Category Archives: Toddlers

Letting Go

Posted on by
2

My in-laws took Toddler to her Mommy and Me class for the first time a couple weeks ago. Originally I planned on taking her with twins in tow two mornings a week because I really enjoy being there with her. But there were two problems with that: 1. I was sleep training babies and taking them out for two hours every other day was not conducive to creating a schedule. 2. When I did take them, I was constantly hovering around their stroller to make sure no unwanted intruders tried to sneak a peek or worse yet, poke my attempting-to-sleep children… so I’d miss a lot of the class anyway. Good thing is, Toddler is very independent and can function in class without me. But still, I’ve made friends with some of the other mommies there, and hearing about the class second hand is just not the same.

So it was with some reservation that I decided to let the grandparents take her. Toddler has never been with my in-laws in any setting other than their home without me. I thought I thoroughly prepared her, and myself, by starting over a week in advance, reminding her of what she can do by herself in class, where to eat her after-class snack, and that she would come home after snack for her nap, like we’ve always done. I had also given the same instructions in a detailed email to the in-laws. I even recruited some mommy friends to keep an eye out and help if necessary. I thought we were ready.

The hand-off went without a hitch on the morning of their first class. I went out to help put Toddler in the newly installed carseat on their car. She’s pretty good about clipping herself in, but I wanted to make sure they would know exactly how to do it too. After a couple last minute reminders and a few “love you”s, off they went.

The coming home did not go nearly as well. From what I could piece together, Toddler did not want to leave after snacks, and I guess she started t0 get whiny. She asked to go play at their house instead of coming home to sleep. I’m sure this is due to a combination of her being tired (I was in the process of moving her nap to match the babies’) and testing the grandparents. To get her in the car, Grandpa told her they needed to pick something up from mommy first, and then they would take her back to their house. So of course when they did get back, Toddler refused to get out of the car. I guess they hadn’t anticipated the one-track mind of a toddler and figured she’d forget. While they stood around chuckling at her brilliance, I got to be physically attacked by my daughter while I wrangled her out of the carseat to bring her inside. Needless to say, not ideal.

I spent the next couple of days ironing out the kinks. More reminders to Toddler, a couple of serious conversations with Husband and the in-laws. Everyone is on the same page now. Naps are not negotiable, and we do not lie to our children. I allowed the grandparents to continue to take her.

Here is the interesting thing that began to evolve: Toddler took on a new personality! Without me around, my “spies” have reported that she is much more outgoing (and she was already outgoing before) and seemed to enjoy the class more. She started dancing and singing along with all the songs, running like a hooligan with some of the other kids, and exhibiting rowdy behavior. We often see this more gregarious side of her at home, but she’s usually more reserved when I take her out. Strange…

I’m still not sure how to feel about this. Like maybe sad that she feels she can’t let loose when I’m there, or maybe relieved that she likes going to class with Grandma (although she does still says she prefers to go with me), or scared because it might mean my in-laws have no control over her behavior?

I do know one thing though: My little girl is growing up, and I will have to come to terms with the fact that I will no longer watch over every aspect of her life. I’m terrified and so proud of her at the same time. Maybe this is all for the best.

lunchldyd is mom to a 3yo daughter and her 5mo brother and sister. Letting go is super hard for her.

E is For Elmo.. A Toddler’s Friend

Posted on by
2

20130418-225131.jpg
Who would’ve thought a furry red monster would bring so much joy to little hearts? When I first brought home a plush Elmo chair from our local “Twice as Nice” twins sale, it was love at first sight for our twins who were 18 months old at the time. For once I decided to buy them something slightly different and it worked out. Amazingly, Little Mister and Little Missy did not fight over the red Elmo chair. The Elmo chair was understood to be Mister’s while Missy accepted the purple Tinkerbell one.

First they saw what Elmo looked like. Then they learned his name. Then they realized he was a live character living on Sesame Street full of other lovable characters like Bert & Ernie (or “Boat & Oynee” in Toddler-speak). Cookie Monster was Elmo. Grover was Elmo. Anything cute and furry became Elmo.

Next up we started showing them Elmo videos on YouTube. I will never forget one of the first times we watched Elmo videos with our twins. It was almost bedtime and when the video ended, Little Mister got teary-eyed when we told him Elmo had gone to bed. It was really touching to see how much Mister loved Elmo and missed him. This was before we bought them Elmo stuffed toys which are now their most prized possession. When M&M wake up in the morning, it’s Elmo! Elmo! Elmo! until he is found. Then it’s “Dere Elmo!” (There’s Elmo!) Then Elmo gets plopped into their little shopping carts and off they go, racing around the house. Or Elmo is stuffed into a train or truck and leads the way for other stuffed animals.

