FLYING SOLO

It has been 2 1/2 weeks since Grant was born. In that time, little laundry has been done, minimal cooking and lots and lots of toddler TV-watching. I feel extremely guilty about this. I want to give my 2-yr-old the attention she deserves - extra even. But the truth is, while battling exhaustion, physical recovery and everything else a newborn brings to the table, Noggin, and PBS have saved our lives. But this can NOT continue - at least not in this quantity. I really don't want her watching more than an hour or two of TV a day. SO, yesterday I set out to break this cycle and I ventured outside of the home - alone - with TWO children. EEEEK!

After some quick research I found a Toddler Time at one of our local libraries. Pre-registration was required, but they bent the rules for us. Sessions began at 9:30, 10, 10:30 and 11. "Great," I thought....we'll go to the 9:30 session and run a couple errands and be home before lunch. WRONG. I wasn't able to pull it all together, bathe, feed, pack, load up, etc. until after 10! We arrived for the 10:30 session.

There were approximately a dozen or more other toddlers present - they seemed to know the routine - Toddler Time regulars I presumed. They were busy playing with the library's puzzles and games. At 10:30 the storytime door opened and the children and their Mommies poured inside. Lauren was not intimidated. As the songs, and actions began, all of the children sat in front of their mothers on the floor, participating at the appropriate volume and style. Not Lauren - she was in the center of the carpet - singing at the top of her lungs, jumping (new skill) up and down, "dancing" and having a rip-roaring good time. Good for her, I say! She was good, really - except for that one incident where she crawled under the felt board easel to explore the CD player....but all in all a great success.

I quickly gave up on following her every move after storytime - I mean - have you tried to carry a large diaper bag, a purse, a coat, a small pile of board books AND a newborn in a carrier all around the library? Forget it! I just parked it and as long as I could see the exit and didn't hear screams or cries - I figured we were doing OK.

It was a high-anxiety morning, trying to figure it all out with TWO kids in tow - but I did it! AND...I am going to sign her up for Toddler Time later this fall - so we'll actually be doing this once a week. I DO need to get a double stroller though - hauling all of that stuff around was the most stressful part I think.

Here are some shots of Lauren's fun: