The 8 "Not-so-awesome"Things About Being a Mom of Twins

You have seen them - the blogs that list the “10 most awesome things about being a mom of twins.”  Well, I ran across one last week and even shared it on Facebook because I thought they were right on about most of them, but ever since then I have had a blog post of my own just burning to come out! So, I present to you – “The 8 not-so-awesome things about being a mom of twins.”  (I couldn’t come up with 10)

1)      Teething.  This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart right now.  Those of you out there with kids, think about how awful teething was for both you and the child- the random fits of screaming, the sleepless and late nights, the refusing to eat, the tears- and now multiply that by two.  There are days where I am counting down the minutes until bed time and hoping that they will sleep as I have run out of ways to distract them from the pain.  My daughter has this ability to just randomly start screeching in pain at the drop of a hat and you cannot distract her, she just has to cry it out, and she has been known to do that for 30+ minutes.  A friend has already offered prayer for their two year molars coming in- God help us all.  

2)      Double of everything.  Our house is not that big, but it isn’t small either.  At one point we had two swings, a bouncer, two jumpers, and a pack n’ play in our living room along with our two couches and coffee table.  Those of you that know me know that I don’t do well with clutter.  I could not wait for it all to be gone! Don’t even get me started on the toys! I have been told that people “feel bad” if they only get one toy for them, so we get the boy and girl version of a lot of toys.  Now don’t get me wrong, I do it too, and feel the same guilt if I only buy one toy, but if we don’t stop this mentality I am going to be buried in a sea of pink and blue stuffed animals! 

3)      THE DOUBLE STROLLER. This bad boy deserves his own category.  I have learned that there are several stores at the mall that I cannot even enter due to the tight aisles. I have been known to take clothes of racks just trying to get out of tight spaces.  Once or twice, out of frustration, I have moved racks of clothes and made a bigger show of it than I needed to – I suppose I was making a point in my head.  Most of the time, it “just fits” through doorways so if it is not lined up perfectly I am inevitably going to bump the wall several times and hopefully not bump any little fingers along the way.  

4)      Strangers and their strange questions.  Really, the hard part of this for me is to keep a straight face.  The hubby and I have had several strange encounters, but by far the most uncomfortable question for me to be asked is if they are fraternal or identical.  For crying out loud, they are a boy and a girl – did you pass high school Science?!? I am terrible about keeping a straight face with this one, but I am getting better. We have been asked before if they are related, some people want to delve right in to my labor and find out how far apart they are, other people just go on and on about their second cousin on their mothers side that has twins.  It is rare for me to go out and not get asked if they are twins at least once.  Maybe I should just start carrying a sign with the “stats”?

5)      Sickness.  What makes sickness so terrible, at least in this house, is that they have yet to be sick at the same time.  Typically one will get sick and then the other.  So a typical 3-5 day illness will last about 10 days in this house.  Right before Christmas I took Landon to the doctor on Tuesday and I was back on Friday with Riley – both diagnosed with croup.  If/when one of them gets chicken pox, I am going to rub the other child all over them – just sayin. 

6)      Comparisons.  I have done a whole blog on this one! I just happened to have two children on the exact same day and that is about the end of it for the similarities with my two.  They have completely different personalities and like to do different things.  Sure they have some of the same likes, as most siblings do, but there is no need to point them out! It is especially difficult when it comes to development and one might be developing faster than the other.  I promise you, you will be literally breaking the heart of the mom if you point out that “that one” is walking better than “this one.”  (By the way, using “this one” and “that one” as descriptors for my children will get you on my shit list for a very long time.) Honestly who cares if she really likes to be bounced up and down and he prefers to be held close?! Just love them both. 

7)      Sibling rivalry/Need for Mommy’s attention.  Now I know that sibling rivalry exists with any siblings with any age difference, but it is a whole new world when the age gap is less than an hour.  This means they are more than likely going to be interested in the same types of toys.  This also means that they are going to be at the same (approximate) developmental level when it comes to understanding sharing.  Hitting is the new thing in my house – makes sense because they don’t have a lot of words so how else are they supposed to express themselves?! I am constantly reminding them that “Mommy only has two hands” and my lap is only so big, but we make it work.  Life can be a whole lot easier when daddy is here too and they can get some one on one play time.  

8)      Places without 2 or more high chairs.  This, along with places not having a changing table, has become one of my biggest pet peeves.  On the rare occasion that we go out to eat, if we are going somewhere new, we will call ahead to ensure that they have two high chairs.  I think it is ridiculous that we even have to do this! I understand that we do not always go to “family friendly” atmospheres (aka brewery), but if you serve food you should have high chairs.  Also, isn’t it a law that you are required to have a changing table?!

Now, despite all of the above, I really do love being a mom to twins. :) Watching them interact and laugh together is the highlight of my day.  The “awesome” things far out-weight the “not-so-awesome” things, but someone had to write it.  I am sure there are more out there, so feel free to comment if you have anything to add to the list!