Things Worth Noting

A couple things worth noting ... first, I just passed the year milestone on this blog (happy first birthday, blog). So why have I stuck with it (when everyone guessed I wouldn't)? Because I still gain perspective at the end of each day when I go to transcribe my thoughts. I may feel moments of rage toward kids, job, life - whatever is eating at me that day - but once I start typing here, I realize that most of what happened is often funny, or slightly annoying, or frustrating, but never nearly as bad as I suspected in the heat of the moment. This is my outlet, and it is much needed in the frantic-ness that I call my life. But what I always suspected was that I'd get an even greater perspective on the whole motherhood thing, if I could just stick with it ... meaning, I'd get to compare my mindset year over year, which is, fortunately, like comparing apples to oranges. And I was right. I just went back today and read my first few months of posts. The twins were 8 months old when I started this blog. Needy, whiny infants, who never let me sleep through the night or eat a hot meal. I had not even started enjoying them a year ago - they just seemed to be an energy drain that I was not well equipped to handle. So what I took away today, in reading my old posts, is the deep satisfaction that, well, I've come a long way baby. Every day is a challenge, and every day has its frustrations (including Lily's grumpy mood tonight), but guess what? The twins can be enjoyable now. They're cute. Funny. Entertaining. And I would no longer trade them in for that singleton. How else could I snap photos like this from tonight, if I had only birthed one of them?

My only regret is in not starting the blog during the twin pregnancy or when the twins were newborns, but let's face it, there was no time for blog posting in those early days.

My second noteworthy bit is that we're down to two strollers. I know, this doesn't sound all that interesting, but I believe at one point we had five strollers in our garage. We obviously sold the singleton strollers, but then we had three doubles: the Graco tandem with the matching infant carseats (a must for twin newborns, but trust me, buy it used because you won't use it for very long ... also one of those snap n' go doubles will work great too, but again buy it used because it's short-term use only), the Peg Perego side-by-side glorified umbrella stroller (weighs 14 pounds and fits through all standard doorways), and the double jogger with the swivel wheel that Claire can hitch a ride on.

We sold the double Graco along with the carseats (in fact, our house is now infant carseat free!). At 40 pounds, the thing was a beast to lift, and it's like pushing a long train. Side-by-side doubles are really the only way to go once you're beyond the infant stage. I sold the Graco stroller and carseats to a Craig's Lister who is pregnant with twin boys and already has two older girls (ages 7 and 4). Man, did I feel for her.

I can't promise that we'll stay at two strollers. I'm eyeing a compact sit-and-stand model and I actually think a single umbrella stroller would be handy (and am kicking myself for selling our perfectly good version a year ago). But those are wants, not necessities.

Necessities, for me, are ways to add perspective to my days. I thank technology and the web for this blog, and I thank the readers (most of you are silent and don't post comments, darnit!, but I know you're reading). Here's to another year of watching the girls grow up. That includes me (on the growing up front). I still have a long way to go too.