By: Rhyannon Curry
6:00 AM – The sweet voices of the girls make their way through the monitor. Since the sun is up, that means we’ve slept through the night. I thank goodness for small miracles.
6:00 AM – The sweet voices of the girls make their way through the monitor. Since the sun is up, that means we’ve slept through the night. I thank goodness for small miracles.
Here is Samantha sleeping in her Merlin Suit. 6:20 AM – Finally get up out of bed, brush my teeth, and get dressed for the day. Go downstairs and make a cup of coffee while I make the girls’ bottles (we recently weaned to formula at about 6 months…and you know what? I’m ok with that). Head back upstairs and pull the girls, one by one, out of their Magic Merlin Sleep Suits (I am not a paid advertiser of this company, but, seriously, these things work) and change their diapers. Feed them their bottles and put them back on the floor or crib to spend some morning play time.
6:45 AM – Start a load of diapers in the wash. We’ve recently switch to cloth – yup, the old-fashioned prefolds with pins and everything – and, with twins, daily laundering is a necessity. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have a confession to make: they’re still in disposables at night. I’m brave (heck, I’m the mother of three under two), but I’m still not that brave. Baby steps, people…baby steps.
7:00 AM – Check my work email (by which I mean, Facebook) and respond to whatever I can while the girls are still quiet and Xavier is still asleep.
7:30 AM – Now the day starts to get crazy. Xavier wakes up and spends some time in his crib until I can tell by the sound of his voice he’s had it with Jingle the Dog and wants OUT. If I wait too much longer, I’ll hear a thump on the ground – that’ll be Jingle the Dog flying through the air and hitting the floor with an uncomfortable-sounding thud, coupled with Xavi yelling at him as if the poor stuffed animal owed him money.
Change his diaper and take him downstairs for breakfast. Enjoy a breakfast of toast, oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, and fruit. Yes, all of that. This kid is a bottomless pit. I’m dreading the teenage years.
8:00 AM – Time for the girls’ nap. Put them back in their Sleep Suits and rock them to sleep. Well, I would rock them to sleep if I had a rocking chair, but it’s broken. So I do the next best thing: turn the fan on in the bathroom and walk them to sleep in the dark. Laugh if you want, but these days it’s all about survival…and we’re surviving just fine, thank you very much, even if I spend more time in a dark bathroom than I ever would have imagined.
7:00 AM – Check my work email (by which I mean, Facebook) and respond to whatever I can while the girls are still quiet and Xavier is still asleep.
7:30 AM – Now the day starts to get crazy. Xavier wakes up and spends some time in his crib until I can tell by the sound of his voice he’s had it with Jingle the Dog and wants OUT. If I wait too much longer, I’ll hear a thump on the ground – that’ll be Jingle the Dog flying through the air and hitting the floor with an uncomfortable-sounding thud, coupled with Xavi yelling at him as if the poor stuffed animal owed him money.
Change his diaper and take him downstairs for breakfast. Enjoy a breakfast of toast, oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, and fruit. Yes, all of that. This kid is a bottomless pit. I’m dreading the teenage years.
8:00 AM – Time for the girls’ nap. Put them back in their Sleep Suits and rock them to sleep. Well, I would rock them to sleep if I had a rocking chair, but it’s broken. So I do the next best thing: turn the fan on in the bathroom and walk them to sleep in the dark. Laugh if you want, but these days it’s all about survival…and we’re surviving just fine, thank you very much, even if I spend more time in a dark bathroom than I ever would have imagined.
8:20 AM – Time for the first walk of the day. Since the girls were born, Xavi rarely gets 100% of my attention. This is a time, every morning, that’s just us. Grandmother watches the girls and Xavi gets thrown up on my back in Christina’s Ruckless Back Carry and we’re off for a mile or two walk around our neighborhood. Along the way, he points out everything he sees, which goes something like this: “Car, car, car, truck, dirt, car, dirt, dirt, dirt, MOON, car, car, car.” And repeat. Every man we pass is “Da-da,” which sometimes leads to very awkward conversations, but we run with it. I guess I’m lucky, because I’ve never had anyone give me any disapproving looks for wearing him. I’m sure it’ll happen, but for right now, everyone I pass smiles and says hello. And for a few short moments in time, he’s still my baby.
