Why I have E.S.P.

E.S.P. ... nope, I am not referring to extrasensory perception but rather the abbreviation for my kiddos' names. Throughout my blog, I decided to abbreviate the kids' names for additional safety and security. I didn't actually fill out my profile giving specific details on our location and my blog is not searchable, but I have seen enough news to know that people are crazy and may show up at E.'s school someday saying "I am a friend of your mommy's and I am supposed to take you home from school. Look, your mommy even gave me a picture of you so that I could pick you up." Call me paranoid and I will tell you that you are right. Call me crazy and I will tell you, no, it is to keep the crazies away! =) I love my kids and want to live without any regrets about their safety. I try to get away from the million "what ifs" that could happen, but I think I inherited this particular endearing paranoia from my dad's side of the family. Though mom has a pretty strong dose of it too!

Back to work
Well, my maternity leave is officially over tomorrow morning at 6 AM. I am pretty bummed, though I think I am ready to jump back into the crazy schedule working brings. My husband has been awesome at doing all of the outside-of-home things for our family, like going to the grocery stores, WalMart, etc, etc, etc. It gives us much more family time together if I do the errands while I am home with the kids by myself, but I am still not certain how I want to tackle it. I mean, do I use two carts at the stores—one for each girl? Or do I just pile groceries on top of P. when I run out of room around her car seat? "Here honey, hold the hamburger, will ya?" I am definitely not adventurous enough to let S. walk through a store just yet. Neither she nor I would do much walking! It would be like the sprint to checkout! The best cart I have seen to-date for moms with a lot of kids have a built-in seat for a baby by the cart's handle and two toddler seats behind it so that the tots are sandwiched between the baby and the food. It is quite impressive. However, I am reluctant to try taking one of those things through the store. It is such a big cart that I think going down an aisle would be like trying to turn a Mack truck onto a railroad track. Not only would I wipe out the people beside us, but I could very likely take out every display from the door to the register! Maybe letting S. walk would be the better alternative ...

P.S.
The laundry is officially done—two days ahead of my estimation, too!