I told you so

It didn't go quite as bad as I thought it would, but it was still pretty bad none the less. We ended up going to John's branch for a visit then onto Starbucks and Wholefoods afterwards. Things started going a little sour when we were trying to get ready - Michael was excited and was stimming by alternately spinning around on the bed and running back and forth down the upstairs hallway. I finally got him to calm down enough to get dressed, but of course then Alex started up - nothing quite like trying to hurry your first child which is a study in frustration to begin with while your infant is screaming because the operations needed to get the first child dressed are not conducive to baby holding or wearing (maybe a back carry but I haven't practiced those yet). There were many small mini meltdowns and quite a few large ones over the rest of the trip. Oh and a note to the general public - would it really kill you to acknowledge the exuberant child saying, "Hi! How are you?". Having to distract him from those people who ignore him (because he will continue to ask it until he gets a response) is very frustrating and I'm not quite ready for my almost four year-old to learn that some people just don't care.

Not only do I have to learn to do these outings with two children, I am really out of practice for handling the meltdowns in public. I'm sure the chip on my shoulder was practically a flashing neon sign proclaiming, "Sure, go ahead and ask me why I can't control my child." I think we are going to have to go back to really using the stroller in these situations. Because I was so dependant on buses for most of my pregnancy, we stopped using it and he was doing great. Now he's taking to ripping his hand out of mine and dashing off in the other direction. I don't think a harness is going to work in this situation, but I could be wrong. There might be some initial crying when he gets in the stroller but he does truly seem happier in it, like he knows it's the best thing for both of us. Lots of things to think about.

Just one more thing before I nip off to see to Mr. Man - I think I deserve way mad props for making chicken enchiladas tonight for dinner from scratch, especially after my afternoon of being "that mom" in the grocery store/library/Starbucks. If I get the pumpkin bread done after the kids are in bed tonight, I think I'll have a June Cleaver trifecta.

Must dash - TTFN!