8 Tips on Surviving an Outing with a Toddler

8 Tips on Surviving an Outing with a Toddler

1.) Don’t go.

Really.  Don’t go.  If you don’t have to go out, don’t.  It’ll save you time, energy, money and stress.  Mostly stress.  And hassle.  Send your husband, wife, or partner to the store.  Or, better yet, go when the little one is asleep.

But, if you do have to go…

2.) Only make one stop.

If your child gets as cranky as mine does/did, then one stop is about all you can handle.  All the excess gear (shopping cart cover, diaper bag, etc.) and getting the little one in and out of the car/carseat will add quite a bit of time to your trip.  More time than you plan for.

3.) Talk to everyone you can.

This is a ‘stay sane’ tip, because we all need those.  I found that being at home with a child all day long made me yearn for adult interactions.  I found myself striking up conversations with the Starbucks Barista, the Checker, the Teller, anyone who would be able to talk to me about recent events or the weather.

4.) Don’t be afraid to leave.

If your little one starts to make a mess, or scream, or misbehave, don’t be afraid to leave a cart full of groceries in the middle of the supermarket and take the child home.  Sometimes kids just need a nap.  These outings take a lot out of them.  

BUT don’t make a threat you’re not willing to follow through with.  “We’ll go straight home!” will work much better in future if you actually do drop everything and take the child home.  (And you may only need to do that once if you actually do it when you threaten to!)

5.) Bring snacks.

For you and for the child.  I cannot emphasize how important this one is.  You can bring snacks, or buy snacks--Goldfish are wonderful, but I’ve also found that grapes, raspberries and Crasins work really well--but making sure you have something to keep the blood sugar up, keep the hands and mouth occupied, and keep a little one sitting still is imperative to being able to accomplish anything while you’re out.  

6.) Use technology to distract.

What would you rather see: a screaming toddler throwing items out of a shopping cart, making a huge mess, causing a ruckus… or a calm, peaceful child watching Mickey Mouse or Elmo quietly on his parent’s phone, while the parent has both hands free to finish shopping quickly and take said child home?

That’s what I thought.

I don’t want to hear the garbage about “too much screen time” or “we didn’t use that sort of thing back in my day”... parents have a hard enough time as it is.  Don’t judge.

7.) Have extra supplies, just in case.

You know what I’m talking about.  My little one likes to leave a load at Target.  Doesn’t matter what time of day it is, if we’re in that store, she dirties a diaper.  I’m often scrambling to get diapers and wipes.  You’d think I’d have learned this by now.  Always have extra supplies.  Uh-Oh clothes, diapers wipes, hand sanitizer and tissues are really helpful.

8.) Don’t cave.

Don’t cave to the “just throw it in the cart so we can get out of here” impulse that I’m sure will come over you.  Don’t cave to the “if I buy this one thing for you, will you be quiet?” instinct that kicks in.  Don’t cave to the “I’ll buy three of these so I don’t have to come back out again next week” knee-jerk reflex that so often comes along with shopping with a screaming kid.

Make sure you’ve accomplished what you need to accomplish, without too much frivolous extras.  There was a while when I couldn’t get out of a store without spending $100 and at least 90 minutes.  You can do better than I did.  Just be prepared.

I hope that this helps you with your outings.  Just remember that you will only encounter two types of people out there in the real world; those who are sympathetic and supportive, and those whose opinion doesn’t matter.

Good luck.

Tiny Fanfic: Audrey Weasley

There was flour everywhere.  Literally.  The walls were coated in flour dust, there was a fine layer over the floor, the countertops, the cabinets, the windowsill.  Thankfully, a quick charm could clean up the white powder, but the damage was done.  The toddler sitting in the middle of the mess was laughing hysterically and waving her Mummy’s wand all over.

