It Will Get Easier

When regular people see me out with my kids they tend to say, “Oh, you have twins. Better you than me!” When twin moms see me out in public they say, “It will get easier.”

Did I complain? Did I do anything but acknowledge that yes, I have twins and how cute your twins are?

Being a parent of twins is like being a member of a secret club. Because you can’t truly understand what having twins is like until you have done it. You can try to imagine what it would be like, but it’s not the same. And while there are some similarities to having children close in age, having twins is different because everything is always double. Double the diapers. Double the formula. And yes, double the crying.

There is an instant camaraderie twin mom’s feel when they meet one another. They get it, because they have been in my shoes. The reality is that having twins IS hard. Even if I didn’t have a full-time job, a husband, a house, an older child, and two dogs it would still be hard. And I am hesitant to complain about how hard it is sometimes out of fear that people will think I am being ungrateful for the blessings we have received. I know more than a few families that had to fight hard to have children. So what right do I have to complain when it came so easy to me? That said, why do perfect strangers feel it necessary to say things like this?

Perhaps this is their way of quietly acknowledging that raising multiples is hard and that it is socially unacceptable to talking about some of less glamorous aspects of parenthood. This includes but is not limited to:

* Poop, in general
* Poop all over the bed.
* Vomit
* Vomit all over the bathroom
* Vomit all over brand new car seats
* Regurgitated mac n’ cheese
* Leaky boobs
* Leaky boobs in public places

Now multiply this list by two.

Is it just me or is this post going nowhere? Well, maybe it was going somewhere but someone (Hannah? Abbie?) is crying.

Yeah. It’s 10:03 p.m. and apparently I didn’t get the email about it being “Happy-Happy-Fun-Time.”