We finally completed our wills this week and had them notarized at Daddy's office (what is it about long office hallways that invite little boys to run at top speed until they go straight into someone's office?). Even though these concern temporal matters, it gives me much peace knowing these documents are in place. I seriously encourage everyone to have something down on paper should the unexpected happen. We followed the advice of several lawyers and didn't hire a lawyer, but used Quicken Willmaker instead. It also a
llowed us to make and have notarized other forms that authorize grandma to seek medical treatment for the kids, etc.The one thing that I am still hoping to figure out before our little man arrives is how to make our double stroller work for 3. Has anyone tried the Lascal Buddy Board stroller platforms? I know they are expensive, but with as much as we go to the park and the pool and with gas prices so high, I am trying to figure out how to convey 3 kids under 3 if my back can't handle the sling for 12 hours a day. I called the company and, because of the handlebar on my Combi double stroller, they said it wasn't a great fit, but that the Basic buddy board would work better than the Maxi one. Are there any other options that I don't know about?
10 comments:
Hello,
I have recently started watching the RSS feed for your site and have enjoyed "getting to know you" ladies. And besides sharing the same faith and moral convictions, I seem to have a little in common with you - I have a Masters (not from Princeton, but UT and I still live in TX), and will soon be the mother to 3 under 3 (not boys, but girls - our oldest will be 33 months when the newest arrives in Sept.). At any rate, I'll be watching your posts with much interest in the coming months. Thank you for sharing.
-Jenny
I have a buggy board. For being so expensive, they break, I have lost wheels on curbs, etc. Also, depending on your stroller it makes it pretty hard to push. That said, I used one to turn my triple stroller into a quad and we did a lot of walking that year, with 4 year old PT on the buggy board. Now that I think of it, we might have broken it because our kids are so big and heavy, he was 60 pounds then, probably over the official limit.
My only advice would be to try to make sure that the oldest is doing some walking, building stamina is great if he can walk to the park and then ride home.
I had all these great plans when I had three kids under four. I thought we'd spend hours at the town pool, doing picnic lunches and napping in the stroller. I'd walk them there to get some exercise and fresh air. I think I did it once and it was a huge disaster. I don't think I ever spent one day picnicing at the pool. Do yourself a favor and take the easy way out. Drive. Put the baby and toddler in the stroller and let the older one the distance from the parking lot to the entrance of the pool. Enjoy these years and don't over do it. It's not a race but a marathon. There will be plenty of times to take them out for walks when they are older and not in diapers.
I have three kids three and under and still haven't found a solution. I tend to just switch off between the eldest and the youngest. If the eldest is tired, I carry the baby in a carrier and let him ride. Usually, he likes to walk, though, and the baby can ride. My stroller (Phil & Ted's E3) does have a this "emergency brake" strap. It's great for my 3 year old to hold onto on a busy street or in parking lots so that he stays close.
P.S. I couldn't do this with out my mei tai (I got mine from BabyHawk, but there are lots of brands and you can often find one on craigslist). It rocks. It distributes weight much better than the Baby Bjorn and works better than a sling for long distance walking. And it can be used as a backpack, too. I now carry my baby (who was 10 lbs. at birth) for hours everyday - something I hated with the first two. It just is more comfortable and convenient with the mei tai.
Ditto, Maria, on the no-solution but dealing with the double stroller plus sling. That's the way we travel too, and it's just fine. I like being able to have some carrying time with the baby in the sling, and Bella is not ready to walk yet. Angelina is only 6 weeks, Bella just turned 3, Bean is almost 2.
Also, I'm a MAJOR anti-homebody, but we're really staying home more. Yep, like anon said, it's usually more frustrating than fun to drag everyone somewhere. And even more, Bean and Bella seem to appreciate being home, either playing inside or in our apartment complex yards, just being together and having my attention (rather than the stress of being out and about). They seem to need that assurance after Angelina's arrival.
I'm hoping that, by the time Bella outgrows the stroller and they're ready to do more outings, Bella will be willing to walk.
Glad to hear everyone else's experiences on traveling with such a load of little ones!
Great to hear these "mother of three" experiences as we plan to make that transition in August. I'm hoping that for our occasional outings (I'm not planning to be very busy, at least not out of the house!) I'll have my two oldest 3.5 and 2 trade off between stroller and walking. Funny enough, the 2-year-old always requests to walk and hates being pinned down in the stroller. He does seem to be the more active of the two, though, so this makes sense.
While the baby is still young, sounds like my best bet is a sling or some carrying device for the littlest one. We have a Kelty backpack for when he gets a little older, but it is SO awkward getting on! I can remember venturing to the grocery store with it when T-baby was 6mos. and M, 2 years. T would fall asleep in it and people would give me the strangest looks, almost as if I was torturing my poor child bc he had fallen asleep head forward, resting on the front of the backpack! What's a mother to do! ;)
Thanks for the thoughts so far. I have to say that I find it more stressful to be at home all day with the boys. Cars usually end up as projectiles and they start these races that usually end in a collision because of excess energy.
If we aren't outside in the am and the pm it is usually harder on me. The boys are generally content and quiet in the 10 minutes stroller walk to the park...it is like a little treat for me to feel the sun on my back and breathe the fresh air. Both our pool and playground are gated in, so there is no chasing around or means for escape. I will try to get Dash to walk to the park a bit...that's a good idea. It is downhill on the way. Then when he's exhausted from playing I could push him on the way home and carry the babe. Sorry...just thinking out loud here. Maybe I should spend the $$ on a different carrier instead of a buggy board.
Hello there, I have been a long time reader of your site and love it! (B-Mama, I met you once while in Colorado.) I don't have the "fix it" for the third child but did want to mention the kangakid. http://www.deuterusa.com/products/productDetail.php?packID=kangaKid&sub=family&tert=family
You can find them on sale regularly at the REI outlet website. I'm not sure at what weight/age you can begin using, but I can let you know that we have LOVED having this backpack. I have bigger babies, so we outgrew the bjorn fairly early. The kangakid was great for our adventures as it allowed me the backpack space along with the ability to carry our youngest in a comfortable way. Keep up the great conversations, ladies! Blessings.....
Welcome Jenny. Thanks for commenting!
As for the stroller, we've had the best luck with one walker (age 4), and baby and toddler in stroller. When walker gets tired, I put her in the stroller and put baby in ergo baby carrier. Recently, 4 year old started riding her bike (and this has been GREAT!!!) I don't know if dash is big enough for training wheels, but if he is, I'd get him on a bike.
I sympathize with the commenter who said that her first outing was a disaster, but I wanted to offer encouragement. Every "first" we do is so difficult, first trip to the beach, first time in the snow, first walk around the block with five children. In fact, we have to repeat these difficult firsts every season. The library, church, all of these things are difficult until you have done it a few times and established ground rules and routines, as well as seen what equipment you need (when I figured out that the oldest child should bring a backpack, trips to the library were so much easier. When I stopped allowing them to bring scooters, daily walks around the block were much more pleasant). So, perservere! If something is getting you down after several attempts it may be something you have to give up, but if you are seeing gradual improvement you should keep trying!
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