It was a typical Sunday. 7 am wake up call from my three year old leaning in close to my face and breathing heavily on me, laughing. My five month old twins making noises in their cribs while kicking their tiny legs a mile a minute. My husband covering his head with the blankets in hopes to not having to get out of bed any time soon. Yes, a typical Sunday morning except this particular Sunday was going to be a little different, we were going to be leaving the house.
Leaving the house is not a big deal. Not a big deal if you don't have kids. Not a big deal if you don't have a toddler and five month old twins to get ready. On this day, this sunny, mild March day, my husband and I decided we would all go to the mall to get a picture with the Easter Bunny. We do it every year since our daughter was born. The Easter Bunny and Santa pictures at the mall. This would be the first picture with the Easter Bunny for our twins. How exciting, but was it worth it? (of course it was!)
We planned on leaving the house around three o'clock. This meant I had to start getting my toddler dressed and hair brushed at twelve o'clock. Yes, getting a three year old ready to leave the house really does take that long, at least for my three year old. It's a struggle. A struggle to go potty. A struggle to find the perfect pair of socks, no... tights, no... socks, yes... socks. A struggle to pick out what bow to put in her hair. A struggle to eat something before we leave. Can you see where I'm at? It's a three year old's world and I am just the mother.
I also had to get our twins dressed. This meant having the very delicate decision to either dress them before or after they ate. I opted before for our son and after for our daughter. Of course it didn't much matter. Our son spit up before he ate, while he ate, and after he ate. He even spit up in the car on our way to the mall.
We then had to get everyone in the minivan. My husband put our toddler and one of the twins in first. Then I brought out the diaper bag and the other twin. I sat in the driver's seat. "Did you remember the receipt for the Easter Bunny?" (we paid online). Shit. I have to go back inside. "My friend, Mommy! And my baby." OK, so I go back into the house and get the Bunny receipt and my daughter's friend, which happens to be one of those toy poppers (the toy with the handle that pops balls around inside a plastic bubble when you walk with it). I also pick out a random baby from her bed in hopes that she will just except the fact I didn't know which baby she was talking about. I get back to the car and success! She decided not to have a breakdown over the "wrong" baby I picked out.
With all that we made it to the mall. We were walking through the parking lot, I look down and notice our daughter had her shoes on the wrong feet. How is she not complaining? She complains about her shoes, sneakers, boots, all the time because she would rather be barefoot, yet she thinks having her shoes on the wrong feet is comfortable? Ugh. We get inside and I help her switch them around. Luckily that was a smooth process.
Walking through the mall with a running, skipping, just plain excited toddler and a double stroller with twins in tow is an interesting experience. We get comments like, "Oh, they must be twins." "Wow, they have their hands full." "You must be the big sister?" "What are they?" "Are they identical?" "Are they twins?" We also get smiling faces, chuckles, sometimes looks of sympathy. It's definitely different from just going out with one baby/kid. Having twins almost gives you a bright, blinking sign that says, "Hey everybody! Come check me and my family out. Look at my three under four mommy life. Look, I have twins and a toddler. Look, look, look!"
Anyway, we finally get to where the Easter Bunny is. We always do the "Fast Pass" (order online beforehand) so we don't have to wait on line. This saves us a lot of time and also helps deter a possible toddler and baby melt down. I had to prep my daughter beforehand, telling her that she would not be able to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap because her baby brother and sister would have to be held by him. She seemed OK with it. Once she saw the bunny, she didn't really seem to care where she was as long as it was near him anyway. She was so star struck. It was adorable, at least to me and my husband.
The photo went off without a hitch. No crying babies, everyone was awake, toddler was smiling and looking at the camera. It was great. But the best part of the day: my husband and I didn't have to be in the picture like we did when we saw Santa this past Christmas due to toddler not wanting me to let her go. I don't want to be in these pictures so, yes, that was the best part of the day!
No comments:
Post a Comment