Friday, January 28, 2011

Guest Post: "How do you do it?"


Hi friends, today's guest post is by Gabrielle from The Morel Family Blog. She and her husband are experts on having twins, since they have two sets!
If you don't remember why I'm not writing the rest of this post then check out my Guest Post intro from last week, and then be sure to leave lots of nice comments so Gabrielle knows what awesome readers hang out around here. :)
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We've all heard it. The negative comments from complete strangers, when you tell them you're expecting or that your children are indeed twins. It always surprises me, how so many people think there is nothing wrong with their negativity.

"That's a lot of work for someone so young, you poor thing. How do you do it?"
Yes, it is a lot of work.
It is also so much fun, that I would never be able to experience with singletons.
(Thing 1 & 2 did make a mess but this moment is priceless because of how funny she looks!)
Watching my twins interact with each other is the most heart warming moment of my day. My older set of twins, identical girls, will sit down together and talk to each other in the sweetest, most, caring way. One time, Thing 2 fell down and bumped her head on a hard plastic toy. Before I could run over to her to make sure she was okay, her older sister walks up to her and pats her on the head. She then gave Thing 2 a kiss on the head and said "Aww." That was all my daughter needed to feel better.
There are moments when I'm giving them a bath, where one of my girls will help me bathe their twin. They'll blow bubbles at each other and laugh. At bedtime, they'll "read" each other a bedtime story and give each other a kiss and say "Night. Night." The funniest moments are always when I'm telling them not to touch something. As I'm writing this, I told Thing 1 to stop hitting the buttons on the TV because she could break them. As soon as I tell her "No, don't hit the TV buttons," her twin sister walks up to her and waves her finger at her saying "No. No. No." That made me smile. :)
When my second set of twins were born, Thing 1 wanted nothing to do with them. She would have felt left out, had it not been for her twin sister. Those two stuck like glue, more than ever before. She saw Thing 2 smiling at the babies and eventually realized that the babies aren't anything to be afraid of. Three months later and Thing 1 loves her baby brother and baby sister. My girls will help me with diaper changes, by entertaining the baby.
Even Thing 3 & Thing 4 bring me so much joy and they're only 3 months old! Sure, they cry just like any other baby but seeing their smiling faces can cheer me up! Listening to their babbling and cooing at 3am makes the late nights manageable.
(Who could not be in a happy mood after a silly face like this?)
These moments might not seem like much to some people, and sure this can happen with an older sibling in the picture but the unique bond between twins is something completely different.
Sadly, most strangers will never know the joy us twin mothers feel, when we're with our children. They only see the mother with two babies/toddlers in a stroller and wonder how can she still be sane.
(Three out of four twins are in this picture)

It's the love we feel for our children, and the love our children have for us. That's the secret. :)

5 comments:

Lana said...

Your children are so precious! You rarely hear about the great things of having twins. My nieces are less than a year a part and I can see some of that same bond between them. How lovely!

Polly said...

Cute post. I love the stroller pic, that is awesome!

The Spencers said...

What a great post. I loved reading it and was nodding my head in agreement while reading! People say crazy things (I have triplet girls) and they always will, it's how you react to it that counts. I think your kids are adorable. I also agree that the bond that multiples have is very precious. I love listening to my girls interact. Thanks for sharing your experience. I love this Friday guest post, its fun to read.

MARCIE said...

I had my babies one at a time, but it still shocked people to see them all together. I was asked if they were triplets, and I was asked "are they all yours"? I never quite knew how to take that one.
Babies always attract attention, and I suppose more babies attract MORE attention! What beautiful children these are and they obviously have wonderful, loving parents!

Anonymous said...

Thank you all for your wonderful comments! :)

I agree, the more children there are the more attention they attract. It can be a pain to deal with at times, but it is worth it, to be surrounded by so much love. :)

Thank you Becky for letting me share my story and thoughts!