This morning I found myself faced with a dilemma. Morrie & Beckham STINK!!! Yes, they’ve been a little neglected hygiene-wise over the last couple of months with our move, the monsoon rains, etc. They SERIOUSLY need baths! That in itself was not my dilemma. My dilemma was how to logistically get myself, the two dogs (one of which is 110lbs), our 3 toddlers, the triple stroller, and N&E all in the car together. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. I needed to have N&E at school by 8:30, and the dogs at PetsMart by 9:00. I didn’t have time to make a trip back to the house, and besides, I don’t think it would work with the dogs in the 2nd row seat…. they need to be in the cargo area (where our stroller lives)…. can you imagine? Unfortunately I sure can. I decided to just live on the edge a little this morning.
I was acting as a drill sergeant in the highest sense. N&E did NOT want to be tardy, so they were in full compliance. Noah was looking for the leashes while I dressed the babies (something we typically don’t do…. we go to school in PJs (the babies… not me)…). Unfortunately once he found the leashes he made the mistake of letting Morrie & Beckham SEE the leashes. This took our typical morning chaos to a whole new level. Beckham, who is not used to the leash at all started howling and trying to JUMP over the baby gate. Morrie started ‘dancing’ around the kitchen and barking… very LOUD barking I will add. Eli was now playing with the babies with 3 battery-powered trains, which also are noisy. He was in his ‘make-sure-the-entire-neighborhood-can-hear-me’ voice, and the trio was chasing him (and the trains) around the room, squealing the entire time. More barking, howling, jumping…. I was trying to make lunches, sign paperwork, etc…. all while trying to figure out how this was going to work in my head. Noah started giving me the play-by-play of the clock so I let him start loading the babies into the car. I went out and removed the stroller (against my better judgement) from the back of the vehicle so we could load the dogs. I leashed up Beckham, which sent Morrie COMPLETELY over the edge. I put him in the car, and went back inside for Morrie. Eli was now on blanket & paci duty (we know better to leave the house without them). I took Morrie outside, opened up the back of the car…. Beckham jumps back out. Morrie is so big and the driveway is on an incline, so he can’t get in. I certainly don’t want to lift him either. We put Beckham back in, try Morrie OVER and OVER. Beckham jumps out AGAIN (repeatedly). Finally, I took Morrie back a few feet and let him get a running start and he made it. Beckham jumped back in for the last time, and we were FINALLY ready to leave. (Who needs to go to the gym when you have this kind of workout???)
We set out on our way for school. Now the car WREAKS of dog. Morrie is breathing all over Luke & Liam over their 3rd row seat, but they think it’s hysterical. My view in the rear view mirror is quite a sight to see…. 14 little eyes and a few tongues tossed in the mix too. We pull up to the school with 5 minutes to spare, believe it or not. Beckham & Morrie then decide to bark at all the kids while we are in the drop-off lane. My car is literally rocking…. a tad bit embarrassing. I swear the kid that opened the car door for the boys turned white in fear. My dogs are definitely not mean or aggressive in any form of the words… you can probably see that from previous posts. Big dogs have big barks, what can I say? N&E couldn’t possibly have gotten out of the car any faster. I’m pretty sure they were pretending they didn’t know me. You couldn’t help but laugh at this point.
Onward! Now I was on my way to PetsMart…. finally!!! Yes, we were going to embark on a new adventure. There I was, with NO stroller. One thing about having triplets is that the stroller pretty much dictates what type of vehicle you can drive. We have 3 different modes of triplet transportation, 2 require the cargo area (and fill it completely), and the 3rd requires a hitch on the back. Sure, I could have put the hitch on, but then I couldn’t get the dogs IN or OUT without first removing the stroller, its tarp, the bungee, etc. Do-able, but what a nightmare. Like I said, we were going to live on the edge this morning. We arrived at the PetsMart a little early so we waited in the car a few minutes until they opened up. (Have I mentioned that these dogs STINK???)
Once they unlocked the doors I hopped out of the car and grabbed a shopping cart. I have heard several MOMs talk about how they just load their kids into a shopping cart on a regular basis. This is not something I have ever done, and definitely not something I really planned to ever do, being the germ-o-phobe that I am. Besides, if they are in the cart, where do you put your stuff (beside the point for now)? I knew this could be a disaster waiting to happen, but you know, there are several PetsMarts in the area, right, lol! I don’t know these people! I very discretely pulled my trusty mini Lysol can out of my purse and hosed down the entire cart (YES I DID…. snap!). I put Liam in the seat belt since he is the biggest monkey of them all, and the most inclined to get into trouble. I made sure to put Aidan in the belly of the cart since he is the heavy one, and the most ‘calm’. Luke, the little one, fit nicely in with Aidan. Since this was a new thing, they were really GOOD. They all sat down nicely when asked…. who are these children??? All the babies were loaded, now I just had to get the dogs.
I popped open the window in the back and grabbed leashes. We were on a busy corner and I knew Beckham would come bounding out. Then I opened up the back and somehow got both dogs out without hanging one of them. I’m sure the landscapers were loving our show. No sooner had I slammed the back closed, secured the leashes in my hand, and grabbed the end of the basket…. O-M-G… Morrie & Beckham TOOK OFF. I was literally being pulled through the parking lot (literally running), then into the store, all while pulling my basket-o-babes. They must have felt like they were on a roller coaster! I flew by the check-out stand like greased lightning. Luckily the store was pretty empty. I probably would’ve taken a few people & their pets out had they gotten in my path. We were quite a sight to see. Once we got into the grooming section the ladies took the dogs behind the counter. They were completely calm and sweet now (?!@#%!). I was out of breath… and at the same time cracking up just imagining what this ordeal must have looked like from a non-triplet-having onlooker. The ladies in the grooming department asked me… ‘HOW do you do it… 2 dogs and 3 kids?’ I really just wanted to say, do you SEE what my dogs look like? I’m sure she ‘got’ it when she handed me my $200 bill. They are going to look like sheared sheep when I pick them up from all the mats. I’ll bet they smell better though!
Naturally I didn’t have my camera for this ordeal, and of course I couldn’t have stopped and had everyone say ‘cheese’ in the middle of the nut house activities. I did manage to get a couple of pics with my phone (note the furry onlookers in the first pic). In the end, it was a success. If you are ever looking for a FREE activity for your toddlers, take them to the PetsMart. They LOVED looking at all the birds, fish, hamsters, and kitty cats. This one didn’t have the PetsHotel, but the ones that do are great so they can watch the pet ‘day care’ dogs play. It’s like taking them to the Chuck E Cheese, minus the germs…. provided you bring your can of Lysol!
Helen says
January 27, 2010 at 9:30 pmHehe! Classic! Love the way you told the story!
Andrea says
January 28, 2010 at 9:24 amOh, my! I'm so glad you survived! All in a day's work for a triplet mom, huh? 😉
Tina says
January 28, 2010 at 10:11 pmThis sounds like my life. I am just going to say again how much i love you Lysol and all! I would have told them to shave the dogs BALD. We have 2, 100# Black Labs not to smelly.
Great pics. i am soooo going to steal your Pet smart Field Trip idea1
You Rock!
Kathy says
February 1, 2010 at 8:27 pmHysterical!! loved reading this. The best tip I've learned from 25 years of daycare/preschool workshops is to have the children, immediately upon arriving, use the toilet then wash their hands. We are almost never sick here, not to mention fewer puddles!