Life is about to get a whole lot more difficult

Kate has outgrown her car seat. This is her second car seat; it's one of those 'convertible' ones, but it only has 2 shoulder strap holes and she is maxing out the top one. I obviously did not do a very good job when I purchased this chair for her, as she already needs a new one. McLaren is also outgrowing her car seat, the nifty one with a Handle that I can use to cart her around without removing her from it. Yes, this means (gah) that Claire needs to get moved into Kate's car seat (we'll turn it around backwards, no need to call CPS, folks) and Kate needs a new one. This Means that I will now have 2 children to Carry and/or Hold the Hand of. I realize that as it stands now, I still have 2 kids to worry about. But next week, I can't just leave one in the car seat. I am obviously a little stressed about this. Because really, it changes everything.

Think about your generic trip to the grocery store.

Now: Claire is in her car seat and she and it all go into the shopping cart. Kate sits in the front of the cart (aren't those 'car' shopping carts just a hoot? My idea of fun, yep).

Next Week: Claire is no longer in her car seat in the shopping cart. Now I either have to use one of those horrible carts that have the built-in baby caddy that sits sideways in the cart (does anyone use those?? I can only imagine how many germs are on them) or she goes in the floppy seat. But she isn't quite sitting up on her own yet, so that will be...fun. I guess Kate's part doesn't change. She still gets to sit in the 'car'.

So. Does anyone have any advice for me? Like how to not lose your sanity when doing simple things like taking 2 children under the age of 2 shopping? Or like what kind of a car seat I should get for Kate? I need one that will last a little longer this time, one that will double as a booster seat in the near future when she weighs more than 40 pounds.

Now I have to go wake Claire up for her doctor's appointment. I think she has an eye infection. Poor kid.

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9pm update

The rest of my day consisted of:

• getting Claire packed into the car seat and hearing Kate wake up from her nap just as I was about to walk out the door
• leaving a tantruming Kate here with our neighbor Dexter while I took Claire to the doctor
• finding out that Claire has bacterial conjunctivitis (aka pink eye) and a slight temperature
• going back home and swimming with Kate while Claire took a short nap
• scrubbing Kate's hands after her first time playing in the toilet
• chasing Kate around the house (not for fun) trying to get her into the car to go pick up Claire's prescriptions
• leaving my bank card at CVS when picking up Claire's prescriptions (it is still there)
• chasing Kate around her room (again, not for fun) trying to get her jammies on
• trying to turn the chasing into fun times before reading her a story
• remembering just now that I forgot to brush her teeth

The good news, though, is that the infection should go away soon with her new Rx. And the good doctor also gave me a prescription for some hydrocortisone cream to try on Claire's face. Let's hope. We're going to the Picture People this weekend, and I would like for this rash to be gone by then.