We should NEVER leave the house

Leaving home with three little people is not an easy task. Hell, just being at home with three little people is no easy task either, but it's much easier for all of us..especially me and my hubby. All three of them are so much happier and easier to deal with when they have have their schedule for naps, eating and playing...all at home, in their own beds, places to sit for mealtimes, and all the other stuff needed to get through our days and nights.

This summer, my hubby and I have sucked it up on a few weekends and ventured out with all three little people in tow. Packing for little people is hard for me because I always feel like I am either not bringing enough of something or too much of something else...or forgetting something. It's easy to pack for myself since I don't own that many clothes, I don't have much to pick from. It's the same for my hubby. By the time we have everything packed and loaded in the van, of course this is usually with the help of three little people, and finally have them in their car seats, the two of us look at each other, like what in the hell are we thinking!

Of course at first the little people are excited about where we are going...for all of about 10 minutes, when they realize they are stuck in one place and are not getting to where we are going in five minutes. We usually try to time it for them to either have just napped so they are at their happiest or when they are ready for a nap, so that just maybe they will sleep and we can actually drive in silence. This does not always work...hell it only works about 30% of the time. The rest of the time, we have a loud car ride, with at least one unhappy child, if not three. Little man that is 3 years old NEVER stops talking unless he falls asleep. At some point, one of us will declare that we truly are crazy and that just maybe we should turn around and go back before it's too late...but we don't.

This past weekend was one of these weekends. We didn't go very far...only an hour away but it felt like ten. We started out with freshly napped, fed and clean children who were more than happy to get in the van and go bye-bye. By the time we got to our destination, not so much.

We went to a 85th birthday party for my aunt, where I grew up and I was excited to see relatives I hadn't seen in a long time. They were just excited to get out of the van. Taking three little people to a party is interesting and of course everyone is excited to see them. Over all, it went well until someone I didn't know, tapped me on my shoulder and said "one of your little children just took off his diaper and there is poop all over." Good lord! Sure enough my 1 year old grandson, somehow had managed to get his diaper off in spite of having a one piece sun suit on, without even unsnapping the snaps! What a mess and how embarrassing. There was a little play area with toys that he was playing in and I had just checked on him. While my husband cleaned up inside, I hauled him out to the back of the van and had to give him a bath with baby wipes. Thank God I pack lots of changes of clothes. People at the party of course thought this was quite funny. But me, not so much.

From there we went to our next destination, which was my sisters house for a family party, which was only another 15 minutes. Even though the little people were good, they were into everything and this people is not relaxing for me. At home the three of them are in bed at around 7...sometime a little earlier, sometimes a little later, depending on the need that day but for the most part we stick to 7. This is when my hubby and I get to relax or I should say collapse. It took until 11 to get them to finally sleep...ugg. Believe me when I say, I wanted to go home way before then, but we didn't. We were crazy, and stuck it out.

We got home yesterday at around 4:30, with three very crabby little people. After unloading and putting everything away...if we didn't they would be digging in it, feeding them a bowl of cereal, giving them a bath, and then a video of none other then Dora, they were in bed at 6:30. Can I hear a sigh of relief? Finally peace and quiet...my hubby and I both collapsed...the words "this is why I don't like leaving the house"..."why do we do this?"..."we must be crazy"..."we are way too old for this"..."never again" are uttered and then more beautiful silence and then a smile because we know we will. Yep, we are crazy.