Mommy's Day "Out"???

My good friend Jackie and I try to get together once a week for some adult converstation. We each have an almost 3 year old and babies that are six weeks apart. Zac and her daughter Tori have been friends for a year and a half now and go to preschool together. Jackie and I have a lot in common and we find ourselves going crazy alone with the kids all week so it's been our routine for a while now to go to the mall once a week. We let the kiddos play in the play area and try to catch up on the craziness of each others lives and commiserate about the insanities of being stay at home moms (although neither of us would trade it, it's not always easy!).

Today was our mall day and things just didn't quite go the way we had planned! Tori and Zac were done playing and Tyler decided to have a meltdown. I couldn't figure out what was wrong and nothing that I did to calm him was working. I carried him to Barnes and Noble where Jackie wanted to look for a book. Tori and Zac played in the kids area with a Thomas the Train table while Jackie searched and Tyler continued to scream (yes, in the middle of a book store!) All the while, her baby Kati has slept for a total of 30 minutes all day and just refuses to miss anything and nod off and Zac is always a handful!

All of sudden I looked up and Tori was naked from the waist down! She had had an accident and took her clothes off because they were wet! Jackie ran over and did what she could to clean it up and we got the four little terrors out of there! Tyler is still screaming at this point and Tori and Zac are wanting to ride the carrousel so we head for the main elevator. We get to it and find out that it's stuck - of course! So we have to walk halfway down the mall with Tyler cranking and Tori a little damp to get to another elevator because we've both upgraded to the double stroller and can't possibly get them on an escalator! All things that we took for granted with just one kiddo! We managed to get the kids a horsey ride and some lunch!

We definitely made the best of it and had a good time anyway! It's always nice to talk with another mom in a similar situation and comforting somehow to know that you're not alone. There are crazy days like this one but what on earth would we do without the kids? And it's funny to think of the friends I never would have met if I didn't have kids. They open up a whole new universe of amazing people!