Having a character they love can be handy. When Missy refused to brush her teeth, we broke out Elmo’s teeth brushing rap video. Quite catchy, actually. Although Missy was mesmerized by the video, it was Mister who got motivated to brush his teeth like Elmo recommends in the song.

What is it about this loveable character that young children (and adults alike) love? There’s a documentary “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey” which chronicles the pathway to fame for Kevin Clash, the voice behind Elmo. In the documentary it talks about how Elmo’s character came to be, and even how Clash got to learn from puppeteer masters such as Jim Henson himself.

Cute, cuddly Elmo is a child monster. Love and innocence are two of his qualities, which is why he resonates with young minds. Even down to the way Elmo talks in incomplete sentences and finds joy in the simplest things in life.

Granted, there is controversy surrounding Clash these days. But scandals aside, I am thankful for all the happy moments, smiles and hugs that Elmo has given my toddlers.

What are some characters your children love? Have you been able to use them as a tool for teaching or even discipline?

Ambereen’s B/G twin toddlers are helping her to reconnect with her childhood through Elmo and other Sesame Street characters.

Balancing Work, Home, and Mommy Guilt

Posted on by
3

Working fulltime with two little ones at home is proving more difficult than expected. It’s been 8 months now since returning to work after extended leave, and I thought we had it all figured out. One thing we didn’t factor in was how busy and challenging my job had become in two years.

We’re doing everything right, or so it seems. Mr. Mama and I take turns cooking and we have someone coming in to clean the house twice a month. Mr. Mama does most of the daycare pickups and dropoffs while I help him get the kids out of the house. We tag team during mealtimes, bathtime and bedtime. We even have extra help from the Grandparents once a week and on the weekends.

Our morning routine is consistent. I usually wake up first to get ready for work and make breakfast. Then I get Little Mister and Little Missy, chang them and start on breakfast while Mr. Mama gets ready. In the evenings, I’m home 10 minutes before the twins which is enough time to warm up dinner. Then follows bathtime and an early bed.

Other things I do to save time and energy: pack my lunch 2 days ahead, write down daily priorities at work, write up weekly “To Do” list at home, set out the twins clothes for the week and set out my clothes for the week. Despite all that, we never see the neighbours, let alone our friends, and barely have time to catch up on the rest of the life.

As another twin mom put it, every day is organized chaos. I know this is for a short time only because the kids are so young. But that’s the sad part! Every day they seem to grow an inch and learn things at an exponential rate. And I’m too tired right now to enjoy it. That, my friends, is mommy-guilt. How do you manage yours?

Ambereen, mom to 2 year old B/G twins, is constantly striving to find some form of balance between all the aspects of their busy lives. Read more on her personal blog.

Nursery Song Sing-A-Long

Posted on by
2

You know the saying only a mother can translate what her baby or child is saying? Well I’m embarrassed to say that many times even I don’t understand!

Little Mister and Little Missy are in their terrible twos and while some days are true to the name, most days are full of joy. Every day they say cute things and add new mini-words and sounds to their teeny vocabulary.

One day, Little Missy broke out into a nursery song while we were driving somewhere. The words she was repeating were “Da bah – wa wa wa. Da bah – wa wa wa”. Then both M&M placed a finger to their mouth and said “Shh Shh Shh.” My first thought was, cute! That must be a French nursery song they learned at daycare! (they are in a bilingual environment) Maybe it’s a quiet time song they do before naptime. I made a mental note to ask their daycare provider what that fun song was my kids loved so much.

A few days later, I heard a new variation of the song. This time, both M&M got into it… swaying back and forth singing: “Ma ma – wa wa wa. Mama – wa wa wa” to what sounded like the tune of Sesame Street. Again ending off with “Shh shh shh. Shh shh shh”.

When I finally remembered to ask at their daycare what the song was, imagine my surprise when they told me it was the classic The Wheels On the Bus! That’s a song we sing both at home and at daycare. At home I will do my own variation of it, half in English, half in Urdu. The song M&M were singing was in English… not French or Urdu.

So much for my theories. Next time they sing the song, I’ll join in instead of over-analyzing the words!

