When I do go out (and I do!), it's never alone. I'm not at the point where I can solo with three kids, who despite being only minutes apart react in vastly different ways to various environments. 

Put my oldest daughter in a room full of people and she's off exploring, while her brother and sister remained cemented to the floor for at least 10 minutes. She's the gal who makes friends with strangers in the coffee shop and enjoys a really fast run around the house.

But at the playground, it's my youngest daughter who suddenly is active and wants to climb all the things. Not only does she want to climb them, she wants to descend them. Up is one thing, down is a different beast. And due to her independent spirit, she is of the mind she needs no one's help (something she had developed in the womb). Alas, this is not actually true. On a recent trip, in her haste to push Mama's helping hands away from her, she stepped down and over balanced wedging her face in the corner of the pole and couple of bars. She was less than impressed, but otherwise OK.

One of the first times we brought all three kids to one place, we went to Geaghan's. I had ample back-up in the form of my parents in addition to my husband. We had a one-on-one adult to toddler ratio a rarity. 

One thing everyone learns quickly about toddlers is that they are magnetically drawn to danger. You want to find the choking hazard? Plop your kid down and follow him. He'll have it in his hands and possibly in his mouth in seconds.

Which is why my son decided he didn't want to sit and eat sweet potato fries. He wanted to go into the kitchen. He didn't want to be held. He didn't want to hold mama's hand. He wanted to be with knives and the fire, baby.

Your options at this point are basically two: Cause a scene by making him sit down or cause a scene by letting him find the knives in the kitchen. Of course we're going to opt for the former, but the blessed childless people may not understand. Honestly, outside of a little whining, he didn't cause much of a scene. I was even able to wolf down my burger.

So, there will always be a bit of envy. I'm cool with that. Because, even though I may never experience it myself, I think there is multiples envy. We just don't hear about it. Triplets are cute, but most people don't really want to change three diapers at the same time.