I'm just a Momma on a "mission"...

Ever have one of those weeks? It seems that when it rains here it pours! This week started out pretty rough! The other morning we had a burglary, yes someone invaded MY privacy & rifled through the 'burb, aka the "quadmobile". They did this in front of our house, in our own driveway! Like there was much to be had anyways but what they took was stupid stuff! When it was all said & done they took the tribe's diaper & bib bag, my bag that I take to work & 2 wallets. The funny part, if you can find the humor, is that there really was NOTHING of value in the wallets for a thief to take!A $20 bill, could be considered life savings for this quadmomma, LOL, some family photos & a few OLD gift cards. And I mean OLD! They were from the time BEFORE children when I actually had time to shop! LOL! After scolding myself for letting this happen I then had a good scream on the inside. Just another event to cap off my already CRAZY life! Next I called the police to report it. Just in case other people in my area also had their vehicles broken into I wanted there to be a record of it! Needless to say my day started out BAD! ugh! This should set the stage for my "adventures" the rest of the day. First stop was to see my new GP, general practitioner in medical lingo. I FINALLY was going to see a Doctor other than my OB/GYN, YAY! Ever since I made my appointment my track record with their office has not been good. - Here's a brief re-cap of my first visit to their office - {I showed up 2 weeks earlier for what I thought was my appointment only to be told it was actually the day before! Get this they don't call to remind you! My life is a blur, I need reminding! Michael had taken off work & met me there. He was with them in their waiting room while I spoke to the receptionist. As I am standing there talking to her the tribe proceeds to stand up in their quad stroller & it tips over! Yep they all go flying to the floor! Do you think the receptionist got up out of her seat to see if my children were OK? Nope! After I make sure they did not suffer a concussion I then ask her if there is any paperwork I can fill out ahead of him, ie: insurance, etc. She then said no, you do it the day of the appt. I wanted to scream! Like I said it was a BAD week! I had to explain to her how it would just be me with them at my NEXT appt & would like to fill out the paperwork now so I did not have to concentrate on anything but them while I was waiting. After what I consider TOO much prodding she hands me one basic form. YAY! Any form is better than no form} So fast forward to the SAME day as the break in, I am at my SECOND visit for my FIRST appointment with my NEW Doctor. I told my hubby if things don't get better I may just seek out a different Doc. It's terrible but the office staff really can make or break my relationship with a Doctor. This time I gave her all of my insurance info & she tells me what my co pay is so I proceed to give her my credit card.Before I get my butt back to my seat she tells me quite loudly, "We don't take credit cards! We only take cash or checks and we do not bill!". HUH!? What kind of Doctor's office does not take a credit card, a debit card at that or bill their patients!? CRAZY! I felt like all the other patients were looking at me even more than they already do with my tribe! What makes matters even worse is that my own hubby has been to this office last week & even he did not tell me to bring cash! ugh! My day just seemed to get worse! I wanted to just pack the tribe up & leave! After shedding a few tears & having a chat with dear 'ol hubby they called me back to a room. It was not until I actually made it into the room did I break down & share with the nurse how bad I felt. There I was ALONE with 4 kiddos in a HUGE stroller that barely fit into the doorway & I had to tell her why my experiences there made me upset. Let's just see, I have 4 CRAZY children at home by myself! They constantly fight & better yet BITE one another! Avery bit Lindsey on the face while swimming in the pool! ugh! After much venting she turned to me & said if you need ANYTHING please skip the other lines & leave a message for me! I will help you! I cannot tell you how great that felt! Jokingly I told her that I hope the Doc makes up for the CRAZINESS of what I dealt with prior to her! My time with him was short but I felt better in the end. The VERY best part was that when I needed a RX for my eczema he got out this electronic contraption & sent the RX to the pharmacy of my choice! Yep, No paper RX that I had to take to the pharmacy & then wait to get filled. He sent it directly to the pharmacy of my choice electronically! WOO HOO! That made up for the other stuff I had to deal with in spades! Any little thing that can save me time is AWESOME! After leaving his office I decided to take the tribe on a few more "adventures". I know what was I thinking?! We stopped in to see their Perinatologist, the guy that I credit for getting them here healthy. He is AWESOME & I like to visit him so he can see how well they are doing. Their momma maybe not so good, LOL, but they are healthy, ACTIVE, two & a half year old children! After saying our "Hi's" & "Byes" we were off to Target, one of my favorite places, to get some storage stuff for our garage.Now most momma's know if you bring your kids inside Target or any store for that matter, you pretty much can NOT use your stroller & shop at the same time. The strollers are just NOT built to carry it all! I tried this ONCE & will never do it again! hahah! I was pushing their stroller & pulling a cart, ahh... Call me CRAZY! SO I now load all 4 into a cart & we shop! They were actually doing rather well that is until an employee comes up to me to say something about them in the cart. What can I say they do not have shopping carts big enough for my tribe! After this encounter I decided there really needs to be a voice for mommas like me. People need to know how hard it is to do this alone. Me & my missions! After loading up all of my purchases & getting the tribe into their car seats I decided to call Target to get their policy on helping momma's like me. For all you momma's out there, got your hands full? Target will let an employee walk around the store with you as you shop! Yep, they are moving up in the ranks like Publix has been doing already! I cannot tell you how happy I felt when that store manager told me their policy! Now if I can just get other businesses on board! I just want to make things easier on the momma's that come after me. And this is ANY momma with a butt load of kids no matter the age & no matter if they are multiples.

