Luxuries

When I had kids I knew I would be giving up many luxuries, and I thought I had a pretty good handle on what they would be.  To this day one of the liberties I miss the most is one I never even noticed I had before it was gone. It was probably one of the greatest perks to being a childless adult and I had absolutely no clue it was even something to cherish.

Oh how I long for the days when I had to leave the house for one reason or another,  and was able to just, well... LEAVE!

People always ask me what the hardest part about having 3 kids is and I say it is hands down the process of getting everyone out of the house and safely secured in the van.

This is our family's 52 step process......

1. Announce to the kids that we are leaving soon
2. Tell C to go potty and get dressed
3. Tell H to go potty
4. Change A
5. Remind C to get dressed
6. Find clothes for me
7. Find clothes for H
8. Dress A
9. Ask Henry again to go potty
10. Get myself dressed
11. Tell C to change because she didn't pick weather appropriate attire
12. Find the detangler for C's rat's nest hair
13. Brush my teeth
14. Give H his clothes
15. Chase naked H down to retrieve the detangler that he took off the counter
16. Spray Detangler in C's hair
17. Feed A
18. Brush my hair
19. Bring H's clothing to the room he's in now and remind him to get dressed
20. Brush the part's of C's hair that she missed
21. A pooped- change her again
22. threaten H with a consequence for not getting dressed
23. wait 7 minutes while H poops
24. dress H against his will
25. Load A in her infant carseat (A starts screaming)
26. Tell C and H to find shoes
27. put on my shoes
28. Tell C to change her shoes to something appropriate for the outing
29. Beg C & H to hurry because A is still screaming
30. Help H with his coat
31. Put on my coat
32. Tell C to stop trying to soothe A because she's not going to be happy until the car is moving
33. Tell C to put her coat on
34. Gather my purse and keys.
35. Grab A and start walking out
36. Tell H to walk to the van
37. Get A in the van
38. Holler at C to get out of the house
39. Ask H to get out of the mud/snow and get in the van
40. lock the house
41. Tell H to stop eating the french fry he found under the seat
42. Ask H to get in his seat
43. Remind C to buckle
44. Put H in his seat
45. Wait a solid minute while H tries to buckle himself
46. Buckle H against his will.  (H starts to cry)
47. Snap at C for messing around and not being buckled. (C starts to cry)
48. Get in the driver's seat
49. Buckle self
50. Start car
51. Turn on the radio and crank it up to drown out all 3 screaming kids
52. drive

Whoa, I'm exhausted just typing that. It's a wonder I manage to make it through that process every single day. 

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