First, before I get into my challenge recap, let me just say that being a mom is the absolute best thing ever! I am so in love with Garrity and absolutely treasure every moment that we have here at home together. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect little girl!
So here we go, challenge number 5: go to the grocery store for just one thing. This turned out to be an incredibly easy challenge and I’m happy to report that it was completely uneventful which might not be the most interesting thing to read about, but it’s exactly what this new mama hoped for.
We’re on an approximately every 3 hour feeding routine so I made sure to time our outing right after she nursed so as soon as she’d eaten and I’d gotten a good burp out of her I got her into her car seat and made sure her diaper bag was ready to go.
I know I didn’t need the whole bag for just the grocery store but it’s much easier to toss my wallet into the diaper bag and sling that over my shoulder than to try and carry the car seat plus the wallet. I haven’t yet ventured out with the stroller on any of our outings because I feel like that would be way more work than just carrying her in her seat. Plus I like the arm workout!
So I’ve got Garrity in her seat, the bag ready to go and then Chance (our 100 pound dog) starts getting excited. Probably one of the hardest parts of our new-baby transition has been giving less attention to Chance. He was been our baby for 6 years and the guy is totally use to being with us all the time so it’s hard to balance he and Garrity. To help ease some of his anxiety we’ve been trying to include him as much as possible which means anytime I go anywhere with her, I try to bring him along.
…and my other baby…
So I take Chance out first while Garrity stays in the house. Get him in and then go back for her. We have her car seat base installed in the middle seat because I read it was the safest so I have to hop up into the 4 Runner and do some maneuvering to get that installed all while Chance is breathing down my neck (and drooling all over the seat) from the back. Then I toss the diaper bag in, go back and lock the house and we’re off (like a herd of turtles).
After all of that the grocery story is literally a 5 minute drive from my house so we get there and I toss the diaper bag on me and grab Garrity (who is now asleep) out of the car and put her seat and all into one of the carts and we’re off.
I only came to the store for a mailing envelope but while I was there I tossed in some extra D batteries (can’t let the swing stop working!) and some Aleve for Chris (who was dealing with a foot injury which happened during labor) and some Shout (hello baby spit-up). So I get all my goods and check out with no issues. Garrity didn’t make a peep through the entire thing. I get everything/one loaded back into the car and head home. Phew. Easy. Although I may or may not have worked up a sweat 🙂
Even though this challenge went off without a hitch, I am so glad I did it and so glad that I just went for a couple things. I’ve now realized that there is no way I could do my regular grocery shopping with the baby in the cart. There would be no room!
How do you moms do it? Am I missing something?
Since this challenge I’ve made quite a few more outings to the store, Target being my go-to spot and while I still can’t figure out how to get more space in my cart I have figured out how to utilize the cart handle for hangers so at least I can still go clothes shopping 🙂
[All photos taken by Whitney Mattocks. All rights reserved]
Find more baby activities with the 52 weekly rookie mom challenges.
If you’re already participating, use hashtag #rookiemoms on instagram or twitter so we can cheer each other on.
