Learn from my mistakes: don't try this one!

Today, we tried something new. After our success on the light rail a few weeks ago, I thought we’d try riding the bus downtown (sans double stroller).  Its a really short walk from our house to the bus stop, and Lonnie would meet us when we got off the bus.  We’d have lunch with Daddy, check out his office, then catch the return bus to go back home for naps.

In case you think this all sounds fun and lovely, think again. I DO NOT recommend doing this, with 3 kids under four (two not quite two). What was I thinking?

Actually, the ride to our destination was pretty manageable, and after that first trip I was all excited about doing it again. On that ride, I kept Elsie in the Beco on my back the whole time, Emma and Delia sat (or stood in front of me), and the novelty of the bus and excitement of the trip (plus loads of snacks) kept them happy and entertained. Everything was under control, happy, angelic kids, etc.

Lunch was great too. They didn’t eat much Pakistani food but hey, I did (yum), and we all had fun. The visit to Lonnie’s office was nice too. Finally saw the office he’s been in for the last year or so!  Emma enjoyed the view from the windows and Elsie and Delia enjoyed the yoga balls. 

And then.  I put Delia on my back this time (we’ve been taking turns with who goes in the carrier and that usually works okay), and we walked back down a few blocks to catch the bus. Just missed it, so we had a good 15-20 minute wait until the next one. We walked down a few more blocks, to a stop a little further down the line, to fill up some time. No bus.  Kids getting restless! Rain starting!  No bus!   Finally it came, we said goodbye to Lonnie, got on and grabbed seats right in front.  

Enter atrociousness. The bus was really jerky (I think it was a sub driver that didn’t quite know the route) and I couldn’t see out as well because we were seated right behind the driver. I had been wearing Delia for awhile at that point, and was hot and tired of her kicking me, and not able to lean back with her in the carrier. I had to cling to things and brace myself and Elsie every time the bus braked, stopped, or turned, and almost immediately felt really nauseous from the motion.

Things really only got worse. I took Delia out of the carrier to see if that would help me feel better (she was starting to fuss, anyway). It did not. I tried to look out the window, breath deeply, but Delia was getting crazy and refusing to sit in the seat (or on me) and Elsie kept sliding off the seat when it jerked around. She was also looking a little sick…. Emma was talking a mile a minute, as usual, loudly. Right now she is in a phase where she wants me to acknowledge Every! Single! Thing! and it is soooooo annoying! I eventually told her I was sick and couldn’t talk anymore. We broke out the Krispie treat we’d grabbed from Lonnie’s office, and it was all I could do to not lose my lunch as I simultaneously fed them sticky snacks, while trying to keep us all in our seats (which I was not successful at, I eventually let Delia sit on the floor for a bit).

Ordinarily, I think I might have been able to pull out some kind of parenting tricks out of the old hat but when feeling so sick I just couldn’t.   I eventually ended up just restraining Delia in my arms as she flopped around and cried and hollered (Elsie was doing some of this too, but not as bad).  I was totally That Mom on the bus with the all the crazy kids. OMG. 40 minutes later, we stepped off the bus and I have never been so thankful to be outside, in fresh air, and HOME. 

I am still recovering now, hours later.  No more bus trips in our near future, at least not further than the library (about a 5 minute ride from our house).  Its quite unfortunate that we are totally out of wine right now because I really needed it today!  

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