Errands & Outings
Geste at Home #6:
How often do you leave your scene of domestic tranquility? Ok, well, how often do you leave your domicile? –Besides Sundays, of course. Do all your outings occur in one day? Do you have weekly recurring errands?
I still haven’t adjusted my weekly plan. This past school year I taught Tuesdays & Thursdays and had playgroup on Wednesdays, so I was gone in the afternoon on Tuesdays, in the morning on Wednesdays, and from lunchtime to after bedtime on Thursdays. Whatever errands needed to be done found a point on those days to happen on my way to my other destinations, since I was in all three of the Tri-Cities on T&R, and each time drove right by WalMart, WinCo, and Yokes and Costco is not far off the way when you’re going between K & R. I tell ya, I really hope they do build a Mid-Columbia library here off Road 68 sometime! That’s the only destination that is out of my way, no matter which location I choose.
I have playgroup now on Wednesdays, soon to be Tuesdays again, and that’s the only scheduled leaving. After we leave it’s naptime and not a good time to be out, and it can be difficult to get out the door early enough to make stops on the way. Matt always gives me the option of leaving the house by myself on Saturdays, but tje convenience of doing any major errand by myself is mitigated by it being Saturday — the day of amateur shoppers, according to my mother-in-law. We seasoned homemakers know the only time to shop is 9am — the double-kid carts are free, the aisles are clear, no one will hear you whisper threats to your two-year-old (except possibly other mothers of two-year-olds)…and you’ll probably make it home before meltdown. Unless, of course, you have a one-year-old, in which case you’re there right in the middle of morning naptime. Sigh.
Hear, Hear! You’re right about the 9 am thing – although I tend to have a hard time getting to the store that early in the morning – especially if I try to do any other stops before the shopping. This last time I tried to go inbetween Ezra’s midmorning nap and before he and Judah’s afternoon nap, and it worked alright, although it was a little nervewracking at the grocery store, wondering which one of them was going to lose it first! But if I wait until after their naps in the afternoon, it’s hard to get back in time to get dinner ready without too much stress!
I grocery shop on the weekends normally, and I leave Alana at home with daddy. It gives me some nice alone time, and I don’t have to worry about interupting naps or feedings that way. When I do take her for short trips, she is too busy looking around and flirting with people to cause me too much grief at this point. It is kind of annoying sometimes though, because it seems everyone wants to have a ten minute conversation with you about your baby. People who wouldn’t even give you a friendly smile before are now your best friends! It can turn a five minute in-and-out trip into a half hour!
I can help with the library situation. The bookmobile is in your general neighborhood every 3 weeks, and on one of the other weeks it is in the Yoke’s parking lot. PLUS, when you check out items there rather than the regular library, you can keep them for a huge amount of time. That includes movies and current magazines that normally are not allowed out of the periodicals section. It is CRAZY, to quote my eldest grandson. The librarian who mans it is great about taking special orders. Very helpful. Look up the schedule. It might even combine well with your walk!