What are your childrens’ favourite songs? Do you find yourself humming them in the shower or better yet, while driving by yourself?

Toddler Rituals

Posted on by
3

Some days (ok, most days) Toddler really tries my patience.

From what I can remember, the rituals really began right around the time she turned two. That was the time we started telling her Mommy has babies in her belly. And then we took a two-week trip to Asia. That was the clincher. Starting with the plane ride, which we thought we prepared her for ahead of time. She was very excited to fly, even jumping up and down watching the planes land and take off through the big window in the airport boarding waiting area. Still excited when we got in the plane and she saw all the people sitting around us. Great while we taxi’d. Then, liftoff. Her face scrunched up in a look of sheer terror and the screaming commenced. And didn’t stop for 14 hours. Made me hope for a terrorist threat so we could abort this journey. It didn’t get much better after we landed either. With the upside down time difference (15 hrs or something like that), none of us were feeling great, but also dealing with a toddler whose routine was set in stone at home was just torture. What were we thinking? Our child DOES NOT travel well. Lesson learned.

Sometime during that trip, she formed a deep attachment to her blanket (“budget” to her). Before, she liked her blanket, and we would give it to her to sleep, but it wasn’t a necessity. In those two weeks, it had to be taken EVERYWHERE we went. And there was no sleeping without it. Funny enough, the IDENTICAL blanket Mommy brilliantly bought in anticipation of JUST THIS was immediately rejected no matter how many times we offered it. (Even to this day– that blanket is now baby brother’s.) So, fine. OK. Gotta remember the blanket now. I guess it’s better than picking up dropped pacifiers all day long or sucking on thumbs till age 6.

Lately, her obsession has been to close doors a certain way. “Like this” every night and naptime, a negotiation of how much the door to her room gets closed. But it’s a moving target. You think you got it at just the right angle, walk away, and hysterical yelling/crying incoherently about a “like this, not like this” will continue until you go back and the ritual starts all over. Finally last night I let her scream for 10 minutes. Then I went in and we calmly had a discussion about how the door needs to be and there will be no more screaming.

It may possibly have worked because there was no complaint about the door at nap time. However, there was something else. The pillow on her chair had fallen over. It needed to be righted, and placed to the side. All her dresser drawers must be completely closed, her stuffed animals and books aligned in just the right way, stickers stuck to the right places. I swear she makes things up sometimes just to stall, but then they become part of her ritual too. It’s maddening to the point you can’t do anything but throw up your hands. C’mon kid, just go to sleep!

Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of times when she’s super sweet. “I lub you, mommy.” She caresses her siblings and kisses them on their feet. “Mmmmuah!” But… gosh these rituals can be annoying when all I want to do is get a few minutes of quiet before the twins demand my attention. Please?

I know this is just a phase, and I definitely feel for parents of kids who have crazier rituals. But when does it end, and will the twins be just as bad times two?!?

lunchldyd is a mom to an almost 3 yr old daughter and her 3 month old twin brother and sister. She is also a high school teacher. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, 3 children under 3, and two neglected dogs.

Love Multiplied

Posted on by
2

As the weeks of my twin pregnancy progressed and I became increasingly less mobile, is when the thought of bringing two more children into my family really began to seem like a daunting reality.

When we first learned of the twins (“Two heartbeats!”), the prospect was more of a shock than anything else. I don’t think anybody plans to have twins. Then of course, you don’t want to start thinking about two of everything because you don’t want to jinx it and have something bad happen to one or both babies. So it also wasn’t really real yet.

Then as they grew bigger and bigger at each ultrasound, it started to get exciting. Buying for two new babies. Decorating another nursery. Coming up with names. Being told that having b/g Year of the Dragon babies is the luckiest of the lucky.

Right around 28 weeks, however, is when reality hit, at least for me. (Husband was thinking of the financial implications as soon as he saw those heartbeats.) Even though I stopped working then, it got harder and harder for me to keep up with the toddler we already have. Of course, I was already as big as I was full term with her, but I felt incredibly guilty when I invariably lost my patience toward the dinner/bath/bedtime hours when all she did was be two.

How much less attention will she be getting once the twins were born? She had no idea what was coming. My little girl will no longer be the only little girl everyone adores any longer (she is the first grandchild on either side of the family). If I already felt I couldn’t be the mom to her that I wanted to be and the twins hadn’t even been born yet, how would we handle having all three? Could I love the babies as I loved my firstborn?

