And We're Public.....

Over the past couple months, we haven't gone out in public with all five kiddos unless it was completely unavoidable.  That equated to me taking them all once a week to G's gymnastics session because there was no other way around it or over to a neighbor's house if they were crazy enough to invite us for dinner. 

For everything else one of us would stay behind with at least the babies while the other one ventured out with the other kids.  No grocery store, no church, no Target as an entire family unit.  We used the excuse of not wanting to take the babies out in public for germ avoidance, but deep down in the back of my mind I wanted to avoid the freak show parade.

The time has come to take the freak show on the road....

In the past couple weeks, we have conquered the following outings.....

1 - Costco (early on a Sunday morning to avoid the crowds)

2 - The Children's Museum Haunted House (all by myself thank you very much)

3 - Neighborhood Halloween Parade (complete with coordinating themed costumes)

From these adventures, I have figured out some "Rules of the Road" so to speak 

1.  Divide and Mystify - By placing children in different transportation devices and making sure to maintain distance between the pushers, no one is really sure if we go together or not. Spread out walking children as well

2.  Nod, Smile, and Keep Moving - It's harder to ask questions to a moving target

3. Pre-Outing Stiff Drink and Extra Deodorent  is a Must - Calms the nerves and combats the excess stress sweat

4. Preparation is the Key - Make sure to have 10 back-up pacis, enough snacks to support an army for at least a week, and three changes of clothes per kid to ensure that nothing happens.  Go unprepared and all hell is guaranteed to break loose

5.  Have a Stock Funny Comment Ready to Go - There's not really time to think up snarky comments on the fly while trying to keep track of 5 kids, so prep and practice one before you head out in public.  I like "5 Kids?  Really?  I didn't even notice!" but have also used "I had no idea there were this many with me." 

6.  Remember that This Too Shall Pass - Really, this will only be an issue for the next 10-15 years of my life.  That's not too long right?  I'm sure we will look fondly back and say things like "Remember how great it was that time we all went to WalMart at 10am on a Saturday morning when they were little?  I sure miss that."

Yeah right.....

The good thing is every time I return from a entire family outing, I feel like I have conquered my own little Everest.  People should be lining our driveway cheering for us as we pull in, or patting us on the back and giving us high fives as we load everyone back into the car. We have returned with the same amount of children that we left with, no one was injured, and we weren't asked to leave anywhere.

I think that is a pretty darn big deal.