Leaving the House with Two Under Two

I’ve been a mom of two under two for a grand total of twelve days now. So, of course, I’m an expert.

We got out of the house for a zoo outing on Sunday morning. We like Sunday mornings because there are no school groups, it’s cooler, and there are just fewer people in general. Before leaving for the zoo, Patrick and I discussed our expectations. I think the conversation can be summed up as, “Lower your expectations. And then lower them again. And we’ll have a good time.” We basically decided that pushing an agenda was not worth it, and that we would do exactly whatever Seamus had the stamina for, even if that included banging on a hollow bench 85 times. (Which it did.)

We loaded up the new/used Joovy Sit n Stand with carseat adapter, both boys, diapers, and our golden ticket–a banana for Seamus for when the going got tough. Gilbert was a little fussy, but we just walked with him on our shoulders letting him burp it out. At one point neither boy was in the stroller. Seamus enjoyed jumping on and off of the stroller, and we liked it because we could just pick him up without unstrapping him so he could see the animals. When Gilbert needed to eat, we found a shady bench and let Seamus have his banana. (Ridiculous that we have to SPELL that word around him or there is sad disappointment in store for him and us. Also ridiculous, that when we buy them at the grocery, they are the last thing in the cart and the first to be weighed and paid for so he can have one.)

Zebras and chimps were a big hit. We only did Apes and Africa. I think one of the reasons it was successful was that we didn’t try to do too much. Even though Seamus likes the Catwalk, we called it a day. He had been running all over the place, and he was exhausted! With all of our other prep, we did not take a camera, but that would have only served to make us self-righetously proud of ourselves for even attempting the trip at all.

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