The thoughts went round and round my head until at times I just cried. I just cried looking at the innocent face of my daughter who only knew good things in her life and had no real concept of sharing. My poor baby never asked for any of this.

These feelings only intensified when we were in the hospital recovering from the c-section and she went to live at Grandma’s. We had her stay there until I felt I could move around again, which took about 2.5 weeks. In those 2.5 weeks, with the addition of the crazy hormones, I cried all the time. I missed my first baby. I mourned her role as my only child. Horrifyingly, at times I even resented the sweet newborns sleeping peacefully by my side because in my mind I felt they were the culprits of all this.

But my daughter ended up being the most wonderful surprise of all. We had heard stories of older children regressing when newborns were introduced into the family, stories of terrible tantrums and potty trained toddlers wanting to go back into diapers. We had given her some toys when she visited us at the hospital, saying they were from her siblings. She didn’t really know what was going on, but she happily accepted them, as well as her siblings, and went about her merry way sharing my hospital breakfast with me. And then she came home. Everything was back to normal for her, except there were these two sleeping crying things who Mommy and Daddy constantly had to feed. She would notify us when the twins were crying, “Mommy, sister is crying! She wants milk! Pick her up!” For the most part, she heeded our requests for her to be quiet, not to play with certain toys where the babies were sleeping, and all the “Wait”. There was the occasional whining, but it really hasn’t been too bad.

Now the twins are 12 weeks old, and our eldest will turn three in May. She has become such a sweet little big sister. She talks to her siblings, holds their bottles, kisses their heads, and is soooooo excited when one of them smiles at her. She considers them part of our family and always asks if they’re coming along, just as she does with Mommy and Daddy.

I’ve gotten over whatever guilt hangups I had about the twins ruining her life. She has proven to be much more resilient than I thought. And the future with all three of my children adoring each other brings tears to my eyes, in a completely different way. I imagine all the beautiful interactions with her siblings that I’ve enabled her to have, and my heart melts at the interactions I’m already beginning to see.

Yes, I do love them all; and yes, the love is much greater.

lunchldyd is a mom to an almost 3 yr old daughter and her 12 week old twin brother and sister. She is also a high school teacher. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, 3 children under 3, and two neglected dogs.

 

A preterm MoM intro

Posted on by
3

With the new year upon us I thought I’d take on a new blogging opportunity. Let me introduce myself. My name is Carolyn and I am a mom to fraternal b/b twins, living, parenting and working in Ontario, Canada.

My twins are 2.5 years old and are spunky little men, with great personalities of their own. My guys are little for their age due to arriving at 27 weeks and challenging their parents from day one! They are amazing fighters and have come so far!

Canada offers mothers maternity and parental leave if they’ve been working enough hours leading up to the arrival of their child (ren.) I was lucky to be one of those people. I actually took 16 months off to be with my babies. The times were tough, but we made it through. There was definitely a lot of frustration and tears for everyone involved, but these little men taught us much about perseverance and developed our ability to kick adversity in the b-u-t-t time and time again.

I have been writing a personal blog coming up on 2 years about the ups and downs of my family. You can find my blog at http://twintrospectives.blogspot.ca. We also have an older boy, born at 31 weeks, who the twins love and learn so much from. These 3 boys have been our family’s inspiration.

I usually blog on the topic of prematurity and what might come afterward for others and what has evolved for my family in particular. The experience of preterm birth has given me a positive outlook on life, which might sound weird, given the fact preterm birth is the scariest thing most who go through it will ever experience. I figure if I can get through such an uncertain time, along with my family members, then there isn’t really anything else we can’t figure out. This is what I hope to be able to teach my children as I mother them and watch them grow during their childhood.

Aside from helping my own children along the way, my greatest passion is assisting new families going through the preterm birth experience, one step at a time. I have found my way into my local Multiple Births Canada (MBC) chapter, now working as a peer health worker (outreach worker,) as well as I’ve  just taken on a co-chair role in the development of MBC’s Preterm Birth Support Network.

In 4 short years my amazing little preemie men have taught me so much about life and I hope to be able to share some of what they have been teaching me with the How Do You Do It community.

Alone Time

Posted on by
7

Based on the title of this post, you may think I am going to write about the importance of having some quality Mom time to recharge ones batteries and help us to face our daily challenges. While I could not be more pro “Mom time”, my title actually refers to alone time that your twins get with each parent and the reasons we have decided to set up some one on one play dates during the weekends.

