
I'm not sure what people think when they see me bent over, hood up in the rain hefting a double buggy, with a kid standing on the buggy board up and down the hill I live on? A bit of disbelief, pity, 'check the state of her', awe or 'thank God that's not me' ? Probably a bit of them all when I tell them all three kids are mine. I'm not the nanny or the help or the auntie, they're all mine. I had three kids under 18 months for a fortnight, three under 2 for a while and until July, I have three kids under the age of 3. So I go out, alot, to keep me and the kids sane!
I've learnt so much since I've had kids, don't we all?! Yes I've learnt about myself but I'm a different myself than I was 3 years ago. I'll never be the same as I was three years ago, not sure if I'm a better person but I'm different. I certainly know alot more about having babies and which playgroups in my area have the best biscuits than I did 3 years ago!
We've just finished painting our hall (I should mention we've had 4 house moves in 3 years too). I've spent the last couple of hours looking through old photographs to try and choose a few to get printed for our Adams family-esque staircase gallery and a few things struck me. I had a lump in my throat and a smile on my face looking back at all those photos of my little people, my world, the reason I cry with sadness, frustration and joy on a regular basis and realised they really are growing fast!
If you are having a hard time with a baby or toddler just know that it will get easier, it really will. It's so, so hard when you're stuck in the sleep deprived, mentally challenging phase of full on toddlerhood to try and stop for a moment and enjoy these babies, as they still are really. If you can still say their age in months, they are babies!
Things will change for me in August, the twins will be 3 and it feels like a looming deadline that I'm desperate to get to but really don't want to at the same time. The twins will go to local nursery 3 mornings a week as well as the 2 full days they currently do at private nursery so I can work (or mess about looking at photos and blogging as I'm doing today).
The logistical challenges that suddenly stopped me taking the twins to gymnastics, music, dancing, gymboree, book bug, monkey music, toddler sense, sing and sign, zoo tots, messy play, football or swimming (I've tried them all) will fade as I can leave the twins with their teacher or they will be over 3 and too big to go anyway! It got too complicated trying to offload the baby to granny's to rush one or both twins to a half hour class which I'd spend running 2km around a hall after Jack to bring the ball back, catch him running out the double doors of the library with a pile of dvd's in his hands or console Anna to stop crying because someone pushed her off the trampoline, got her head stuck in between the steps on a slide or because a duck bit her (actually happened) while leaving the other child unattended and with a stranger in charge. I could go on with the things that have happened at various classes, needless to say I just stick with playgroups now as I get biscuits and other people keep an eye on the kids while I neck a cup of tea!
I will have three spare mornings a week come August, I can take the baby (by then she'll be 18 months) to stuff she so far hasn't done like swimming and gymnastics. I can go to the supermarket without a fight over who gets to sit in the trolley, I can even go to my closest supermarket Lidl (they don't have twin seat trolley's). I might manage a playdate with local mums as the thought of someone coming to my house has filled me with so much dread! Not so much that it's a builiding site as much as it's like a zoo!
The twins can communicate with me alot better now, they tell me when they have a sore tummy, are about to be sick, need a poo, they want spaghetti etc. Although we're not 100% there I recently found the biggest poo I've ever seen beside the ballapalooza with not a trace on either twins naked bottom half, still not sure who done that one but have my suspicions it was the boy! I've also realised that 'I'm not very well' is a line from a Peppa Pig episode so that doesn't wash with me as easily.
So those are my ramblings and reflections, life is good, stressful, unpredictable whilst totally repetitive but it's good and nowhere else I'd rather be! Best batten down the hatches before rounding up the kids from nursery and granny's house!
Xx
I've learnt so much since I've had kids, don't we all?! Yes I've learnt about myself but I'm a different myself than I was 3 years ago. I'll never be the same as I was three years ago, not sure if I'm a better person but I'm different. I certainly know alot more about having babies and which playgroups in my area have the best biscuits than I did 3 years ago!
We've just finished painting our hall (I should mention we've had 4 house moves in 3 years too). I've spent the last couple of hours looking through old photographs to try and choose a few to get printed for our Adams family-esque staircase gallery and a few things struck me. I had a lump in my throat and a smile on my face looking back at all those photos of my little people, my world, the reason I cry with sadness, frustration and joy on a regular basis and realised they really are growing fast!
If you are having a hard time with a baby or toddler just know that it will get easier, it really will. It's so, so hard when you're stuck in the sleep deprived, mentally challenging phase of full on toddlerhood to try and stop for a moment and enjoy these babies, as they still are really. If you can still say their age in months, they are babies!
Things will change for me in August, the twins will be 3 and it feels like a looming deadline that I'm desperate to get to but really don't want to at the same time. The twins will go to local nursery 3 mornings a week as well as the 2 full days they currently do at private nursery so I can work (or mess about looking at photos and blogging as I'm doing today).
The logistical challenges that suddenly stopped me taking the twins to gymnastics, music, dancing, gymboree, book bug, monkey music, toddler sense, sing and sign, zoo tots, messy play, football or swimming (I've tried them all) will fade as I can leave the twins with their teacher or they will be over 3 and too big to go anyway! It got too complicated trying to offload the baby to granny's to rush one or both twins to a half hour class which I'd spend running 2km around a hall after Jack to bring the ball back, catch him running out the double doors of the library with a pile of dvd's in his hands or console Anna to stop crying because someone pushed her off the trampoline, got her head stuck in between the steps on a slide or because a duck bit her (actually happened) while leaving the other child unattended and with a stranger in charge. I could go on with the things that have happened at various classes, needless to say I just stick with playgroups now as I get biscuits and other people keep an eye on the kids while I neck a cup of tea!
I will have three spare mornings a week come August, I can take the baby (by then she'll be 18 months) to stuff she so far hasn't done like swimming and gymnastics. I can go to the supermarket without a fight over who gets to sit in the trolley, I can even go to my closest supermarket Lidl (they don't have twin seat trolley's). I might manage a playdate with local mums as the thought of someone coming to my house has filled me with so much dread! Not so much that it's a builiding site as much as it's like a zoo!
The twins can communicate with me alot better now, they tell me when they have a sore tummy, are about to be sick, need a poo, they want spaghetti etc. Although we're not 100% there I recently found the biggest poo I've ever seen beside the ballapalooza with not a trace on either twins naked bottom half, still not sure who done that one but have my suspicions it was the boy! I've also realised that 'I'm not very well' is a line from a Peppa Pig episode so that doesn't wash with me as easily.
So those are my ramblings and reflections, life is good, stressful, unpredictable whilst totally repetitive but it's good and nowhere else I'd rather be! Best batten down the hatches before rounding up the kids from nursery and granny's house!
Xx