The Worst of It

Jenny asked me what I think is the worst part about having twins. My answer to that question has definitely changed quite a bit over the past two years. If someone had asked me that question two years ago my answer would have been immediate: the lack of sleep, followed immediately by the how overwhelming it is to try to meet the needs of two infants at the same time. The day that the Cupcakes learned to hold their bottles by themselves was a marvelous day for me. I was even happier when they learned to walk; no more running up the stairs carrying one baby while the other one sat on the floor, screaming, depositing the (temporarily) happy baby in the crib and having her scream while I ran back down the stairs to pick up the still-screaming downstairs baby and running upstairs with her. Don’t even get me started about trying to drop them off or pick them up from daycare by myself…

One year ago I most likely would still have said that the worst part about having twins was the lack of sleep. But trying to keep up with two very mobile, high-energy toddlers would have come in a close second. Of course, the lower back pain deserves special mention as well, because you can’t pick up just one two-year-old. You have to pick up both of them at the same time. And they get heavy. And oh, my God, did they need a lot of stuff. When we traveled we looked like a gypsy caravan. We had a double stroller, two car seats, two Pack-n-Plays, an enormous diaper bag, two toddler party packs, ack!!!

Now, I would say that the hardest part about having twins is feeling like I never have enough time to spend with each of them alone, and feeling like I often don’t get a chance to really enjoy being with them as people. I worry that I miss things about them, things that they do, that they learn or that they like because I’m so often dealing with them as a team.

But the lower back pain (they still want to be carried around, and now they weigh about 32 lbs / 14.5 kg each) and the explosions of chaos that follow them though the house do deserve special mention.

Stay tuned for ‘The Best of It’ coming tomorrow…