Playdates, Traffic & Stupid People

Today's Playdate

I love playdates. Honestly. I really do. I love taking my triplets to meet up with other HOM (Higher Order Multiples) families to play and have fun. It forces me to get out of the house with them when otherwise I might take the easy way out and stay inside watching Dora the Explorer and Elmo on TV. Wait, let me clear that up... I don't keep my children indoors all the time; they get "outside time" at least once a day because I can't bear to think that I'm depriving my children of fresh air and sunshine! :::Just wanted to get that straight right away::: But most days, I don't venture too far from home because it takes so long to get the little ones ready and packed up all by myself. And, inevitably, someone always poops their diaper just as we're walking to the garage to get in the car, or someone will disassemble their adorable pigtails that have taken me so long to make EVEN, and so on... Still, I take the initiative and wake up early on playdate days, which are two to three times per month, and I make it happen. Once we're there, I'm always glad we went.

You should see the little darlings... They are so happy to play with other children! And I think it's especially important for them to see other "multiples", so that they don't feel that they are too different from other kids. Yes, I know triplets are not that common for the rest of you to see, but I'd like my girls to know that there are plenty of other triplets around us, AND I'VE FOUND THEM! :::he he he:::

So, today's playdate was at the City of Riverside Main Library, in downtown Riverside, CA. The other HOM moms and I were meeting there at 10:00am so that we could catch the baby and toddler storytime. Great! I was excited about this one because I had only heard good things about this library and their baby-friendly storytime. The only other storytime experience I've had with Malia, Kaia & Marisa didn't turn out too hot (at another local library) as I've got an over-agressive reader in the bunch. I'll explain that another time. Let's just suffice to say that Kaia was crying as we left that storytime and I was not a happy mom!


Traffic

So, I get things done early, or at least I thought so... But of course we are heading out of the house behind schedule. (Doesn't it always happen that way?) I remember that I still have to stop by the gas station because I need to add some air to the spare tire I have on my truck right now. It looks really low. (Don't ask me how much air I put in it or how much it really needed... My tire pressure gauge is mysteriously missing.) So I stop by the gas station, put some air in the tire, and we're OFF!

I'm making good time... I can probably get there just about 10 minutes late, so I'll be ok... Uh-oh... TRAFFIC.

Let me just say that I hate coming through the Riverside freeway system for just this reason. :::Unbelieveable traffic on the 60 Freeway merging on to the 91 Freeway::: But according to Mapquest, this was the shortest route to downtown Riverside. Yeah, right. I spent the next 45 minutes slowly traveling a route that should have taken me only 20 minutes to get through. Man.

Needless to say, we're super-late. We walk in to the library as the other triplet moms are walking out. Oh well.


Stupid People

Luckily, the other moms weren't ready to head home yet. They wanted to walk down a bit and get some lunch with the kids. **Kewl** All is not lost. The babes and I walk with the other moms and their triplets down to McDonalds and order lunch. People are staring at us while we are eating. They can't believe the triplets, all three sets of them. You know, I understand this is a normal reaction for most people, but after awhile it just gets downright annoying. These are our children, after all. We aren't part of the freakin' circus or something! Jeez! Let us feed our babies in peace!

After lunch we all walked down to the front steps of the city museum so we could enjoy our desserts (Mickey D's yogurt parfaits). Then it's time to head back to the library parking lot to get in our cars and go home. Getting INTO the car is a bit of an ordeal, too. But isn't everything when you're trying to do it with triplets? Okay, so I'm trying to get one, two, three in the car... all while trying to make sure no one wanders off in the parking lot, or falls down, or whatever. Then this lady who's driving in the parking lot feels the need to stop right where me and a fellow triplet mommy are trying to get the kids into the car and shouts, "Big Family!" out her window. OMG. What a freak. And such bad timing. After the morning I had and now I'm frantically trying to get my children into their car seats safely, this lady tells us something as stupid as this? Luckily she drove away so I didn't have to make a scene. Some people are so stupid.


In closing...

So, this was my day. Like I said, it was a fair day. Not too bad, but not too great either. But at least I got to spend some time out in the sunshine with my babies...