How I Spent My Night's Vacation
Ellie took care of Abbie tonight. This meant I was on a semi-vacation, as I only had to care for two children. I celebrated by taking my charges to the nearby big-box store for some Vital Supplies.
This was the first time I’d ever left the house with just the twins. Usually I take the whole family or just Abbie to procure Vital Supplies. I don’t go out with just the twins under the theory that it’s easier to watch and entertain one toddler than two infants. In actuality, it may have been easier for me to take the twins than Abbie. The twins slept the whole time, or were at least content to sit quietly in their stroller. Abbie requires constant supervision to keep her in the cart, and out of the recognizable boxes of foodstuffs I throw in the cart like Goldfish, Fruit Rounds, and frozen peas. The big drawback to taking the twins is trying to lug around their carriers about the store; Abbie or one infant carrier fits nicely in the child seats of most carts, but the other infant carrier has to fit in the cart’s basket, leaving scant room for groceries, and no space for a box of diapers, especially in the warehouse-special-economy-big-enough-to-have-a-gravitational-pull size that we buy. I only needed a couple items on this excursion, so I solved the cart conundrum by using the stroller and its basket to carry my purchases; the boys rode in familiar comfort while I comparison-shopped for shampoo.
We left the house about an hour before their schedule naptime. I hoped to keep them awake until close to their naptime, and then let them drift off to sleep at the appropriate time, keeping our universe in sync for the rest of the day. Instead they lost consciousness shortly after landing in the car. I figured this breech of schedule would be okay if I could just keep them asleep until close to their regular wake time. Instead they woke up right about the time they should have been falling asleep. They were pleasant instead of hungry and cranky like they usually are when they wake, so I hoped the rest of the night would be as quiet.
We returned home 30 minutes before their scheduled mealtime, and the boys were still happier than an 11-seed in the Final Four. I put them in their crib hoping they might fall asleep and return to a semblance of their schedule, while I sat down to my mealtime. They never fell asleep, but they were happy to look around their crib while I steamed my broccoli.
When their mealtime arrived, they were still calm. I fed them and hoped the rest of the night would go so smoothly. They took their bottles, and instead immediately degenerated into tired, cranky, fussy babies. I spent the rest of the night picking up a fussing baby, soothing him, calming him, and then setting him down so I could pick up his brother who threw a fit while on the floor. They drifted off to sleep around 8:30pm, which would have been great, but I wanted them to eat another bottle before bedtime so they didn’t wake up hungry in a couple hours around the time I finally drift to sleep while dreaming of an economy size box of diapers so big that the price per diaper approaches zero.
I propped the boys up, stuck bottles in their mouths, and let them eat. When I say “eat,” I of course mean they kept their mouths open while sleeping, occasionally swallowing whatever milk happens to dribble into their mouths. With a lot of needling, they finished their bottles. Unfortunately I needled Tory a bit too hard while encouraging him to take that last quarter-ounce, and he suffered a complete meltdown. I held Tory on my shoulder with one hand to calm him, and Ian’s bottle in my other hand to finish feeding him. With great luck, Tory calmed down just as Ian finished his bottle and before he could start fussing. I quickly swaddled both and set them down with their pacifiers to drift off to sleep, finally back on schedule.
My night was still easier than caring for all three children simultaneously.
This was the first time I’d ever left the house with just the twins. Usually I take the whole family or just Abbie to procure Vital Supplies. I don’t go out with just the twins under the theory that it’s easier to watch and entertain one toddler than two infants. In actuality, it may have been easier for me to take the twins than Abbie. The twins slept the whole time, or were at least content to sit quietly in their stroller. Abbie requires constant supervision to keep her in the cart, and out of the recognizable boxes of foodstuffs I throw in the cart like Goldfish, Fruit Rounds, and frozen peas. The big drawback to taking the twins is trying to lug around their carriers about the store; Abbie or one infant carrier fits nicely in the child seats of most carts, but the other infant carrier has to fit in the cart’s basket, leaving scant room for groceries, and no space for a box of diapers, especially in the warehouse-special-economy-big-enough-to-have-a-gravitational-pull size that we buy. I only needed a couple items on this excursion, so I solved the cart conundrum by using the stroller and its basket to carry my purchases; the boys rode in familiar comfort while I comparison-shopped for shampoo.
We left the house about an hour before their schedule naptime. I hoped to keep them awake until close to their naptime, and then let them drift off to sleep at the appropriate time, keeping our universe in sync for the rest of the day. Instead they lost consciousness shortly after landing in the car. I figured this breech of schedule would be okay if I could just keep them asleep until close to their regular wake time. Instead they woke up right about the time they should have been falling asleep. They were pleasant instead of hungry and cranky like they usually are when they wake, so I hoped the rest of the night would be as quiet.
We returned home 30 minutes before their scheduled mealtime, and the boys were still happier than an 11-seed in the Final Four. I put them in their crib hoping they might fall asleep and return to a semblance of their schedule, while I sat down to my mealtime. They never fell asleep, but they were happy to look around their crib while I steamed my broccoli.
When their mealtime arrived, they were still calm. I fed them and hoped the rest of the night would go so smoothly. They took their bottles, and instead immediately degenerated into tired, cranky, fussy babies. I spent the rest of the night picking up a fussing baby, soothing him, calming him, and then setting him down so I could pick up his brother who threw a fit while on the floor. They drifted off to sleep around 8:30pm, which would have been great, but I wanted them to eat another bottle before bedtime so they didn’t wake up hungry in a couple hours around the time I finally drift to sleep while dreaming of an economy size box of diapers so big that the price per diaper approaches zero.
I propped the boys up, stuck bottles in their mouths, and let them eat. When I say “eat,” I of course mean they kept their mouths open while sleeping, occasionally swallowing whatever milk happens to dribble into their mouths. With a lot of needling, they finished their bottles. Unfortunately I needled Tory a bit too hard while encouraging him to take that last quarter-ounce, and he suffered a complete meltdown. I held Tory on my shoulder with one hand to calm him, and Ian’s bottle in my other hand to finish feeding him. With great luck, Tory calmed down just as Ian finished his bottle and before he could start fussing. I quickly swaddled both and set them down with their pacifiers to drift off to sleep, finally back on schedule.
My night was still easier than caring for all three children simultaneously.
posted by Matt at
10:31 PM
1 Comments:
I went to Target yesterday, full well knowing that you can't really do your grocery shopping with two babies for the exact reason you mentioned--where do you put the groceries? I let Baylee sit up front and let Brayden sit in the cart part and strategically placed groceries around him and on the bottom of the cart. It will get us through another week, but I don't really recommend it. The problem is Chris works on Saturdays, so that only leaves Sundays for me to shop, which are usually marked by church, family get-togethers, etc...
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Amy, at 9:33 AM
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