A Nice Trip To The Park Mommy Failure

(Picture taken a few weeks ago. Today was much, much worse!)

Yesterday was a long day spent trapped inside our house while the rain came down outside. So I was determined to take my 3 active little toddlers (my 2 boys and another little boy I watch 2 days a week) outside for a while to burn off some energy.

At 9:30 I bundled them all up. It was 45 degrees and windy today so they all had coats & hats on. I also packed a small bag with what I thought were the "necessities." For us that is: 3 sippy cups, water bottle, diaper & wipes, glucose monitor & glucagon, cell phone, blanket, and apple slices. I recently read an article about mommies trying to travel "light" so as not to hinder your exploration & fun with your children (I have since decided that it was a bad article!) Everything & everyone was loaded into the wagon, and I pulled my 80 lbs of toddlers up a one mile hill to a lovely park near our home. The boys all squealed with delight at the sight of the park & joyful playing commenced! Sounds like perfection right?

I failed to think about what a day of rain does... MUD. The park itself is covered with wood chips and was only a little damp, but the surrounding area is "still under construction" so it was a muddy mess. However, all that work pulling & the dread of another day indoors, with no opportunity to burn of little boys energy, must have clouded my judgement. I decided to stay thinking my little angels would just play on the equipment & swings. After-all, that is what they all they did last time I took them to this park. I know, I know...I can hear all you experienced, good mommies laughing at me now!

About 15 minutes into our fun adventure (while I was, of course, changing a dirty diaper), Benjamin wanders out of the wood chips and finds a 2 inch puddle of muddy water. He steps into it, and, finding it to be cold and unpleasant, he turns quickly crying to find me and falls face first into the puddle. For those of you that have seen Anne Of Green Gables, it was very much like the scene where she is chasing the cow and falls into the mud. He looked just like Anne as he stood up, except he was bawling & and he is a little boy & he was not wearing a white dress (so I guess he looked a little different).

He was soaked and filthy & it was only 45 degrees and windy out. So, fellow mommies, what would you do? Do you leave on the muddy, wet clothes? Or do you take them off? Of course I didn't pack a change of clothing in my "necessities bag" because of that horrible article encouraging me to pack light.

I opted for half & half and pulled off the worst of it. Then I wrapped up his crying body in my jacket, loaded up the 3 little ones into the wagon, and began the walk home. Keep in mind it is a 3/4 mile walk back, pulling 80 lbs, with 1 half-clothed muddy and upset toddler, 2 unhappy toddlers whose playtime was cut short, and no coat for me. That was a very long walk! On the bright side it was downhill! At home I had the glorious task of stripping and washing muddy clothing, shoes, bag, wagon, etc.

Needless to say...today has also been a long day!

I know I will not be traveling "light" again for a long time. Back to the huge diaper bag going everywhere with me.

So today was one big "MOMMY FAIL" day. But as Anne Of Green Gables Liked to Say "Tomorrow is another day, with no mistakes in it yet!"

Is it bedtime yet? {grin}