Every single day there is a question someone always asks me. It doesn’t matter if I am walking my kids to school, going shopping, or having a routine visit to the doctors. It’s always the same question…
“Are they twins?“
My devious brain wants to reply back with a quick quip…
“No, actually, they are quads but the other two are left at home”.
Instead, I just smile and nod my head. I’m hoping I can get to where I need to go before the next question gets asked…
“They must be hard work. Aren’t they a challenge?“
When I respond with the fact my babies are actually children number four and five, eyes open wide with shock. I say looking after my other three children when they were younger was more of a challenge than the twins. (I had a three year old, a 23 month old and a newborn by the time my son was born).
How hard is it really?
Often, people ask how hard it must be. My response has been to disagree with what they have said. I bravely put on a smile and make out everything is hunky-dory. However, deep down inside is a completely different story.
Yes, my twins are a challenge. Yes, it is hard work. I don’t want to admit that though. Who wants to admit they are struggling? And when people ask if it’s hard work, do they really want to hear the truth?
Challenge is an understatement
I underestimated how hard looking after twins was going to be. Twice as hard doesn’t even come close to it.
“Having twins is not twice as hard—it’s exponentially more difficult”
Natalie Diaz, author of What To Do When You’re Having Two and CEO of Twiniversity
I knew what to expect with having three children previously…the sleepless nights…the constant screaming…the never ending feeds. Well, I thought I knew what to expect!
Sleepless nights are taken to a whole new level when two babies are crying. The constant screaming is like having surround sound with the volume turned up! And as for the never ending feeds…I never realised how much milk would be needed. And what goes in must come out, right? Well, let’s just say babies seem to have a way of doubling everything that goes in!
It may be a little bit more than twice as hard, but the blessings I have far outweigh the challenges. I get double the smiles and twice as much love. This is what I try to remember when the going gets a little tough. I’m getting a little help to remember this truth by reading through Becky Keife’s new book “No Better Mom for the Job”.
As a floundering mama with bags under my eyes big enough to prove my lack of sleep, I made a choice to stop fixating on a deficit I had no power to change. After all, God is pretty set on the whole twenty-four hours in a day thing. Instead I decided to concentrate on what was fully within my grasp: my ability to give thanks.
I started to retrain my focus from what stressed me about being a mom to what blessed me.
Becky Keife, “No Better Mom for the Job”
Can I suggest that if you need a little encouragement, go and pre-order Becky’s book? Raising little ones is not easy. In fact, it’s down right hard work. Sometimes it feels like it’s a lonely job. Am I right?
You are not alone
Becky writes about the ups and downs of being a mother to three spirited boys, and I love how she makes me feel like I’m not alone in the job anymore.
You’re probably thinking right now that you haven’t got time to have a shower these days, let alone sit down and read a book. You don’t need to worry. Becky knows too well what it’s like raising little ones, so she has recorded an audio version of her book too! You get to hear Becky’s sweet voice for yourself.
As a parent I love receiving bonuses, so this one is a fab bonus…If you pre-order Becky’s book before October 1st you get to receive the Audiobook for free! How awesome is that? Order your copy on Amazon or other online retailers today then head over to NoBetterMomBook.com to redeem your FREE AUDIOBOOK preorder bonus!
This was originally written for the Five Minute Friday Community, where a number of writers gather for a weekly writing challenge around a single word prompt and write to our hearts content, but only for five minutes (or there abouts).
I couldn’t stick to five minutes on this one though. The word prompt though was “challenge”. You can click here to view what other people have written.
Thank you for sharing your challenges and your joys. Grace, grace, and more grace to you. Visiting from FMF.
Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read. It’s a good job God has plenty of grace to go around.
Love this post. I could relate to the twin comments. Though mine are now 17. When they were born they were child #5 & #6. There was an 11 year gap between them and my youngest singleton. Very inspiring post.
Thank you so much for your lovely words. It’s always nice to hear from another twin mama. 6 children is absolutely amazing! Well done and bless you.