Better Late Than Never!

Today, I took the kids out for a playdate.

It was a playdate that I scheduled to conveniently fall on my day off. It was supposed to begin at 10am. I say 'supposed to begin at' because, with three kids three and under, I am still working to master the art of getting out the door in time, if I have the kids in tow.

After a miserable night of teething and wake-ups, the boys were finally awake by 9:15. I thought to myself how this would be perfect timing. Breakfast for 15 minutes, a simple change of clothes and diapers, and away we go. My threenager was already eating, and she likes to dress herself these days... pants on backwards and all.

9:30 hits, and I am positive that I've got this in the bag. Boys are all washed up and I'm pretty pumped at the fact that we are on schedule!

Ya, not so much. My relatively easy kids, just did not feel like cooperating. After chasing naked little butts around the house (YES!! We are in the whole 'I can take my diaper off fast and you can't stop me phase!! oh, and both of them are like that now!!) and finally getting them both wrangled into their outfits (which they ended up being too warm in anyways, as the temperature around here has been going from cold to hot to cold to hot... it just needs to decide what it wants to be!!), we were finally off!!!

TO THE VAN, that is...My threenager is miserable at the front door, thinking that I'm just bringing the boys. I assure her that I'm just getting them loaded first. Each boy in one arm, I am finally outside and at the van. I buckle in Everett, CHECK! Lift Andy into his seat.... and the smell hit me just as his sweet innocent smile did.... There is Andy, in full tilt of the head absolute cuteness smelling just about as rotten as an 18month old boy can smell..... Wonderful.... I think I walked back from the van to the house twice, while trying to decide if I should just pack him in and change him at the play place or if I should change him.. I decide that no one should sit in poop unless absolutely necessary. So out comes Everett and Andy...  Yes, we are all now officially back in the house again.....

<SIGH>

I glance at the clock as I'm heading back in the house...

10:09....... Are you freaking kidding me??? It's been 40 minutes of getting ready to get the kids out to the van!!! Like seriously, if I had a second to even try to assemble myself and feel halfway decent (honestly, I definitely am starting to look like a worn down mommy IMO), I don't think I'd have minded this half as much.... It gets to this point almost every time I try to take the kids out... that moment of 'Should I just call it a try and pack it in, cause this sucks and we are running late!!'...

Nope! I told my threenager that we are going out to the local tropical gardens, so we are going..... even if it kills me!!

Back in the van by 10:20!! I think it was a record, and I had a glorious moment of 'Alright, I rocked that bum change and got them loaded so fast!!'...... just in time to see that I didn't have enough gas to make it to our destination, so I had to make another stop anyways.... LOL...

What are you gonna do?? Sometimes, you're just meant to be late! (We arrived at our destination 40 minutes late, but my awesome friend who we met up with - who has twins as well - didn't make it by 10 am either, so I didn't feel as horrible....)

Being a busy mom can be so crazy at times, but it's so worth it! I personally find any set timed events to be the hardest part of having three littles. We have such a relaxed schedule, which really works for us. We have three healthy and happy kids that just enjoy life and make our lives so much more worth living.

I've heard various solutions to the 'being late' issue. For most things, I have a helping hand, and we can usually be out the door relatively on time. On our own, however, it is quite a challenge... I think that it is definitely more challenging when the child to adult ratio is unbalanced.... it's just a part of being gifted with these three beautiful beings. It's a part of being their mom and just going with the flow and making sure that they have a great life.

What a great day we had! The short time that we spent looking at animals, sharing juice and donuts, and watching the kids play was so worth all the prep time... I know that they'll be too big to scoop up and take on playdates soon enough, so, for now, I'll just revel in my accomplishment of making it to a playdate..... even if we were late!