 

Pete has pretty much taken over the kids this weekend and I've been able to get some stuff done.  It's not that I mind taking the kids with me when I go out but right now I'll be honest - it's hard.  The 'job' of getting the kids dressed, to the car, buckled in and on the road isn't hard.  It's keeping a level head and having the patience to get through the whole process...that's the hard part.  The girls are very independent now so they want to do everything themselves.  But when you have three of them and you're sort of pressed for time - letting them do things by themselves isn't always an option.  I try my best to leave plenty of time to get out the door.  We start getting ready very early.  But the patience part is where I need work.  I don't know if I can even explain it but I'll try.

Say we have to be to the doctor at 11:30.  My goal will be to leave the house by 10:30...it takes about 30 minutes to get there so this leaves me some room...but not much and you'll see why. 

We start getting ready around 9:00.  I need to make sure they have eaten (or have food for the car) and something to drink.  I bought them water bottles - and water is what we take to go.  I always leave a bag in the car which has diapers and wipes...but I check it every time I leave to make sure there's enough of both.  The girls will let me dress them - until it's time for coats, shoes, hats, scarves and mittens.  So by 9:30 I give them the 'let's get ready to go...time to put shoes on' warning and I start cleaning up the house a bit.  This means they're stumbling over each other (well Hannah & Hailey are.  Emily waits for the last minute of everything to even start doing something).  By 9:45 I'm feeling pressed for time because I know I have only 1/2 hour left to get ON THE ROAD. 

As I'm getting everything together to leave I tell the girls that I'm going out to start the car.  When I come back in - they better have their shoes on or they lose the choice of doing it themselves and I do it for them.  (Emily scrambles at this point).  I usually have to make 2 or 3 trips to the car depending on where we are going and how much stuff I have.  I need to be empty handed when it's time to take the girls to the car. 

By 9:50 the car is started and packed and I'm inside looking at 2 out of 3 kids with shoes on the wrong feet.  I tell them how they did a great job, explain they should switch their shoes (but I don't make them) and start putting jackets on.  They want to do it themselves.  We have the 'jacket on the floor' trick down pretty good so they do this.  Then hats, scarves and mittens follow.  Remember this is times 3. 

By 10:00 we should be walking out the door.  Getting out the door is a pain.  I have no idea why it is but they always seem to take forever to get thru the front door.  And it's a pain because I have to hold the door open with one hand while shoeing them out with the other.  They want to hold hands, and one wants to go 1st and one forgot her baby and one now wants to change her shoes to the right feet and one needs to go put her baby away......All of this while I'm standing with the door open saying 'Move!  Get out the door!  Walk!  Let's go!  We're going to be late!' 

Ok - we're out the door and it's locked...and we get to the car (hopefully trip/fall/boo boo free).  Once in the car they have to get in their seats themselves.  If I put them in their seat - they will cry and climb out of their seats screaming 'I DO IT!'  It's just easier to foster their independence. 

So they're in their seats and I have to buckle them in.  It's a pain to buckle in 3 kids with jackets on.  But if I let them take their jackets off - that means more time when we get where we are going to put their jackets back on.  I opt to leave the jackets on for trips that are less than an hour drive.  So I buckle them in, take of their hats, tuck in the jacket collar 'just right' so it's not 'bothering' them.  Take off the mittens (we would never find them if they took them off) and wipe their runny noses (a walk to the car in the cold means their noses of course are dripping). 

By this point I've probably yelled/screamed a million times "I will get it when you are buckled in!  Sit down please!  No you may not get out and take your jacket off!"  Along with many other things that I can't think of right now. 

Finally they're all buckled in.  8 out of 10 times I have to run back inside to get something that was forgotten.  By the time I get back to the car to leave - I'm sweating from all the work and peeling off my own jacket and wondering when the hell summer will be here so this isn't such a task. 

IF we leave by our goal time of 10:30 then it's great.  And I have to say that usually that's the case.  So we are on the road and driving.  We arrive (as long as there isn't traffic) at the doctors office by 11:00/11:10.  Time to unbuckle everyone, get them out of their seats but not out of the car.  I need to get out of the car 1st so no one takes off (not that I think they would but....).  So picture me with 3 toddlers packed into the back of a minivan without being in seats.  Lol...I'll have to say that more people have probably seen my ass crack more time than they want to! 

As I get out, I pull them out one by one and we make our human handholding chain while walking through the parking lot to the front door.  Then up the elevator, down a million hallways and finally into the doctors office.  This whole process is usually about 15 minutes.  So we walk in between 11:15 - 11:25 for our 11:30 appt. 

Can you see how keeping my patience at a level playing field can get challenging? 

And we have to do this process for EVERY STOP I make.  So after the doctor - we usually head to CVS for prescriptions.  You think the drive thru would be easier but you can't wait at the drive thru...you have to come back.  Sometimes I do drop it off and then ask Pete to pick it up on his way home.  But I also feel like I'm being lazy when I do this.  The girls should be able to enjoy a day out just as much as anyone else.  And simply because it takes longer to do the normal everyday things shouldn't mean they can't do the normal everyday things. 

I'm tired just writing this post. 

So with all of this said.  If you see me kid free out at a store and I'm flying by you like a madwoman...it's because I probably have 78 more stops to make in less than 5 hours and you better believe I'm gonna get it done!  So stay out of my way!!!!!!  LOL