I'm just a Momma on a "mission"...

party of 7....

I have thought about this for quite awhile. What it feels like when we attempt to actually go out for dinner, a treat for us, and for it to turn out being a not too great experience. I really think this occurs because businesses do not know about people like us. They do not know what it requires for us to have an ok time. Let's just face it the real world has no clue what it is like raising multiples & I sure do wish they did. I have a "bag of tricks" that I ALWAY'S bring with us when we go out. It has their "feeding" bib's a must so their clothes do not get soiled, sanitary wipes to clean off EVERYTHING, a few table toy's to occupy their time and the minimal diaper stuff just in case.. Now what we can not guarantee is that the restaurant we end up at will be able to accomodate us with seating. Do you know how hard it is to feed toddlers in a "big boy/girl seat"? C-R-A-Z-Y!! They need structure & restraints/seatbelts so they are not able to wander around the place. Let's just face it most establishments can not accomodate a family like ours. You go out to eat & you are LUCKY to get 2 highchairs let alone 4! (Remember there are other people thinking like us & need highchairs too!) I would have thought S Florida of all places would have plenty since so many people vacation here but alas no. We feel like we won the lottery if we find a place that has 4! So we plan our dinners out around what restaurant & what time we think there is not a lot of families going to be there. We had this happen to us over the summer in of all places the local zoo. We decided to have lunch at the normal time, BIG mistake! LOL! They actually had quite a few highchairs more than a normal place would have had EXCEPT they were all in use! We started to bring our quad stroller in to feed them out of but luckily another mommy from my multiples group was there & gave us 2 of their highchairs. We were 1/2 way to the 4 that we desperately needed. It is in times like this I feel I should stand up on my soap box & share with the world by "multiples" struggles. I feel if I can help one person see what it is like to be a quad mommy than maybe I can help create change. Trust me when I see something that could be just a little better I tell them. I have complained to local malls that do not have motorized wheel chairs. (Besides helping a handicapped person they can help a pregnant mommy tremendously!) I am alway's on a "mission" to show people there is a better way. Not that I have enough on my plate, I just care. Currently my mission is in the "Mommy & Me" dept. SO many places restrict us by making it a requirement to have a parent per child for most activities. I really do not feel that a mommy of twins or more should not be allowed to participate just because she does not have anyone there to help her. AGAIN this is just my opinion but I will stand up on my soap box & share it with whomever will care to listen. If I can make just one establishment have more than 4 highchairs or organization let me attend minus 3 other set's of hands I will have done my job. For now I just hope for the best when I say Fulton...

party of 7....