“No no, please!”  The tired mother, Audrey, was carrying a tiny infant against her chest.  It’d probably been three days since she’d had a chance to shower, and the poor woman couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept for more than four hours in a row--and even four was pushing it.  There was no sleeping when a baby wanted feeding and changing every ninety minutes.  “Molly, Molly, give Mummy the wand,” she said, bending down to take the wand from her older daughter.

“No!  Mummy!  No!”  The toddler, Molly, started to wail, kicking her feet and pumping her fists in the air.  It made a little puff of white dust all around her.  The wailing, though, woke her sleeping sister, who also started to cry.

“Molly!  For goodness’ sake!”  Audrey sighed, lifting the wand to wave it about.  She cast a quick cleaning charm on the cabinets, gently bouncing the now-awake-and-fussing baby in the sling against her chest.  She took a lap of the island in the middle of the kitchen to make sure that she cleaned the flour off of every surface.  “You know better than to play with Mummy’s wand!  Your father’s told you time and again that you need to…”

Audrey’s words trailed off, though, as she noticed that Molly wasn’t in her seat.  Lucy’s crying against her chest and the cleaning spell had distracted her.  “Molly?”  She asked, her heartbeat quickening.  “Molly??”

She heard the gate at the top of the stairs creak open.  “Molly!”  Audrey cried out, and rushed in that direction.  As Molly took a step forward and started to fall, Audrey flung her wand out in an S movement and cast a quick incantation of “Spongify!!”

Molly’s giggles could be heard all the way down the stairs as she bounced on the rubbery surface, and landed safely at the bottom.  Audrey decided it was time to let Daddy watch the girls, so she could have a nap.  And possibly a stiff drink.

How Are My Kids Growing So Quickly?

This year, 2014, my daughters turn 2 and 5.  I've seen a lot of posts on Facebook and other social media where people post about "on this day, x years ago, I went into labor..." where parents--mothers, mostly--remember fondly the time that led up to their children coming into the world.

I don't really remember much of my life before I had kids.  I know it's weird to say, and probably a little sad, but in all honesty, I don't really remember what that was like.  I think I stayed up all night on the computer a lot.  I imagine that it was easier to go see the movies that I wanted to see.  I must have worked.  I must have worked OUTSIDE the home.  I probably had to wash pee-soaked clothes less.  

That's besides the point.  The point of this post was supposed to be how fast the time goes.  I do remember clearly what it was like to have a newborn.  I remember the yellow, stinky poop leaking up her back out of her diaper.  I remember walking around the apartment all night long, bouncing her against my chest to try and get her to sleep.  I remember trying--and failing--to get mashed bananas out of clothes, burp cloths and blankets.  I fondly remember that front backpack, and carrying my girls around at the County Fair, Disneyland, the Tech Museum, and several Zoos.  I remember being able to dress them up as Hermione, a Snitch, an owl, Spider-Man, Minnie Mouse, Jessie and Tinkerbell.

Now things have changed.  Suddenly, it seems, my girls are developing into their own people--with strong personalities and wants and dreams of their own.  Alice doesn't like hard pants (jeans or khakis).  Claire didn't want to take off her Anna dress from Frozen after their joint birthday party.  Claire refuses to drink milk unless it has chocolate in it (mucka and shawcheet).  Alice called it "chalka nilk."  Both of my girls suck their thumbs.  Claire has a stuffed giraffe named "Georgie" that she cannot sleep without, and we were so nervous it's loss would cause devastation that we ordered a second one from Amazon.com.  Alice is reading, writing, and doing simple maths.

Next September, Alice will be starting Kindergarten, and Claire will be going to Montessori Preschool.  My children are school-aged.  No more babies for us.

On one hand, it's exciting to see what sort of young ladies my babies will grow into, but on the other I already miss the babies they were.

The next stage of life is exciting for all of us.  Girl Scouts are just around the corner, as is reading and writing longer sentences and stories.  We've already started playing video games with Alice, and doing puzzles with Claire.

Hopefully we're doing the right things.  So far it seems like we're on track.

Never got that instruction manual.