Cost/Benefit Analysis

To repeat a constant theme, life sure has changed since we became parents. Getting out of the house happens more often now than it used to, but it still feels like a monumental task at times.

For comparison, before kids...

As dinner time approached, maybe I'd look around the kitchen and decide I didn't really want to eat any of the food we had on hand. So DF and I would hop in the car and go out to eat somewhere. We might not even choose before leaving the house. That new taco place looks good - screeech - let's pull in there. So crazy and spontaneous!

Last night...

It was 5:30pm. I looked around the kitchen and didn't feel much like eating anything we had available. But the babies were in a weird mood after having an irregular nap schedule, so we scrounged up a meal of leftover Chinese food and frozen burritos. Then I took the kids for our nightly stroll around the neighborhood.

Dinner Decisions
Here's the cost/benefit analysis we went through, briefly, of "One of the parents goes to pick up takeout."

Pros:

• One parent gets to escape the squawking
• We eat something more exciting than what's in the fridge/freezer 

Cons:

• The other parent is stuck home with two squirrely babies
• The leftovers will still be waiting for us to eat them later
• If I don't eat now (Salmonista), it's going to mess up our walk schedule, and Baby A is already on the verge of a meltdown

And that's just the daily dinner dance! Sometimes I am better about planning ahead for meals. Not so much lately. Working on that...we have a dinner menu on the whiteboard for this week!

Choir Considerations
How about something more complicated? Like, say, should I start singing in the church choir regularly again?

The facts:

• Choir practice is each Wednesday evening, 6:15-8:00pm
• Early arrival to church required on Sunday morning for choir rehearsal & warm ups

Childcare options for Weds.

• At church (not even sure this is an option in the summer?). The boys would then go to bed at least an hour later than usual, and who knows, they might be too hyper to sleep till super late. Could result in unpleasant Thursdays...
• At home, which means DF is doing the bedtime routine solo. I know he's already tired after a long day at work, and the evening hours are usually the most intense with the babies. 

Sunday AM thoughts

• Can we really manage to get ourselves out the door even earlier than usual on Sunday morning? 

After all that, we look at our situation and wonder, is it even worth it? What is to be gained by me participating in choir regularly? Singing is supposed to be good for your brain; maybe it will prevent me from getting dementia in my later years. DF and the boys would appreciate that, I'm sure! Also, it's fun and I like chatting with my fellow choir members. But is the social outlet for me worth all the extra hassle and potential stress with the kiddos? Then I ask myself, does anyone else in the choir have young children? I can't think of anyone...perhaps that is a sign.

Visiting Brazil, Briefly
Sometimes, we weigh the pros and cons and decide that, indeed, we will leave the house and try to do something. Everything is just so different when you do it with two babies. I think I'm still adjusting to that reality.

Example: a couple weekends ago, there was a Brazilian festival happening at Overton Park. You know DF and I are all over the festival scene! (Or at least, we used to be.) We have been itching to get out and flap our festival wings again. So we decided to attempt it with the babies. They stay awake for a good chunk of time in the middle of the day now between naps. After they woke up from their morning nap, we gave them a bottle then hopped in the van. We managed to find a parking place without too much effort. Ooh, must be a good sign! Things were going our way! We got the boys all settled in their stroller and set out to enjoy the festivities.

Within minutes, we realized it was a lot different than going to a festival by ourselves. It's hard to navigate with a long double stroller through crowds over bumpy grass. There was lots of noisy music going on, which the babies did not like. They also did not approve of the weather - it was sunny and hot without much of a breeze. We found a shady area and let them crawl around on a blanket while we ate some Brazilian food. Then we walked around and looked at the booths. Since none of the activities involved rolling around on the ground or eating Cheerios, the babies weren't really interested in the options provided. After maybe an hour, they were looking really grouchy and growing increasingly discontent. We headed home. I sang "The Girl From Ipanema" to entertain them in the car, or at least as much of it as I could remember. They were not impressed. I sang "BINGO" instead. They liked that one better.

So, was it worth it for us to go to this festival? On the one hand, we did get to try some new foods and hear interesting music. The babies didn't necessarily enjoy it, but they didn't have a total screaming meltdown, either. If we want them to be adventurous kids who like trying new things and learning about other cultures, we have to start somewhere, right? But I couldn't help but think, they probably would've preferred staying home, crawling up and down the hallway and chewing on their old, familiar rattles. Hmmm...