9:00 AM – Back home for a snack and then to throw the diapers in the dryer. Most of our other clothes are dried outside (weather depending), but I like the diapers to go in the dryer – it makes them fluffier. The girls are up by now and ready to eat. I have a conference call in an hour, so it’s absolutely imperative that they’re fed and happy before that.
10:00 AM – Well, they might be fed, but they’re not happy. Looks like I’ll be taking my conference call outside. The girls will stay content longer if I’m wearing them, so they both go up. One on back and one on front using a Size 7 Zara. Recently, Fallon has decided that unless she’s the only one being worn, she hates being on my back. She’s a diva – she really is.
10:00 AM – Well, they might be fed, but they’re not happy. Looks like I’ll be taking my conference call outside. The girls will stay content longer if I’m wearing them, so they both go up. One on back and one on front using a Size 7 Zara. Recently, Fallon has decided that unless she’s the only one being worn, she hates being on my back. She’s a diva – she really is.
It took a bit of practice, but I’m able to get both girls up without any assistance.
11:00 AM – Conference call is over. Time for everyone’s nap. Grandmother comes back to the rescue and reads Xavier some books and puts him in his crib while I take care of the girls. If I’m lucky, they’ll sleep for at least an hour and a half and I can get a lot of work done.
1:00 PM – Finished enough work to not get fired before the girls woke up. Change and feed them and spend some time reading books in their room. Another conference call has popped up on my calendar in an hour, so I ask Grandmother if she’ll watch them, since Xavi is still asleep.
3:00 PM – Conference call over. Need to prep food for the kids’ dinner. Grandmother offers to take the kids for a walk, so she puts them in the stroller and heads out for a bit to give me the chance to get the food cooked and pureed.
3:10 PM – Grandmother comes back with the kids. Remember the Diva? Yup. She’s struck again. Screaming like a banshee every time the stroller stopped. Note to self: really need to bring Grandmother to a BWI meeting and get her used to using some sort of carrier.
Grandmother drops the twins off and takes Xavi back out to the playground.
Quickly glance at the clock and realize that the girls must be exhausted. I wish time passed this quickly when I’m actually at work.
3:30 PM – Never let an infant get overtired. Never.
3:40 PM – They won’t stop screaming. And there’s two of them. I’m alternating who I’m holding and cursing myself for being so fertile (can I say that on a BWI blog?). I don’t know how my great-great-grandmother had two sets of twins and three other singletons.
3:45 PM – Ok, that’s it. We’re not playing this game anymore. The Diva gets rucked on my back. I know she’ll be asleep in a few minutes and, while she won’t sleep long on my back, this isn’t a long nap anyway…just enough to see us through to bedtime.
We go back into the bathroom – one baby strapped to my back, the other cradled in my arms, looking like a giant pink marshmallow. 3, 2, 1…and we’re out.
3:50 PM – Realize I’d totally forgotten about the diaper covers soaking in the bathroom. Great. Now I’ve got a sleeping baby on my back and soiled covers to clean. Is this even legal? Is this something I should put down on my VBE application as one of the “things you should not do when babywearing?” I could try to lay her down, but I know she’ll wake up and right now, silence is more important than gold. The diapers get cleaned. She sleeps. We’re both happy.
4:15 PM – They’re awake. Xavi and Grandmother are back. Time for dinner. Realize that I never finished cooking the kids’ food and quickly hurry downstairs to try and finish. Girls have another bottle while I’m pureeing apples, kale, and black rice.
5:00 PM – Dinner time for everyone.
5:45 PM – Grandmother offers to bathe Xavi while I take the girls on our evening walk. They’re wrapped up again but I guess I momentarily forgot that Fallon doesn’t like being on my back. I remembered a few blocks away from the house when she starts screaming bloody murder and straightening her legs, threatening to pop her seat. I quickly look around, hoping that no one sees us. I have no other choice but to turn around and go home. The entire way, she’s screaming like a banshee. I know she’s fine…SHE knows she’s fine…but I’m not sure anyone looking at us would believe me if I told them she’s just being overly dramatic.
