Difficulties

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - It seems many aspects of life became more difficult after adding little kids into the mix.  For example, the ever-desirable work-life balance.  My daughter was five months old when I went back to university to finish my degree.  I vividly remember the first morning of classes, bawling in the car the entire drive there because I couldn't imagine leaving my baby all day, not yet.  When I parked, I tried to quickly compose myself so the hungover 19-year-olds in my classes wouldn't be able to tell I had been crying.  I had nothing to worry  about.  They really didn't think it was a big deal, although they were quite frightened to hear I was lactating.

There are other things that became harder after mixing in babies.  Like the bar scene.  And finding clothes that fit.

But probably one of the biggest difficulties I now have is trying to leave the house.  It is infinitely more complicated and time-consuming just by adding a couple of miniature people into the leaving equation.  Like this morning when I thought I would go for a bike ride, get some much-needed exercise in and pick up some groceries along the way.  And since I have a kids' bike trailer (a great garage sale find), I knew I could just throw my 20-month-old in the back and go.  My daughter had slept over at Grandma's and my husband had already left for work.  One kid, a bike and me.  Easy-peasy.

Nope.

First mistake I made was going into the kitchen.  Someone (probably my in-laws) had left McDonalds breakfast in a recognizable bag on the table.  "Fancakes, fancakes!" said my 20-month-old, Zeebos.  So there went 15 minutes.  Then dressed and diaper changed.  Check.  No - less than 30 seconds after being changed, he filled his diaper.  So back to the smelly, unpleasant drawing board.  Okay, bum clean, shoes on.  Check.  Grocery bags.  Check.  Wallet.  Check.  Drive car out of garage first to access bike trailer, put helmet on baby, secure seatbelt, put load of stuff needed for shopping and baby in the back...Oh, yeah, get baby from the house.  Don't forget toys for distraction at the store.

Finally, we left the driveway and were on our way!  On the trek to the grocery store, we stopped at a playground.  After a brief romp, I picked up Zeebos to put him back in the trailer.  He wouldn't sit down.  Of course, another filled diaper in less than 20 minutes.  And with the load of stuff I had brought, no diapers or wipes to be found.  You have got to be kidding!

So we turned around, abandoned grocery shopping and headed back home to attempt one more task that is much more difficult and less safe with little ones: showering.