Playgroup With Three

January 13, 2015

 

This week started a little differently to most other weeks. On a Monday we usually have a slow start, we don’t have to be out the house until 12pm so our morning can be a lazy one. However, yesterday we started something new…the boys were all dressed before 9am; I had even ironed the creased t-shirts and we were ready to go. I was stumbling into the unknown; playgroup with three littles! This is something I’ve been dreading and looking forward to in equal measure. I knew this would be the year that we needed to go out more, the twins need more interaction and new places to explore, a chance to become more independent.

I’d found the perfect playgroup for us, it is just over the road from our house so we can all walk there. It is in the morning but finishes in time for us to get back and have lunch before we are out again taking Lucas to pre-school. I loved the one I used to take Lucas but it is further away so doesn’t really fit round our day. Obviously, I was quite nervous; this is the first time I’ve really been out in public with all three boys on my own. The logistics were enough to give me a headache, how do I get them out the pushchair and inside, will I have to carry two of them, what do I do when Lucas needs the toilet? I had thought through all the worst-case scenarios in my head and concluded that if it all went horribly wrong I was only five minutes from home!

In the end, it went okay, we managed! I wouldn’t say it was any thing more than surviving at this stage but we got out and we did it. The people who organised it were lovely and so helpful, I knew another Mum there and everyone else was very friendly. I did have to run out quick when Lucas needed the toilet giving the nod to another mum to watch the twins but thankfully they didn’t notice I’d gone. They are so much clingier than Lucas ever was, I took Lucas to a new playgroup at their age and he left me without looking back! These both clung to me, darting off to have a quick look at something then coming right back to climb up me. I’m sure there will be tricks I learn as we go along and I’d love to hear how others do it with two or more!

We managed just over an hour and as we left I have to say I felt pretty euphoric, it’s only a small achievement but it is something I wasn’t sure I would ever feel able to do. When Lucas hit the terrible twos I sometimes struggled going out with just him but now he is older he just potters about and I know most of the time he will be behaving. The twins are very good really, it was only towards the end that they got tired and cranky. As we got home there was a feeling of something else, a little tinge of sadness that Arthur and Brandon really aren’t my babies anymore. They have been with me right from the start, at home playing, pretty content really but now it is time for us to venture out more, to try new things and to let them explore without Mummy. Exciting and a little scary all at the same time but I must admit it was nice to get back home!

 

playgroup with three

 

 

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23 Comments

  • The Reading Residence

    Well done to you for giving it a whirl! Surviving is good enough, I think! End of an era, start of new adventures xx

    January 13, 2015 at 1:58 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      Thanks Jocelyn, I’m glad I just got out and did it! Scary as it is 🙂 xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:34 pm Reply
  • Tina

    You’re so brave taking all three to a playgroup on your own! Haha I’ve never taken my ONE daughter to one before! I’m happy it went well 🙂

    January 13, 2015 at 3:25 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      It entertains them for a while far more than I can at home so that is my excuse for giving it a go! 🙂

      January 15, 2015 at 8:34 pm Reply
  • Emma

    Well done for doing it, sometimes it is hard enough with two let alone three!

    January 13, 2015 at 3:44 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      Thanks, it can be hard with just one on the wrong day! I remember days like that with Lucas but this all went far more smoothly than I imagined xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:33 pm Reply
  • Everything Mummy

    ahh well done you for getting out with the three of them it is like a military operation when i take my three to playgroups or soft play! x

    January 13, 2015 at 3:52 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      It is, I’m glad I’ve given it a go but it was so tiring! xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:32 pm Reply
  • Kat | Beau Twins

    KUDOS to you, you are officially supermum! I went to soft play and a coffee date today but with a very close friend so she had eyes everywhere and her little girl. My two are also clinging but they also fight on me/over me! I get battered daily by them! Well done you hun, so brave and what was great is you didn’t put a ridiculous amount of pressure on yourself! xxxx

    January 13, 2015 at 6:19 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      Wow, I haven’t tackled soft play yet. That is next on the list but I definitely need hubby there for that one! Yes, mine clamber all over me too I get so many scratches from them, it must get easier as they get older surely?! 🙂 xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:31 pm Reply
  • Katy {What Katy Said}

    I am always afraid to go with just my two so good on you for going with three!! It is good to get up and about early, I need to take a leaf out of your book! x

    January 13, 2015 at 8:27 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      I felt better once I’d done it, I think I just don’t have the time to get worked up about these things anymore so I just go and give it a try! I’m not sure where that attitude has come from because I never used to be like that at all!! I think once you’ve done it you feel all the better for it though xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:29 pm Reply
  • Mini Travellers

    Woohoo High Five!I remember this so well. I will still choose activities that don’t involve taking my three out alone. I never ever go to the supermarket! Ever!!

    January 13, 2015 at 8:35 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      No I have never done the supermarket, there is no way I could handle them all there! It’s crazy isn’t it the thought and planning that goes into a tiny little outing, you deserve a mega high five for getting out at all with your three, they are so close in age it must have been tough when they were younger!

      January 15, 2015 at 8:28 pm Reply
  • SArah Christie

    Its daunting isn’t it, i remember feeling so proud if I managed to get out of the house on time, some days I still feel the same ha ha x

    January 13, 2015 at 9:15 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      Haha, yes I’m not sure it will every go away. I’m sure it will always be manic trying to get three boys out the house! xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:27 pm Reply
  • Amy

    Gosh Hayley, you must have to be so organised. No joke-once I have the teenagers off to school (and they practically take care of themselves these days) It sometimes takes me hours to get out of the house with Rose, gah! I think I need to organise myself on an evening better. I really want to join a new playgroup but am so nervous at the same time as worried I won’t know anyone, I’m not so good at stuff like that so think you’re brave to take three!! xx

    January 13, 2015 at 9:28 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      I think I was so much more nervous when I only had one, I haven’t got the time to worry about it now! I’ve been lucky and met some lovely mums at playgroups but I know it isn’t the case everywhere and some can be quite difficult to break into, there is no harm in trying though and you don’t have to go back if you don’t like it. It does take so much organising though to get out for something like that, I was shattered afterwards!! xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:26 pm Reply
  • mummyofboygirltwins

    You are literally AMAZING!!!!!! Wow and wow again. I struggle with just the twins, so hats off. OK some weeks may go pear shaped, but hey…totally normal. You are fab and I am in awe! Jess x

    January 14, 2015 at 7:17 pm Reply
    • hayleyfromhome

      Aww Thank you lovely! I just kind of thought I should go for it, what’s the worst that couple happen. I think I felt safer knowing I could get home quickly if need be. I’m not sure I’ll be doing in when the terrible twos hit though, haha xx

      January 15, 2015 at 8:21 pm Reply
  • Rachel @ The Ordinary Lovely

    I have no idea how you manage. You are uh-mazing! I struggle to leave the house with two. I get them ready and turn my back and one has inevitably wondered off and the other has taken his clothes off. It’s maddening. You are now officially my hero!

    January 15, 2015 at 9:14 pm Reply
  • Notmyyearoff

    Oh my gosh a HUGE well done. I remember when Z was little and I used to literally panic about how I would manage and unless I could picture it all in my head I’d spend all my time wound up and worried about it. Managing with 3, even it is surviving for now, is amazing!:)

    January 16, 2015 at 8:09 pm Reply
  • Katie @mummydaddyme

    Well done you Hayley, it’s not a small achievement, I think it’s amazing. I can’t imagine taking Mads and two LL’s out! Glad you had a good time. x

    January 21, 2015 at 8:37 pm Reply
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