The trio

If we ever get a van, I think I might miss the cramming, head-bonking, and reaching involved in strapping 3 kids into the back seat of a civic. Their little faces all sandwiched in a row back there are just so sweet! And getting them in there feels like SUCH an accomplishment.

Last week when Jay, Rose, and I went to the Tri Cities for Target-Costco-Winco, we got so tired from our long leisurely stroll around Target  and the madness of Costco that we opted out of Winco. That meant a rare, painful trip to the Sunnyside Walmart this week for some groceries.

Sunnyside is 15 minutes away. Winco is 40 minutes away. When I go to Walmart I almost always end up thinking that that extra 25 minutes in the car to get to Winco would be worth it! But an extra 25 minutes BOTH ways turns into almost a whole extra hour. That seemed too hard today with the 3 small ones, so Wallyworld it was.

They were so good at the store, all things considered. Layne sat in the fold-down seat in the front of the cart, Rose rode on the end, and Jay walked beside me. After about 15 minutes in the store, I plunked Rose into the basket of the cart because she was exploring and running a little too far for comfort. I piled food all around her, and she did distracting things like chew on the end of a tube of ground meat (eew! I freaked out). Jay was such a good helper and very obedient, and he gave me hope for Rose in the future. I gave Layne my apple and she clutched it possessively, sucking and gnawing the whole time we wandered up and down the unfamiliar Walmart food isles, searching for the items on our list. As good as the kids were, I still felt rather frazzled when we made it to the checkout. While we drove home, I was very glad it only took 15 minutes. I was pooped!

I posted this picture with a caption on Facebook today, and my sister Em commented: “The only good thing about taking 3 kids to the store is how easy it is to take 2 to the store the next time!” Nailed it!

I feel like I'm getting a sneak-peak into the future whenever I babysit Layne...hoisting and herding 3 small kids around a store takes careful planning, a lot of patience, stamina, and also a sense of humor.