"Can you take them with you? How about just the little one?"

I find myself sometimes thinking of how fast I could get things done, if I didn’t have the kids with me.  In fact, every time I go to the store, if my husband asks me to take the kids along, I have my excuses in my pocket, ready to use, for why they should stay home.

Loading and unloading them from the car takes forever.

We have to look at the fishies even if we aren’t going to the pet department for any other reason, ESPECIALLY if we didn’t even need to be on that side of the store.

Audrey’s going to have a poopy diaper. 

Alexander will need to pee when we’ve made it as far away from the bathrooms as we could have gone after changing said poopy diaper.

Alexander is going to insist on stopping outside the store for bubble gum because he's been a good boy.  I always have to dig in the bottom of my purse for a quarter.

Then, when I finally make it home, unload the kids, unpack the groceries, Chris will make some comment along the lines, “Did you forget the toilet paper?” CRAP!!  Back to the store.

“Could you take the kids?”

It’s not always so bad.  Today, in fact, my little walk to the store would have totally sucked rocks if the kids weren’t with me.  I decided if I’m going to get up the energy to pack up the house for our little move, I needed caffeine.  So, I fished some change out of my husband’s can (Do they all have one? Or is it just mine?) , and we started out on the three block stroll to the closest convenience store, Audrey in her stroller, Alexander on foot.

Our first distraction was a broken bird’s egg. 

There's a small possibility it's just
a chicken egg that fell out of the garbage.

Alexander stomped on it then said, “It’s okay, Mama. The birdie already hatched and flew away from it’s parents’ home.” 

For the rest of the walk, Alexander said he could “actually run the rest of the way.”  He has informed me in the past that he is “faster than a cheetah”.  I kept up the best I could, listening to his little humming song and her oh’s and ah’s at the world around her. 

We reached the store and took several minutes to pick out our drinks.  Alexander disappeared around the corner to pick out a snack.  A snack wasn’t in the budget, but it still worked out somehow.

On the trip home, we had to stop four times to take drinks and munch on mini peanut butter crackers.  Alexander found an evergreen shrub with those little blue buds on them. 

He may be smart, but his shorts are still on backwards!

He also found out you can pull those little blue buds off and throw them....at mommy.  That was fun.

He just looks sweet and innocent. 

So, what would have been a ten minute walk alone turned into a 30 minute adventure with my amazing kids.  Alone, I would have returned home hot, sweaty, and tired.  Instead, I got to watch the excitment of my little guy as he discovered things he had never seen, listen to my daughter hum songs and enjoy the outdoors, and I came home refreshed and energized, ready for action!  Who needs caffeine when you can be fueled by the spirit of a 3 year old and the wonder of a baby?

Who am I kidding, I still need the caffeine.