It Got Easier, For a Second…The Hassle of Taking The Kids Out By Myself

As a mom of three young girls and a husband who works, I find myself having to take them shopping and to run errands by myself quite often. I’ve always been told that taking them out was going to get easier as they got older, but I’m not sure that’s even true. From being stopped to be asked whether or not the “little ones are twins” or having to haul ass to the nearest bathroom to avoid an accident, I am yet to see things get easier.

It never fails. Any time I’m out with my three daughters – my 3 ½ year old twins, Mia and Laila, and 6-year-old Anneka – someone always has to walk up to me just to ask me if they are twins. Of course, I don’t sigh or roll my eyes (though I am doing this internally), I just answer “yes”, then smile and nod. It’s actually more annoying than one would think. Especially if it happens every time you’re out.

Not every day, but many times when I’m out with my IDENTICAL twin daughters, I dress them alike. Even if they are not wearing the exact same thing, I put them in similar outfits. I will put both twins in skirts, or both in the same dress, just different colors. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t ruin my day and I’m not petty enough to yell “What do you think? They just have the SAME FACE!”… It’s just a hassle to get stopped out in public just to ask me questions about my daughters.

A few months back I was in Target with the girls and I ran into another mom of twin little girls, who were 2 years old. We struck up a conversation about how the first days of having twins was a struggle and how things are getting much easier. I remember the days of having to carry two car seats through the cold from my van to my apartment building across the parking lot in my suburban Chicago neighborhood. That was fun. I always had arm pain, but at the same time, I was quite happy about the Michelle Obama-esque muscle tone that I acquired on my upper arm/shoulder areas.

Now they can walk and can climb into the van with minimal help. Yes, my arms are getting a little flabby again, but I can go more places with them by myself without help. I’m also lucky that I have an older daughter, who is quite helpful with them (sometimes), by unbuckling their carseat belts once we’ve reached our destination. For a while, I was in bliss, thinking that everything was much easier now and the rough days were over, until they got potty trained.

I remember those days of going “Honey, one of the babies pooped, we need to find a bathroom to change her diaper!” Yes, I kind of miss those days. I know that sounds crazy, but I miss diapers! With diapers, there wasn’t a huge rush because the baby did what she had to do and was just waiting to be cleaned.

Now that they are potty trained, the fear of a child peeing in the store, or worse, pooping, has stricken me with fear! I must look like a mad woman, grabbing my toddler’s hand and making a bee line to find the nearest public washroom! Then sometimes I have to wait for the bigger bathroom so all 4 of us can fit in there! Then I have to fumble with the paper toilet seat cover, praying I don’t accidentally rip it, and say “Honey, just wait a minute, you can hold it! Please, please, hold it!”. Once I plop that child onto the toilet and exclaim “Yay! You made it!”, I begin wondering why the hell I forgot to bring the portable plastic toilet seat and an extra change of clothes just in case!

And don’t get me started on the arguing in the van, kids dropping their toys and then they yell at you because you can’t reach them while driving! And did I mention they are constantly begging for snacks, no matter if they ate a full lunch before they left the house? Then someone starts crying while you’re trying to enjoy the MP3 album you just downloaded because they only want to hear the Wreck it Ralph soundtrack!
But sometimes they sing together in the car. And other times they quietly watch the scenery out of the car windows. And the twins fall asleep on long car rides or in heavy traffic. I guess it’s not all bad.

Featured image via Shutterstock