Momma Mondays: Post-Outing Days

I decided I would start writing about "mom" moments on Mondays. Tips, tricks, advice, trial and error stories. These moment seem to stack up on the weekends so what better way to start out the week than having a bit of encouragement for the mammas out there!

This weekend was very busy for my Jackson Five! The twins turned two on Saturday and we had their party on Sunday. Magically Andy had the weekend off so we were able to celebrate as a family which is very rare in our household. As it always seems anytime we have an outing or event out of the normal daily routine, it takes almost an entire day to recover. My little ladies are great adapters for those random outings, but they do require an extra day to get back into the swing of things. Especially after a very stimulating party at a gymnastic gym for little kiddos.

After two years I've learned three realities when dealing with post-outings.
1. Expect the kids to be a little on the whiny side the next day.
98% of the time, my girls are a little extra needy and tend to fight more the day after we have gone somewhere out of the norm. I am more attune to the "pre fight" signs and use more distracting techniques than I normally would. On a normal day ignoring the fighting is the best method for me (unless it involves yelling and hitting then we go through the apologizing routine). But post-outing days I distract a little more when I feel a storm brewing.

2. Nap time usually needs to be moved up 30-45min
The girls normal nap time is around 1pm-3:30pm. On post-outing days they need that moved to 12 or 12:30. This irks our schedule a little bit, but being prepared for the change a head of time I can make the transition smoothly.

3. Errands on a post-outing day are akin to WWII
Too many times it seems we run out of milk or need diapers the day after we have gone out somewhere. Lesson learned the hard way after half a dozen fits in King Soopers, that we DO NOT go anywhere the day after an outing. Some out there would rather teach their kids to be flexible in this area, but in my house I'd rather push flexibility in another way than reenact a scene from Johna and Kate plus 8!

Any moms out there have stories about post-outing days? Please share!