Packed and Ready to Go

The best advice I can give for tackling three under three and staying sane all at the same time is to find adult opportunities that provide childcare. Not only is it healthy for mom to get some grown up time, it's equally important for your little one to interact with others their age. Playdates are great, but you're still the one in charge so it's hard to have uninterrupted conversations. 

I've been fortunate to find great childcare programs at the gym where I work out and several other groups I've joined through the church. Sometimes it's more work getting everyone out the door and signed into the nursery than the actual work out, but I promise, it's worth it. 

I've found it's easier to get out the door if you're always packed and ready to go. I have never been into carrying a really large baby bag. There's enough to keep up with between two carseats and a toddler so I try to keep my baggage to a minimum. A friend of mine gave me the idea to invest in pouches for each baby where I can keep each of their individual necessities and easily add or subtract any of the pouches to a bag I keep ready to go at all times in my house. Most of the nurseries split the babies by their ages so Graham is always in a different room than the twins. This helps alleviate needing to carry more than one large baby bag. 

The twins' pouches are very similar right now. Sometimes they may vary in diapers by one size but for the most part they can share from either pouch. These pouches are the perfect place to keep all those little samples of lotion and diaper creme you get from the pediatrician's office. 

When we drop everyone off for Sunday School, Brian can easily take Graham and his pouch to his classroom while I take the babies to theirs with their pouches in the bag. 

It's a rare occasion that I need to use diaper creme with Graham these days, but I promise, every time I don't have it on hand, I can always count on needing it. Our days of diapers are nearing the end (hopefully. that's something I plan on conquering when our life slows down a bit), so I will find a way to repurpose his bag, probably with snacks.

To make life even easier, I made the switch to a cross body bag purse years ago and I doubt I'll ever go back. I can easily throw the purse into any bag I take with me and just as easily take it off and throw it over my shoulder when I need to carry it on its own. 

I can't count the number of times, I've made last minute plans with all the babies, and keeping these pouches individualized and ready to go has helped out tremendously with getting where we need to be on time and well prepared. ;)