The Cadillac stroller does potty time.

By far the most challenging thing so far about having two kiddos is learning how to leave the house. Loading everyone into their respective safety devices and packing a mammoth diaper bag has me pretty much exhausted before we're even out of the driveway. One of the best things about having Mr. Baggins in the spring (as opposed to October, when Bug was born) is that the weather is gorgeous and I can actually enjoy being outside, if I can ever manage to get out the front door. 

When Daddy is home, walks are easy. We put Mr. Baggins in the main stroller we got with Bug's car seat and put Bug in the cheapo $14.99 umbrella stroller we picked up at Walmart before our California trip and off we go. Obviously, this is not a set up that works well when I'm by myself.


The kids and I tried a few different scenarios, including putting Mr. Baggins in my Moby wrap sling (which I love) and putting Bug in the stroller, and putting Mr. Baggins in the stroller while Bug walked. The problem with that last option is that when I say that Bug "walked", what I really mean is that she sometimes moved in a forward direction in between the times she stopped to pick up every stick, smell every flower, and point at every bug. It's fun and educational and whatnot, but not particularly great in terms of stretching Mama's legs.


The sling was becoming a bit toasty with the warmer weather, so I did a bunch of research and found a fantastic double stroller on Amazon. It wasn't too terribly expensive to begin with, and we had a gift certificate that made it just over $100. Let me just take a minute to mention how much I adore this thing. It's like the Cadillac of strollers, I think, only on a Hyundai budget. I can lock the front wheel in place to jog with it, and with the front wheel unlocked it maneuvers shockingly well for something so wide.

Bug thinks it's the most hilarious thing in the world to hang out with Mister B and Mama likes to see the sunshine, so everyone wins.

So the point of mentioning all of this other than to tell you how much I love my new stroller is to mention one of the more challenging two kid moments so far. The kids and I had wandered over to a cheap clothing store close to my house to see what we could see. After several days of success (turns out I should've publicly complained about potty training on the blog earlier, because it's been basically smooth sailing since then) Bug was sporting her big girl panties like a champ. Just as we were paying for our purchases, the dreaded and all important "Mommy, I need to use the big girl potty!" phrase was uttered. Realizing that attempting to make it all the way home would put her pride and my precious stroller in peril, we dashed to the back of the store.

And that's when I realized there was no way, given the current laws of physics, that that stroller was fitting down the hall to that bathroom. I unstrapped the Bug. Couldn't very well leave the Mister all alone, so I unstrapped him, too. Figured it was best not to leave my wallet unattended, so I stuck it under my arm. My daughter, my baby, my wallet, my cell phone and I carefully made our way into the not-so-clean bathroom, all the while trying to move this whole balancing act quickly enough to avoid an accident.

The deed was accomplished, and then I began negotiating how best to get her up to the sink for obligatory hand washing. And as I peeked at myself in the mirror, baby and wallet hanging from my left arm and toddler hefted up to the sink with my right, rushing the whole process lest someone mess with my beloved Cadillac stroller down the hall, I thought: this is my life now. 

I am so lucky, all the potty involvement notwithstanding.