In the world of multiples, we often have hope because some other twin mom who has gone before us tells us, "It will get easier." And we cling to this hope that what we are going through is just a stage. And just when we start to think, "Oh, yes, this is getting easier," some new unexpected curve ball is thrown our way, and we revert to the same feelings of desperation that plagued our thoughts but eventually got us through the first year of raising twins. Turning One was a milestone.
As was Turning Two.
And now, now that we are one month short of Turning Three, I feel the need to throw on the brakes. Because this time, the other twin moms who have gone before us do not say, "It will get easier." In fact, they say Turning Three is actually much, much worse than the obstacles that we have already conquered. They say that 3 is not all that, and a bag of chips. No, they say three, is the...gulp...worst stage yet.
But we are not three yet. We have one month and two days to go still. And so we are still jumping over those hurdles while we can in our two's. In fact, tonight I did something that I have been dreaming of doing for the past (almost) three years.
I took the boys, my spirited-active-never-sitting-still boys, to the park ALL BY MYSELF.
Many of you know that bringing my boys to the park, even with my husband, has caused me some mini heart attacks in the past.
But tonight, with my husband away at a work event for the evening, I decided to give it a go. And you know what?
We rocked it. They climbed, they ran up hills, they used the big boy swings, they ran across the playground. And they didn't even notice me having a mini heart attack while they played.
That's because I didn't have one.
I was calm, collected, and actually enjoyed my boys while they played at heights way too tall for my own liking. I actually ran up the hill with my boys, instead of chasing after them.
And even more, we came home and they walked in the house all by themselves, took off their shoes, went potty on the potty chair, put their clothes in the laundry basket, helped themselves to a bedtime snack, and picked out their books for bedtime, thankyouverymuch.
In their first year, I truly would never have believed that this day would come, that one day in the not too distant future, that they could do ALL of that. But here it is. A Milestone.