For the first year of my boys’ lives, I vacillated between treating them as a team and treating them as individuals. The literature I read about ‘how to survive the first year with twins’ told me to put the twins on the same schedule as early as possible. I did not adhere to this in the early days (though looking back, I probably should have!). Instead, I let the boys feed in succession and not in tandem and let them sleep and wake as they wanted. This worked for me in the beginning so I just went with it, but around 4 months, they seemed to naturally demonstrate a more predicable nap and night-time sleep schedule. Once this pattern emerged, it was easy to sync them up and I have kept them [mostly] on the same schedule every since.

Now safely across the one-year mark with many milestones behind us (e.g. rolling, walking, talking) it is easy to see how different these little people are and how they have already- and will continue to- develop at different rates. For example, one of my boys is very strong and tough and he likes to muscle his way through obstacles. He is also a huge ham and likes to talk to all the strangers we see. My other boy is much more analytical and he attacks most problems logically by looking at the scenario from all angles. He is outgoing, but tends to say hi and bye just a fraction of a second too late; once people have walked away, resulting in his brother getting more attention. After a couple of weeks of seeing this and noticing difference at home (one guy likes to sing and dance while the other is likes to read and climb on things, etc.) it occurred to me that it is time for my husband and I to start spending alone time with each boy to allow them to express their personalities’ and maybe test out some new skills they have been working on. This may seem like a no brainer, but until this point, it never really occurred to me to split the boys up and spend time with just one son instead of both of them. I have taken both kids on every errand I have ever run. During the day, we move as a pack from one room to the other, playing and padding our way around the house. I feel very confident that I am able to balance the attention I give to each boy but I now I am acutely aware that they may benefit from some undivided attention. Perhaps this will help them to master some new skills or to allow them to fool around as only an only child can.

Since weekend time is precious (filled with errands to run, family time to be had, and parks to be played at) my husband and I set a loose plan of trying to alternate weekends of alone time with each boy. For example, I will play with A and he will play with B for 30 minutes or an hour on one weekend and then the next weekend we will switch. I am excited to try this and see if I notice any difference in my interaction with the boys when I am alone with them versus when the twins are together. I am also kind of excited to think of some fun activities to do on our special “dates”.

I have no doubt that my boys love having a brother. They have played and interacted from day one and I know they will always feel the specialness of having a built in playmate and best friend. On the other hand, I am excited to give them some time to explore their parents and their world, uninterrupted by their sibling’s needs or distracted by the other’s skills. This may reveal some new aspects of their personalities that have yet to be discovered.

Have you implemented alone time with your twins? What made you start and how do you do it?

 

~~

Mother of one year old twin boys, Carrie is excited to share some of her experiences, opinions, knowledge and laughs after having survived her first year of twindom.   By writing for HDYDI, Carrie hopes to share her early mistakes and gain insight from other moms about the challenges that lie ahead.

Allo Allo!

Posted on by
1

This is my first blog post on HDYDI, so I thought it would be appropriate to greet everyone like my 2 year old twins, Little Mister and Little Missy.

Mini-bloggers

Mini-bloggers

Phone rings – it’s Grandma: “Allo Allo!”

Lil M&M get home from daycare: “Allo Allo!”

Running out of the bathroom after splash splash: “Allo Allo!”

Why ‘allo,?’ Our twins go to a daycare where the educators and other toddlers are predominately french speaking.

Hats off to all the multiple mommies reading this. Every M.O.M. (Mommy of Multiples) I’ve met so far in our journey since having twins has been dynamic, able to juggle many things at once, and seem energetic even though they are beyond exhausted. I have concluded that to be a M.O.M , you become or already are a Type ‘A’ personality, at least a big chunk of the time. I know I am!

A bit about us.

We are a family of four living in Ottawa Canada. Both my husband (Mr. Mama) and I grew up on opposite sides of our small city yet our paths never crossed until a few years ago. We’ve been married for 3.5 years now, and in that time a lot has happened, especially in 2010. In that one year, I started a new job, moved to a new house, and ended the year with our twins’ birth. Life has never been the same since. (And I thought life was busy before…?)

Fast forward to the present. We’ve survived the first two years with twins! In Canada we are very lucky to have one year for maternity leave (except for the self-employed). I was extra lucky to be able to take an additional 10 months of leave without losing my position. It was the best thing I ever did! Not only was I able to bond more with Little Mister and Little Missy, but we were able to put them directly into a group daycare setting once they turned 20 months, which is what we wanted.

