Once Upon a Time I would happily run errands popping in and out of banks, stores, libraries, restaurants and convenience stores with ease. I knew what they sold at the local "fill in the blank"... now I know which "fill in the blank" offers a drive thru window, drop box, delivery, or other terrific conveniences for moms like me with children in carseats.
Recently I was asked what my favorite drink at QT might be. "QT sells things other than gas," I thought, "Oh yes, now that you mention it I did notice a soda fountain on our last family road trip as I dashed for the bathroom with a tot in tow."
Motherhood changes things and for me, one of those was frequenting the inside of convenience stores. Somehow the idea of unloading four little ones from carseats (and I felt the same when that number was 1, 2, and 3) doesn't seem particularly convenient.
Convenience store beverages are easy to eliminate, but there are other times when creativity is in order where carseats are concerned. I happily rejoice at simple things in life like library drop-boxes and drive-thru windows. My rules of thumb: If it takes less than 10 minutes, it's not worth taking the kids if it can possibly be avoided. And combine as many errands into one stop as possible. (Yes, big box stores were made for moms.)
I don't mind taking all of the children to buy groceries (as I regularly do), and I happily take them on outings regularly, but a quick errand for "just milk" or another equally necessary item doesn't seem to warrant unbuckling and unloading children. And so, it's become policy that less than 5 items on the list (always important things like milk and eggs) equal my husband stopping by the store on his way home from work (a couple times a month this seems to occur and it's worth it). Or, I run out after tucking the kids in it at night.
But then, sometimes those "ought to be quick" errands are completely unavoidable. They cannot be postponed. They cannot be delegated. And that is when creativity truly strikes.
Our youngest daughter was about a month old when our van needed an oil change. As I pulled into the station, one with a nice lobby with Highlights Magazine, slushies, and everything...... I noticed that I had arrived at that magical moment when there was no line. And that is when inspiration struck and I asked the mechanic if we could sit in the car while he changed the oil. He said that was no problem (the van was securely on the ground the whole time). And so, we popped in a DVD from the library (thankfully in the backseat) using the DVD player from grandma that is normally reserved only for long car trips and everyone happily enjoyed a cartoon while we awaited our oil change. Brilliant!
Oh wait... did I say Brilliant? That was until my daughter noticed the slushie machine inside as I pulled away.