Since having the little rugrat, I often feel homebound. It’s gotten worse since starting breastfeeding, as I’m permanently attached to Harley (at least that’s how it feels) and worried about leaving her at home with Dean for longer periods of time. Getting out of the house, going shopping, or meeting with friends can feel like a challenge which is why most of my socializing has been limited to people coming over for visits. However, I was tired of feeling like I needed reinforcements for even the most basic tasks out of the house, so I had to see if I could go shopping on my own. Sure, it will always be easier with an extra pair of hands, but is it possible? Yes. Yes it is.
My main conundrum centered around the car seat. Harley loves her car seat. In fact, it’s where she sleeps at night because she prefers sleeping more upright than her cot allows. So, getting her into her car seat, clipping that into the car and getting her somewhere is easy. She generally falls asleep on any car trip, if she isn’t asleep already, so that part is a breeze. Then, we have a pram that her car seat thingy clips into, making for an easy travel system. I also have a sling that she usually likes (although today is a notable exception), although getting her into the sling means unclipping her from the seat, which wakes her up. Instead, I prefer to use the travel system and just keep her in the car seat thingy and clip her from the car into the pram.
The problem is that once she’s in the pram, I need to push her around in that, meaning I can’t use a trolley for grocery shopping. The solution? Buy less and use a basket! Today I managed to buy some supplies for dinner, as well as some staples for the house, piling the basket full of stuff while still managing to push the pram around the store. Harley slept for the entire excursion, and I was able to feel free to wander the shops and be freed from the house. Joy upon joy. If planning on doing a bigger shop I’d still recruit some help from someone, but I like going to the shops, so if I have to do this every few days, it’s a workable solution and a good excuse to go out.
I feel like things are coming together every day. Each day I learn new things, figure out another way of interacting with Harley and find my feet as a mom. I’m doing things my own way, which is really the only way to feel right about this journey, and enjoying myself so much more. Plus, I now have fresh fruit in the house, so all is right in the world.
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