Now that I’ve traded in my track pants for dress pants and returned to work, things are different. The transition back to work in the last 5 months has been hard, especially over the winter and changes to the workplace that happened during my absence. Not to mention the fact that I would rather be home with our lil munchkins!

As a regular contributer, I hope to share some of my experiences, survival tips and adventures with all of you and get to know other mommies through the comments and reading other blog entries. As Little Mister and Little Missy would say: “Bah byeeee” for now!

Ambereen is new to blogging, having only started her own blog at http://2cute.intiaz.com last summer as a way to share stories with family and friends. Between work, home and volunteering with her local Multiple Birth Families Association, Ambereen is always seeking that elusive work/life balance. Oh and she is brushing up on her french skills in order to keep up with her toddlers vocabulary.

Time out for Mommy

Posted on by
4

I decided my theme for 2012 is going to be New Year, New Me. Original, I know. Doesn’t everyone try to reinvent themselves at the first of the year and peter out about two weeks later? Not me. Not this time. Toward the end of last year I was feeling burned out. The day to day detritus of chores and child-wrangling was wearing me down. I was feeling bad about myself, my parenting, my health and my weight. I didn’t want to take my boys anywhere because they were testing their boundaries and making outings really difficult.  Our house was a mess, and I didn’t have the energy or desire to remedy it. I know I indulged in way too many cookies and sweets around the holidays, and my too-tight jeans told that tale loud.

Last summer, I quit my job to stay home with my twin boys full time. They turned two in November and are curious, energetic, enthusiastic, smart little boys. Which is to say they can be exhausting. (In the most wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime experience with 2-year-old twins kind of way.) So I made an Epic To Do List, which included the regular things I wanted to accomplish with the kids, around the house, etc. But also included lots of “Take care of Mommy” items as well.

Now we are a month into the new year, and my plans for New Year, New Me are still going strong. I am making a conscious effort to do more things for myself, even if that means the dishes sit in the sink or the laundry remains unfolded. The thing is, though, I am doing my own things and find that I am still getting the chores done too. I have renewed energy and enthusiasm for my family and our home when I take a break from them. I am eating better and exercising regularly. Since the end of December, I have lost 11 lbs, and completely quit eating sugar, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, fried food, fast food. I joined the MYFA contest Liz at Goddess in Progress set up. (I am sure I am a long shot since I just started exercising in the past three weeks, but I am motivated to get up and do it so I can report my weekly stats and be proud. This week I logged 195 minutes of exercise, impressive only in that I have not exercised regularly in years.)

For Christmas, my husband bought me a new sewing machine and starting in January, I signed up for a sewing class at a local fabric store, six weeks, start-to-finish quilting. I am happy to say that I just finished the binding on one of the two toddler-bed quilts I am making simultaneously for my boys in the class. I really enjoying sewing, can’t wait to start my next project, and I use nap time to unwind and clear my mind in front of the sewing machine. Plus, super cute quilts!

My boys are newly potty trained (as in we are in week three and I still wear shoes around the house just in case). But I did take them out to a playdate recently. When they were not listening to my directions and insisted on playing in the public restroom, we packed up and left. But at least we went. We don’t go far or for long, and if we go out to eat as a family we can expect at least 5 or 6 trips to the potty.

This is all to say I am giving myself some time outs now, taking much-needed breaks that help me refresh and be the best me. Is it perfect? Far from it. I have found that staying at home has just as many challenges in balance as working, they are just different. I was struggling to find time for me and not taking breaks. I was always on duty, and wasn’t taking care of myself. I still struggle to fit my needs into our day. I had been getting up before the kids to work out and shower. They started waking up earlier. So I got up earlier, and so did they. And now we’re at an insane still-dark wakeup time that is two full hours before the time they have woken up for more than a year. I have tried to do a workout video while they eat their breakfast, but they protest and beg to watch something else. I know I don’t spend enough quality time with my wonderful, amazing, supportive husband. I would love to do things one-on-one with each kid. At least I have a to-do list for the life I want us to have, and I am checking off things gradually.

 

Jen Wood is a stay-at-home-Mom to adorable, wonderful, amazing, newly potty trained 2-year-old twin boys who exhaust her indescribably. While she is attempting to achieve the perfect balance of home and family and her own sanity, she enjoys spending time together as a family, photography and new-found love of quilt-making You can follow along with their adventures at http://goteamwood.com.