Operation Go Out With Baby

Yesterday Rob and I decided spontaneously to take Ari into the city - Rob's jeans situation had reached a critical point (the only ones he likes to wear were almost worn through the crotch).
The plan was simple - zip into the CBD, pick up a couple of pairs of jeans from Jeans West (one of the few mainstream retailers to cater for Darth Vader-sized men like Rob) and come back home.
And it worked. In fact it was easy.
A couple of months ago, a trip into the city required military-like planning and loads of anxiety (mostly from me, I admit). Will Ari start crying in his pram? Will people stare at us if he does? What if, what if, what if?
Nowadays, we're pros at it. Just chuck the kid in the car, toss in a few nappies and a dummy and we're off.
What people (who don't have kids) don't seem to understand is that it takes time to get yourself into a routine with a baby and, more importantly, get to know him.
Now we know Ari well enough to know when he'll be hungry, when he'll be getting tired and when he's getting sick of his pram and it's time to go.
But these things take time - it doesn't happen straight away.
I would always feel terrible in the early days when people asked "When will he need a feed?" or "what time will he have a sleep?", because the answer was always "I have no bloody idea!"
What was even worse was the "why don't you go out more" people? They always meant well, but never seem to understand how difficult it is in the early months.
Believe me - being able to take your kid anywhere is NOT the norm in the first few months. A totally frazzled, terrified mother too scared to go anywhere past the corner shop IS the norm.