How to make life easier and more enjoyable with twin girls.

  No singleton parent will be able to complain to me about how hard it was having one infant in the house. You worry if they've had enough milk after throwing it up all over themselves (do I give her more now?). You worry if you've spent more time with one compared to the other. When did she poop? Is she breathing? Did I just give Cookie two bottles? Did I remember to feed the dog yesterday? Luckily I have a very patient husband who can handle high levels of stress on very little sleep. We devised a schedule that helped us through the tough baby sleep patterns (read STTN) but once everyone was getting enough sleep I had trouble getting out of newborn survival mode. Below are my top tips that made things easier for everyone.

1. Let it go.
   So it's Independence Day and I just got everyone all dressed up to see the family. The girls were wearing red and blue outfits with white ruffled butts. I special ordered the outfits from Etsy and probably spent too much on them. Just as we were walking out the door Peanut spit up all over the front of her outfit. I was in tears. We were running late and now we had to strip her, wash her, and find new clothes all while her sister became increasingly cranky at being ignored. Everyone showed up to the party a bit miffed. After this scenario repeating itself over and over again I've learned to let go of what we can't control. This is so hard for me because I'm a complete control freak. I just take a breath and tell myself, "Your going to be late, they'll get over it, and tomorrow this will be funny." 
2. Don't be a perfectionist.
   After getting the girls home from the NICU I was very concerned with keeping everything neat and tidy. I wanted the girls to always look cute in case visitors stopped by, I didn't want my gray hair to show, and I wanted my house presentable. This literally nearly drove me insane. After breaking down and crying because my husband left a t-shirt on the floor we decided I needed an intervention. I was terrified of becoming a sloppy dumpy mother with a house that looked like a playpen. I had seen many pictures of high school friends on Facebook who fell into that lifestyle so easily that I thought it must be a trap. My husband reassured me that letting the dirty dishes sit for a while would not turn me into a fat slob and people would find Peanut cute even if I had missed a button on her onesie. I learned to not be so hard on myself and to slow down a bit.
3. Slow down!
   I had become the master of multitasking. I could juggle cooking dinner, packing lunches, mixing bottles, and cleaning the kitchen all while dancing a jig to entertain the girls. By the 8pm bath time I was beat. One night while wiping down high chairs at around 7:30pm I looked over at my husband dancing with Cookie and realized that I hadn't actually spent any time playing with my babies that day. I had barely spoke to my husband. In fact, the only time I was spending with my family was the nightly bottle right before everyone fell asleep. I had become so concerned with knocking out everything on my to-do list that I was becoming an estranged mom. After this depressing realization I decided to have more takeout nights to free up my evening schedule. I also handed some tasks off to my husband and allowed the high chairs to become a little sticky. I even traded in my lunch time gym workout for an afternoon walk in the park. Slowing down my obsessive routine made me a happier and more gentle person. 
4. Laugh about it.
   Cookie pulled out some moldy bread from the trash can and fed it to Peanut. Disgusting? Yes. Funny? Also yes. My mom didn't realize that I had poured used peanut oil from a turkey fry into an empty juice container and filled the girls sippy cups with it. Disturbing and worrisome? Yes. Funny? After looking up the health effects of drinking a bit of watered down peanut oil and learning that the girls intestines would not explode, yes. They had gross smelling turkey sweat for days though. Peanut pulled her newly pierced earring out with a sippy cup mid car drive home. After finding it caught in the ruffles on her butt and cleaning off all the blood I poked the earring right back in. Heck if we were going through another piercing session! I guess this is highly frowned on so please talk to the piercing place about what to do when this happens. One week later Peanut got her other earring out and we still haven't found it. Funny? Not yet but maybe it will be some day. Laughing about crazy situations relieves stress and can help you to move on. I have a tendency to dwell on problems but laughing it off is a good way for me to let it go (see #1).