As my kids took off in different directions at the store...

[happymomma]

I realized OMG: I am going to have 3 kids! As both boys were running away from me in opposite directions at the grocery store today it just hit me. Thankfully my oldest was only running in the opposite direction to get some much needed pineapple ( ) because we all know we cannot ever be without one but the youngest managed to get out of his strapped in car cart contraption and just take off....then the oldest put the pineapple down and started running after the youngest at such time the youngest saw the oldest running after him and figured it was a perfect time for a game of chase and began running faster and started screaming...and of course one cannot scream without another so the oldest started screaming as well. After the second breakout and running/chasing/screaming incident I may or may not have muttered under my breath I'm stuck in hell. Grocery store hell that is.

Yeah, it was a fun time had by all at the grocery store. I just kept telling myself how much they are learning, etc. But oye!

3 kids. Wow. Seems like a lot. I feel like I should be wiser or something to have 3 kids.

Anyone else having #3 starting to have it sink in that there will be 3.

[momonthebeach]

!!! I have had a few of these moments!! How in the world am I going to get anywhere with 3 kids?!? Especially with 2 under 2. What were we thinking!?!
Katie

[bryonyvaughn]

When I had three children it was much easier because they were so closely spaced. One grocery store had carts with bigger leg holes than the other ones so that's where I shopped. (This was before the days of double carts let alone TV carts.) I'd put the 1yo & 2yo in the cartseat at the same time (side by side with two legs out one hole) and the baby in the sling. I *loved* going shopping as they were confined and I never needed to wonder what someone was getting into in the next room.

As a safety issue I started playing the "Freeze Game" with my children when they were toddlers. I'd go for walks, let them run ahead, then yell "Freeze!" and they'd stay like statues until I'd catch up with them and say "Release." I've only had to use it for safety once but when they stopped immediately I was very grateful for all the times we'd played the game. (The mom with me looked at me like she wasn't sure if I had superpowers {she was freaked for her kids too-- thankfully they followed my children's lead} or if I was some sort of secret instant obedience control-freak who was well disguised as a laid back momma.)

~BV

[eloise24]

Yeah, three will keep you busy! My good friend has a 4, 3 and 1 year old and claims she LOVES having them that close together. Yikes, that scares me!

[J-Max]

This is #4 and it has not really sunk in yet I have not even thought about how I will go places and do things with 4 (although my oldest will be in school much of the time). Although I have been thinking where they will all go in the car (we have a suburban, so there is room, just not sure how/were/if I will move anyone from "their" seat - DD#2 is insane about order adn placement, and it will take a couple of months of talking baout it before we move anyone's seats in the car, if I don't want a fight everytime we get in and crying because things changed )

and bryonyvaughn, tv carts - like TVs in the groc carts?????

[bobandjess99]

Originally Posted by Jessmcg

and bryonyvaughn, tv carts - like TVs in the groc carts?????

OMG, do you not know about the wonders of TV carts?

I'm sure they will be mocked terribly at MDC, but TV carts are WONDERFUL inventions.
Yes, it is like a shopping cart that has a car on it, but inside the little car is a TV!!!! they have them in Wiggles, Banrey and Bob the Builder here.
Now, I'm not a huge fan of tv for toddlers, but if 1 hr of Barney saves my sanity and allows me to shop in peace without killing dd.........hey, I'm all for it!
They're a buck here, which dh thinks is a ridiculous waste of money, but I budget for it, LOL!
more info here
http://www.tvkart.com/tvkart.html

[J-Max]

No, I have never heard of them, but we do live in the sticks - like we drive 45 min to a town with a groc store (like a small very expencive one) and groc shop 1.5-2 hours away, they just got the carts that are cars last year

I cheat and shop in the mid sized town with a bit more expencive groc because my MIL lives there and will keep the girls for me so I get to shop by myself! (plus we don't have to buy lunch)

Where do you guys live that they have these?

so sorry to hijack your thread happymomma

[happymomma]

Wow, tv in the shopping cart? I can't even picture it! TVfree smeeveefree if it keeps everyone alive and together I am all for it!

The freeze game. Yeah. Works for the 3 year old. Means nothing to the 2 year old. He is a wild man these days. Aside from duct tape nothing will keep him in the cart either.

I remember my oldest at this age and honestly thinking that something just had to be chemical wrong going on in there...LOL I can laugh about it now. He is perfectly fine and not as crazed at his ripe old age of 3. I cannot wait until my younger one turns that corner. Cannot w-a-i-t! In the meantime I keep repeating, "this too shall pass, this too shall pass."

[Tiffany_PartyOf5]

I think I had a breakthrough moment like that when I was pregnant with #3 (my oldest turned 3 a month before he was born lol) and this pregnancy its starting to sink in.. wow 4 ages 4 and under lol.. thank God my oldest starts preschool for a few hrs per day this yr lol

[PoolSide]

hah!

i dont take my kids to the store!! I go when they are napping (dh works from home) or after they are in bed!

Ooooor if i do have to take them, The older one sits in the cart, and gets gum, and the younger one gets some food.

[Ruthiegirl]

I think my son is officially banned form the grovery store. We went to pick up a few things yesterday and he was literally sprinting though the store. Normally, we do great, but he just had one of those moments and I absolutely could not control him.

And like I could even keep up with him. My belly has swollen up like a watermelon and I am starting to waddle. It was right there in the produce aisle that it really started to sink in that we are going to have 3 (!?!) kids. It will be great, but whoooooooo boy.

[ollineeba]

I've had a few of these moments where I think "OMG, what am I going to do!??!?"
Those TV carts sound like heaven. I don't care what other people think- if it means I can get my grocery shopping done faster with less stress for all of us, a dollar sounds like a HUGE bargain!! I wish they had those near us.
That would be a huge treat for the kids, too, because they don't get those shows on our TV.

[muttix2]

Yep it hit me that there will be three the other day. While I'm totally looking forward to this baby, I am a little freaked out. My boys need supervision, or else they destroy my house. I don't remember the first three months of either of their lives because of the constant screaming/crying/never sleeping for more than 45 minutes. I'm supposed to go back to work (p-t) a week after birth. I have no idea how I'm going to do this.

[crsta33]

I don't have any clue how I'm going to do 3. I hate to take 2 grocery shopping...I like to go all by myself as a sort of "break" I cannot figure out where everyone is going to sit in the van, which we bought b/c the car is too small and I cannot figure out where everyone is going to sleep.

Christa

[happymomma]

We bought a new vehicle. There was just no way in the other one.

As for sleep...first of all, if this one sleeps it will be the first child to do so. None of the kids sleep through the night...and my oldest is soon to be 4. So, its looking like there will be 5 in a kind size bed. That should be nice and restful.

[kehliouise]

i only have one child now and going to the grocery store is hell. i am just planning on never going anywhere again after the second one is born. im not sure how i will shop or eat or anything, but i don't see it happening. ds never sits in the buggy, never sits is high chairs, never sits still, etc. i have recently been having bad dreams where i loose him in the store or at the park and can't find him. it is terrible.

[Twocoolboys]

I keep wondering how in the world I'm going to keep on top of laundry for three kids (five people all together counting dh and me)! Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in laundry as it is - lol!

[happymomma]

Ugh, laundry. I despise putting laundry away...its endless!