LaLaGirl – Twinfinite Chaos! Parenting Multiples and Dealing with Autism

I can’t believe how hard it was for me to say goodbye to my quad stroller. We had a big garage sale this weekend, and I sold it. I got a good price for it, considering I practically ran the wheels right off of it for almost three years straight. And it went to a mom who really needed it – a mom of toddler-age triplets and a brand new baby. And Paul is REALLY glad to have that extra space in the garage, because face it – as compactly as it folded up, it was still a big space hog. So why was I almost in tears as I watched someone else loading it into the back of their SUV?

Back in 2005, when we had two brand new little babies and two rambunctious little toddlers, I was having a really rough time. Like you’d expect, I suppose, adjusting to the reality of having two sets of twins under age two. What made it worse was that I was completely trapped in my home. The “big” twins were only a year and a half old – certainly not old enough to just walk around parking lots and stores while I lugged around the “little” twins in their heavy infant carseats. While poking around online one day, I discovered this amazing quad stroller – brand new, not even available yet – and I quickly put my name on their waiting list to order one. Unfortunately, the $500 price tag kept it completely out of reach for us. Fortunately for me, there are lots of wonderfully generous folks out there who read my blog, and who wouldn’t hear of leaving me trapped at home. Someone set up a Paypal fund, and within a few days, I had MORE than enough money to buy that stroller.

Once it finally arrived, it truly DID change my life! Finally, I could go anywhere I wanted. I could strap my kids in and get sunshine and fresh air, or groceries, or walk around the mall with my mommy friends, or whatever. It really changed everything for me. And I used to bitch plenty about being such a spectacle wherever we went, pushing that huge stroller with one hand and pulling a grocery cart behind me, but I’m SO thankful I was able to do that. I don’t know what I would have done without that stroller! I hope the lady who bought it ends up getting as much use out of it as I did. And honestly, if I didn’t have any physical limitations, I might have hung on to it longer. I’ve gotten to where I couldn’t lift it in and out of my vehicle anymore (the thing weighs 80 pounds!) and I really couldn’t push my big ol’ kids in it, either! The last time we used it was at Disneyland last year, and it was a lifesaver then, but Paul had to push it everywhere!

So with that, I’d like to offer my gratitude once again to all the generous ladies out there who reached out to a mommy in need. I was, and continue to be, honored and humbled by your kindness. Huge thanks to Donna, Ami, Lisa, Shawn, DonnaLeigh, Cat, Aimee, Laura, Tracie, Amy, Denise, Colleen, Megan, Maggie, MS, Darla, Sindy, Annette, Janelle, Jammie, Cindy, Amanda, Jeanne, Audra, Bev, Allison, Jessica, Andrea, and Christine. I always thought I should engrave your names on a little plaque and hang it on the stroller!

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So, let me tell you all about my Quest for Exercise.

I was thinking, since the weather is all beautiful now, I should try to go out and walk with the kids in the neighborhood and stuff – especially since I’m doing so shitty on my diet! I figured working out a little would help get my head in the right place!

So, the other day, I put the kids in the stroller and we walked down to the K-8 school under construction in our neighborhood and back. I even snapped a little picture with my celly, since my kids will likely end up going to school there – I thought it’d be neat to get a picture of them all tiny in front of their school, before it’s finished. Here it is:

That was sort of a breezy day and we were glad to get back inside and have our lunch. It was about a mile, maybe a wee bit less. Yay. So the next day, it was really nice out, so I decided to go a different way and walk just a little bit further. We walked the other way, on the path that goes next to the golf course. It was so pretty – very quiet and peaceful, and we had such a nice view of the mountains! Mallory kept commenting to me about the chirping birds and stuff. We walked for awhile, and then I figured we should get off the path and head back up to the main road and turn around to go back home. Well. Have you ever been swimming in a lake or in the ocean and then turned around said, “Fuck! How did I get this far away??” Well, that’s what happened to us. I wasn’t sure how far we were going, since we were behind all the houses and we weren’t passing any streets. When we got back up to our road, my heart just sunk when I saw how far we’d gone. It was a long, long walk back home!! It took us so long, all four kids crashed out in the stroller! Of course, I had to take a picture of that, too. Love the picture phone!

So we got back and I got lunch for everyone and put them to bed. Then I mapped out our route on Google pedometer – we walked way over two miles!! About twice as far as I intended! And yes, I realize many people walk much further than this all the time – but I’m fat and out of shape, and pushing an 80-pound stroller with 100 pounds of kids in it! I about DIED pushing it up one big hill – it’s so heavy, I had to get behind it and bend over and push it up like I was building the pyramids or something. I’m sure I looked SO cool. LOL!

And then last night I was relating this whole story to Paul and he was furious with me for walking so far from home by myself!! He bitched me out for like fifteen minutes! He was all like, “I hate you walking alone like that, you’re a target for criminals, anyone could come up and attack you and take your purse or mess with one of the kids and what are you going to do? NOTHING! You have no defenses! What are you doing walking around so far from home while everyone’s off at work and no one’s around to help you? You need to sit around inside and don’t worry about getting any exercise unless you can meet up one of your new little mommy friends and go walking TOGETHER.” He went on and on, throwing every scenario possible at me: what if a dog attacked us? What if I twisted my ankle and couldn’t walk? What if one of the kids got out of the stroller? What if some big scary guy came up and started hitting on me? What if, what if, what if. I swear, he sucks the joy out of everything! And the worst thing is, I know he’s right! I was feeling pretty conspicuous walking by myself yesterday when it was SO quiet out there, I didn’t see a single person except people way out on the golf course and a couple of city workers mowing the grass when we first started out. So, I guess I’m going to be NOT doing that again, because it really makes my husband unhappy!! The reports of those guys attacking the women up in Brighton haven’t helped things, either!

So, I guess it’s back to walking at the mall!!

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