Can I write a post in 9 minutes?

We'll see.

That is how much time I have before I should wake Lucas up from his nap. I fear we will be venturing into 'no nap' territory sometime soon. The other day I tried (unsuccessfully) to put Lucas to bed for a nap for almost 2 hours. Sometimes I have to remember to step back from the situation and really think about how important what I am trying to do is. (I'm pretty sure that last sentence broke all kinds of grammar rules). No one died because Lucas didn't have a nap. In fact he was perfectly well behaved the rest of the day. This is what made me scared that soon he will not be having naps. Which isn't entirely bad because I won't be confined to my house for the afternoon all the time.

Time is up. Turns out one paragraph takes me 9 minutes. And now it is two days later....when I have finally had time to sit at the computer again.

When you have more than one child you learn fast that not everyone is going to get their needs taken care of immediately. The ability to multitask is a required skill, and if you don't know how to do it already, you will learn to in order to survive. You have to plan about 5 steps ahead, knowing that you only have a limited amount of time before Sesame Street is over or before a soother will no longer do the trick. All of this multitasking causes my brain to go into overdrive and sometimes I need to remember to slow down and just be in the moment. The other day I put in a movie for Lucas to watch while I fed Eli, grabbed my house phone to talk to my sister while I fed him and my cell phone to check my email. When I finally sat down to feed Eli I realized the insanity of all this running around and just sat and enjoyed. I listened to Lucas tell me all about the characters in his movie and what was going to happen next, and stared at Eli in amazement that I have this wonderful baby in my arms that will grow way too fast.

If I don't leave the house at least once I day I start to go stir crazy. So far this winter I have managed to still leave the house once a day, but we are running out of stuff to do!! I have no problems finding things to do on the days when Lucas is at daycare, but finding a fun activity for a 2 year old to do while I cart a newborn around is becoming a challenge. So far we have been hitting up the library and the play areas at both Lawson and Market Mall. I love those play areas. I can sit and watch from a close distance while Lucas runs around and burns off some energy. Any other great ideas to keep us entertained??? Preferably ones that are free/cheap??