Even all these hours later, it's not hard to remember exactly how I felt this morning, sitting in my minivan in my garage with all four kids about to go to Target and the grocery store. I dreaded it. One of those "I'd rather have a root canal" moments. Yet it HAD to be done. I was down to only one diaper for John (which, in this "Age of Costco" is almost unheard of - I can't remember the last time it happened). (P.S. If you're reading this and wondering why my three year-old isn't potty-trained, then you're not my friend anymore!) And my refrigerator was ghost-town desolate.
It all turned out okay, both stops. My kids aren't monsters. But it takes a tremendous amount of Mom energy to keep watch in four directions, ensuring that none of my offspring trips a senior citizen. And believe me when I tell you that there are a LOT of senior citizens in the aisles of the grocery store on an early Thursday morning. I'm happy to say none broke a hip as a result of the "hop from one color tile to the other color tile" game that my children were playing. It could have gone a lot differently.
Tonight I sat on the couch reading and noticed when Kevin dozed off around 9:40. I was fighting to keep my eyes open and thought I'd come up here to blog and then brush my teeth and be done with the day. But I was puzzled about why I was so tired. And then I remembered that moment in the garage - BEFORE the shopping trip. And it all came back to me. And I'm blogging about it so that one day I'll be reminded how enormously difficult it seemed, and how tiring it all was. And hopefully I'll laugh about it then.
3 comments:
I hear ya! I have days when I feel brave enough to venture out with the four alone...and days when I don't. Sometimes I have to ask myself if I'm brave enough to do the outing before I mention it.
I prefer to shop alone too Teri. The more children I have the more I just stay home and improvise til I can escape without the kiddos.
It is tiring! At the end of the night, when the kids are finally in bed, it sometimes feels like I've been hit by a truck! When I think back and rack my brain as to why I could feel this way, it's simple-I was being a Mother all day long!
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