We get home and I switch the girls. Now that Fallon is on my front, she’s all smiles. Seriously, kiddo?! She is something else…it’s a good thing she’s so darn cute.
6:15 PM – Finish our walk just before the rain starts. Spend some time working on motor development skills before it’s time for a final bottle and bed.
7:00 PM – They’re asleep. Again, I thank goodness for small miracles. All three of them.
1:00 PM – Finished enough work to not get fired before the girls woke up. Change and feed them and spend some time reading books in their room. Another conference call has popped up on my calendar in an hour, so I ask Grandmother if she’ll watch them, since Xavi is still asleep.
3:00 PM – Conference call over. Need to prep food for the kids’ dinner. Grandmother offers to take the kids for a walk, so she puts them in the stroller and heads out for a bit to give me the chance to get the food cooked and pureed.
3:10 PM – Grandmother comes back with the kids. Remember the Diva? Yup. She’s struck again. Screaming like a banshee every time the stroller stopped. Note to self: really need to bring Grandmother to a BWI meeting and get her used to using some sort of carrier.
Grandmother drops the twins off and takes Xavi back out to the playground.
Quickly glance at the clock and realize that the girls must be exhausted. I wish time passed this quickly when I’m actually at work.
3:30 PM – Never let an infant get overtired. Never.
3:40 PM – They won’t stop screaming. And there’s two of them. I’m alternating who I’m holding and cursing myself for being so fertile (can I say that on a BWI blog?). I don’t know how my great-great-grandmother had two sets of twins and three other singletons.
3:45 PM – Ok, that’s it. We’re not playing this game anymore. The Diva gets rucked on my back. I know she’ll be asleep in a few minutes and, while she won’t sleep long on my back, this isn’t a long nap anyway…just enough to see us through to bedtime.
We go back into the bathroom – one baby strapped to my back, the other cradled in my arms, looking like a giant pink marshmallow. 3, 2, 1…and we’re out.
3:50 PM – Realize I’d totally forgotten about the diaper covers soaking in the bathroom. Great. Now I’ve got a sleeping baby on my back and soiled covers to clean. Is this even legal? Is this something I should put down on my VBE application as one of the “things you should not do when babywearing?” I could try to lay her down, but I know she’ll wake up and right now, silence is more important than gold. The diapers get cleaned. She sleeps. We’re both happy.
4:15 PM – They’re awake. Xavi and Grandmother are back. Time for dinner. Realize that I never finished cooking the kids’ food and quickly hurry downstairs to try and finish. Girls have another bottle while I’m pureeing apples, kale, and black rice.
5:00 PM – Dinner time for everyone.
5:45 PM – Grandmother offers to bathe Xavi while I take the girls on our evening walk. They’re wrapped up again but I guess I momentarily forgot that Fallon doesn’t like being on my back. I remembered a few blocks away from the house when she starts screaming bloody murder and straightening her legs, threatening to pop her seat. I quickly look around, hoping that no one sees us. I have no other choice but to turn around and go home. The entire way, she’s screaming like a banshee. I know she’s fine…SHE knows she’s fine…but I’m not sure anyone looking at us would believe me if I told them she’s just being overly dramatic.
We get home and I switch the girls. Now that Fallon is on my front, she’s all smiles. Seriously, kiddo?! She is something else…it’s a good thing she’s so darn cute.
6:15 PM – Finish our walk just before the rain starts. Spend some time working on motor development skills before it’s time for a final bottle and bed.
7:00 PM – They’re asleep. Again, I thank goodness for small miracles. All three of them.
My three loves – Xavier, Samantha, and Fallon
About me - I'm a 31 year-old professional mother of three. Xavier was born in 2011 in Amman, Jordan, where my husband and I were stationed as diplomats. Fallon and Samantha were born the day before Thanksgiving in 2012. Currently, my household consists of myself, the kids, and my mother (Grandmother), who is a life-saver, especially as my husband is currently in training, getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan.
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