As babies, my boys were perfect little angels. Other than when they were hungry, they rarely cried. They started sleeping through the night at 3 months and I could pretty much take them anywhere at anytime and they would just hangout in their car seats, content as could be. I would pride myself on making raising twins look easy. Well guess what? That game is over. The days of lunch dates with my duo are few and far between. Those quiet, happy babies have disappeared. The ease of sitting the boys in one place is a distant memory. The stress is at an all time high. I commend myself on a daily basis for not completely losing my mind at any given moment. We have entered the toddler stage and to say it's tough is an understatement.
I was talking (complaining/venting/whatever you want to call it) to one of my close girlfriends about how I am mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted and she asked why I haven't written about it. My response, "I'm too tired." But then I realized writing is the cheapest form of therapy and there has to be other moms who can relate, right?
So for those of you who ask or wonder what I go through on a daily basis...well here is a small sample.
On any given day my alarm goes off around 7am and by alarm, I mean two crying toddlers. I wake up to crying, I eat to crying, I drive to crying, I talk on the phone to crying. I play with them, they cry. I feed them, they cry. I read to them, they cry. I get them dressed, they cry. I change their diaper, they cry. I put on cartoons, they cry. I lay them down for a nap, they cry. I think you might be getting the picture, and then, just when you think you might have it, they cry. The crying never ends. If its not one, its two. It's almost like I don't even hear it anymore, except for when I do hear it and then I just want to cry.
If the crying wasn't emotionally draining enough, then comes the changing. It doesn't matter if we are talking about diapers or clothing. Two words come to mind: Kicking and Screaming. Not from me, although sometimes I feel like I should be the one doing it, but for some reason Case and Colt despise being changed. As one of my friends put it, it becomes a game of mortal combat. It takes every ounce of energy I have to hold them down. When I do that, sometimes I get pinched, bitten, slapped, ya know the normal things you do to your mom who is trying to take care of you. And when there is a poopy diaper to change...well I'm sure you get the picture. My mom tells me the boys lay perfectly still for her. Thanks mom, that makes me feel so much better. And just when your done the first boy, you get to do it all over again.
I was looking forward to the toddler stage to finally be able to feed my boys regular food! No more pureeing fruits and veggies. They have teeth (that's another story) and can finally eat PB&J and grilled cheese. So, you make up a tasty lunch, plop them in their booster seats and what do they do? Throw the food on the floor, every LAST piece of it. You know they are hungry, but instead of eating, they chuck it all over the kitchen and cry. Why are they crying? Because they are hungry! I think to myself, as I scrap the peanut butter off the floor and wipe the macaroni and cheese off the wall, a simple, "no thank you mom" would have been nice! As I toss out lunch #1 that's when I realize I am literally throwing away money. My boys have wasted so much food, I swear I could feed an army.
Now back to the teething. Oh the joy of cutting teeth! I hear some moms say that they didn't even know their babies were teething and it didn't bother them at all, well I call your bluff. My boys drool non-stop, suffer from diarrhea which leads to horrible diaper rash, they have runny noses (who knew that was related to teething!?), fevers, trouble sleeping... the list goes on. As a parent you feel so helpless. Other then pain relievers there really isn't much you can do. And as soon as one baby is getting over it, brace yourself for round two! Aren't twins so much fun!?
In my house, another source of stress is nap time. My boys are awesome nighttime sleepers (thank you Lord) but naps are nonexistent. If I get 45 minutes in an entire day I am lucky and I swear those minutes fly by. The problem is really for me, not the boys. I don't get enough time to take a breathe and relax, or should I say "re-cooperate" from the morning and the boys are back up and running rampant.
If you've seen any of my facebook pictures lately, you see the Shenanigans these little monkeys pull-off. They are climbing chairs, standing on tables, scaling bathtubs, racing up the stairs, sitting on shelves, chasing the dogs, emptying cabinets, sitting in cabinets, slamming cabinets, drooling on furniture, throwing cups, bowls, food...do you need more examples? Ok...pulling at electrical sockets, chewing on dog toys, some how they even manage to back talk me, yet they don't even talk at all!! They test every limit and steal every single bit of patience I have.
BUT....
Then they blow me a kiss, give me a hug, smile with those chubby cheeks, say "Mama", play peek-a-boo, reach for me to pick them up, climb on my lap, giggle, snuggle, learn something new, play with the dog, say "Dada" every time my phone rings, splash in the tub, run around naked, pose for pictures, dance like crazy men, climb on the table, scale the bathtub, race up the stairs, chew on the dog toy, cry out for me...do you see my point? Some of the most frustrating things are also some of my favorite memories (or pictures). Those small precious moments are what gets me through each and every day and make it all worthwhile. As my mom always says, "This too shall pass." and "Tomorrow is another day."
But I don't want it to pass too quickly! Isn't life funny like that!?
