Out and About

People ask me all the time, "how do you do it?"  Or they say, "You are brave."  or "You've got your hands full."  I even get,  "I can't believe you are out."  And all I can think to do is to just smile and nod.  And what I really want to say is, "WHY NOT??"  "Am I supposed to be a hermit?"  9 times out of 10, people say this to me while I am out shopping.

You see, I have 4 month old twin girls and a 4-year-old son.  And I go shopping, just like any other person on this planet.  With the exception of my dad, who HATES shopping.  Yes HATES, in all capitols. Okay, I am sure there are other people who hate it too.  But I like to get out of the house.  So when I do, it is usually to go grocery shopping.

You have to know, when I go shopping, a normal shopping trip for you may take an hour in the grocery store.  For me, it takes 2 hours.  Not because I don't know what I am going get or because I am just that slow.  Oh no.  It is because every 2 feet I have someone stop me and say, "Twins!!"  Or "There are two of them."  And then I stand there politely smiling and answering a question or two.  Then we move on a little further down the aisle and it starts all over again.   It doesn't help that my son is a talker.  He can carry on a conversation like no body's business.  What kills me, is that it is the employees that stop me most of the time.  HA!  I think they get a kick out of me and my brood.  In fact, that happened to me just today.  A Kroger male employee came barreling down the aisle giggling at me.  I thought, oh boy, here we go. He was so funny.  He wanted to know who was the oldest and how I get all of my groceries in the cart.  He told me he would invent a cart that accommodate twins.  I said, "Yes please!"  On that note, that is the other thing that makes shopping take so long. I have to lift one car seat out of the cart almost every time.  So just imagine with me.  Imagine a shopping cart, with the child seat in front of the cart, where most put their child or their purse.  I pull that back, out-of-the-way and I put both girls (they are in their car seats) in the cart.  They face out to the side of the cart and the car seat sits on the top rail of the cart.  Now if I get something like trash bags, I have to move to the side of the car and lift one car seat out of the cart, place the trash bags in the cart, and then put the car seat back in the cart, and finally move on to the next thing on my list. Sigh.  Yes, I admit, it is a big production every time.  But a girl has got to get out of the house.  I do come home exhausted and sometimes rather frustrated that it takes so freaking long to go grocery shopping.  But all in all, I am glad that I can do it.

I was reminded, by my brother, about a time when I was younger and Nike just came out with their slogan "Just Do It". My mom wouldn't let me wear that t-shirt because she didn't think it was appropriate.   Yeah, maybe, not so much.  But now when I think about that slogan, I think yes.  I just have to do it.  So to answer the question, "How do you do it?"  I just do.  How do you get up out of bed every morning?  You just do.  How do you go to work everyday?  You just do.  So, I just happen to have been blessed to have 3 children and I have to do it or I might just go crazy.

From experience, I will not go shopping at Kohl's with the twins.  The carts are not big enough for two car seats and the aisles are over flowing with merchandise.  That drives me crazy.  I feel like I am going to knock everything over every time I am there.   I come away from that store more frazzled and exasperated than a hen in a hot-house.

BUT. You know what the biggest blessing is every time I go shopping with all of the kids?  The store that has a large cart and a seat attached to the back for my son to sit in.  Also, people who don't stop me, but take the time to tell me I have beautiful children.