Running errands with infants and toddlers is not for the faint of heart and yet many parents do it on a regular basis with more children than I have.

I took my toddler and infant with me yesterday to run errands.  Usually my darling husband keeps one or both children when I go out but yesterday he was at the dentist having an emergency root canal and not available so off I went in a flurry of over-confidence.

First, I didn’t double check the diaper bag. There were lots of diapers and plenty of wipes but, and this is a biggie, there were no plastic baggies for holding soiled things, like soiled baby clothing from the diaper blow out the baby provided.  Even worse, there were no changes of clothing in the bag!  It was terrible, with a major diaper fail and a big mess on the baby, the clothing, the pad in the baby seat– sigh.  So in the middle of errands we had to go home after the diaper change to get clean clothing.

Second, I failed to consider how heavy that pop out baby seat is, and how often one lifts a toddler in and out of the car and shopping cart seat while doing multiple stops.  My c-section incision is only healed two months and so I ended up with some nasty pain.

Third, my kids are really really really well behaved sometimes!  No temper tantrums at all from the toddler who also tried hard to help with the baby. Praise God!

Fourth, even this time of year finding sandals for a toddler can require stops at several stores and it would be wise to plan more time than I allotted to this chore. I underestimated the number of stores I was going to have to visit.

Fifth, I am reminded to appreciate my husband’s many contributions to parenting our children.  Even after having had a root canal, he still kept the baby (after I returned home post diaper incident) so that the shoes trip could be done toddler and momma– and it was much needed!

Sixth, if you feed the toddler and infant until they are as full as they possibly can be, then the infant will sleep and it seems to keep the toddler calm and cooperative.

Seventh, Attending La Leche League meetings means you will meet other people you already know a bit who are also shopping for sandals.  I like that.

Dear Lord, please help me to double check the diaper bag before I leave the house and thank You for the nice people I meet and my good husband. Amen