A week or so ago, the husband and I wanted to get out. With the
whole family. We were tired of running errands separately, cramming for one to get out but back in time for the next feeding. And we knew the babies needed to get out of the apartment as well and a simple walk in the stroller wasn't going to cut it.
So we concocted a crazy plan that made our eye twitch a couple times then barreled on before we could change our minds. It was a busy Saturday and we decided to meet the in-laws for lunch at Red Lobster. Then we went to Sam's.
All of us. And it went so well! I have to admit to being totally wiped out afterward—my endurance and stamina still isn't what it used to be. But it felt so good to have all of us out together.
The babies did great at the restaurant. It was our first time to take them out to eat with us when they could sit in highchairs. We had to unsnap and pull them out of their car seats then pass them out the car door to the waiting arms of the grandparents, so it was a bit of an effort to get everybody inside but it worked out great and we had a spacious table. I had bought some suction toys that mount with a suction cup to the top of the table, hoping they'd help keep the babies entertained. And they did...for about three minutes. Which is when Trystan yanked hers off the table and tossed it a couple feet away. After that, they mostly played with their paper place mats and I did attach a toy or two to their high chairs (which I wiped down with Purell upon arrival, by the way, since we forgot to bring our high chair covers). When they did start getting a little fussy, we pulled out the food distraction. Turns out, our crew loves Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits and bathed their faces in all the crumbs.
After lunch, we changed all the babies diapers on the tailgate of our suburban. In the parking lot. Facing a busy intersection of the nearby highway. I'm sure we encouraged quite a bit of rubbernecking but I didn't care! Freshly diapered, we buckled them back into their car seats and headed off to Sam's. We got lots of curious onlookers, tons of smiles and happy comments and one new twin mom that literally
ran up to me to ask if they slept at night. (I'm always so proud to reveal they happily sleep for 12 hours and shared some of my sleep training advice and encouragement. She was relieved I didn't have nighttime horror stories!)
The crew started getting a little cranky by the time we reached check-out, so I produced my miraculous baby mum-mums (rice cake snacks) and they were quickly occupied again. I snagged a delicious fountain Coke on my way out the door—
caffeine, people, it's key!—and we loaded everybody back in the car, then crammed in all our purchases in the leftover nooks and crannies of the suburban. The in-laws thoughtfully chose to follow us back to the apartment and help us unload everything since they knew we had to also get ready for a feeding as soon as we walked in the door.
It's certainly a lot of work taking four babies out, there's no denying it. In fact, it's a lot of work taking babies or kids out in general! I'm continually grateful for family members who are always keen to put in a little time with us and give us a hand, even if it just happens once a week or every other week it makes all the difference. Simply loading and unloading four car seats multiple times in a short period is a workout, and with extra hands everything moves so much faster and you don't feel completely drained afterward. However, I'm getting to the point where I'm strong enough to begin getting the babies out on my own—like play dates, trips to Sonic, Starbucks or drive-thru errands and other small bits of freedom. It's been a lifestyle adjustment, to say the least, to have such an enormous responsibility to take with you every time you want to leave the house. Or an army of volunteers, family members or baby sitters to arrange when you want to leave
without them. Little by little, we're conquering each new chapter of our quadruplet adventure. Thanks for reading along!
P.S.
Here's some of the info I shared with the twin mom on our sleep training.
