and the day goes on........and on.....

Today has been a REALLY LONG day. It hasn’t stopped raining ALL day. Admittedly, we did attempt another shopping trip into town this morning – see previous post, but add persistent HEAVY rain into the equation (and four umbrellas and wet, soggy kids) – not much fun! Every time I look at the clock, it seems to be no further on than the last time I looked! Do you ever get days like that? Has someone slipped a few extra hours into today when I wasn’t looking? It’s only 5.30 now (so still half an hour or more before bedtime – the kids that is, not mine, although I wouldn’t say no to getting tucked up in a warm comfy bed right now!) The day just seems to have been going on forever...... and while I’m back on the going shopping subject, why do I seem to spend so much more when the kids come with me? I always seem to get talked into getting the odd thing, and then we have to get everyone’s favourite flavours of things, too many different opinions about what we should get - agghhhh! Also the kids seem to get though so much more food in the holidays. It’s not as though the kids have been particularly hard work today or anything (well no more than usual!), it just feels like the day has gone on and on and on........ here’s looking forward to a fun filled, less dragging day tomorrow!!

shopping with four 'little helpers'

The trouble with having to go into town for the shopping during the holidays is definitely the fact that I have to take all four of my ‘little helpers’ with me!! During term time, I would always do the shopping on the morning when I have the least number of children (so school and playgroup morning). I can get more past the youngest two, if they put something in the basket, I can get it back onto the shelf again without them noticing, and the whinging about wanting to have sometime seems to pass more quickly with the little ones, when I have said ‘No’ to whatever it is they want (Abbie seems to be able to remember days later, “Mummy, I really wanted that such-and-such that you wouldn’t let me have.”)

So off we set this morning. Four helpers walking, me pushing the big pram (I need the pram to put the shopping in and to put H and G in if I need to). We head to the supermarket, where each child has to have one of the baskets on wheels to pull (it is also pretty much guaranteed that Georgia will give up pulling hers halfway round and I’ll end up with it!). So the next issue is who gets which bit of shopping in their basket, it all has to be careful managed and negotiated to avoid us ending up with four large blocks of cheese, when we actually only need one. Apparently there are certain bits of shopping that are more desirable to have in your basket than others, getting the Grapes or the Scotch Pancakes is always preferable to getting the Swede or Lettuce!! Then there is trying to avoid any of them taking out an old lady’s legs with their basket, that one’s a bit tricky as none of them actually look where they’re going (those old ladies need to move a bit quicker!!). Then there’s those really useful displays that supermarkets like to stack at the end of the isles to catch your attention – they are always just perfectly positioned to be rammed into by a basket being pulled by a two year old who has no idea that she needs to pull the basket a little past the end before starting to turn!

At one point Millie was crying (because she didn’t get the cheese, and being given butter as the alternative wasn’t going down too well) Georgia was sat on the floor crying because she didn’t want to pull her basket anymore (told you!), and Hannah was crying because she wanted to hold my hand! (which I was happy to do, but I was just in the middle of trying to get the butter down for Millie and pull Georgia’s basket!). I could see the sympathy in the other shopper’s eyes as they past (or stepped over) our little party of numerous baskets and crying children! But what they need to understand is that I deal with this on a daily basis, and I am NOT going let it get to me! Most people gave me an encouraging smile, sometimes with a ‘been there, done that’ look on their faces if the kids were playing up, or an ‘aaahhhhh’ if the kids were all pulling their shopping baskets nicely. I also thought I might have seen a few looks of disapproval from some, as they tried to get past the baskets, noisy kids and kids rolling around on the floor blocking the isle, but hey, I’m not going to make any apologies for taking the kids to the local shops! (they are part of this community too!)

On the way back from the trauma of the shopping experience in town, I always vow that I will NEVER do it again and that from now on, I will only shop in the middle of the night, in Tesco, ON MY OWN! (Until the next time I find myself heading into town, surrounding by four little helpers....how quickly I forget!!)

drowning in a sea of recycling!!

I’m all for recycling! I try to think about the packaging involved in what I buy. I do worry about what sort of a world I am sending my girls into in the future. And the amount of packaging and plastic involved with kids and their toys drives me mad! The other day the girls were given a little note book, some stickers and some pens that were packaged in such a large amount of plastic and cardboard, it was crazy! (Luckily the cardboard bit could go in recycling.) The thing is, it’s often the cheap, useful little things that will keep the kids happy for a good while that are so over packaged. We do try to be careful about the amount of plastic toys we acquire and we try to pass things on to be re-used, but even so, over the years, with the four of them, it is amazing the amount of plastic that builds up. When I think back to the toys I had as a child, I sometimes wonder if they realise how lucky they are (do you think saying that is something that automatically happens when you become a parent? Do you always think that the time when you were growing up as a kid was the best time to be growing up and also that kids today don’t realise how lucky they are??!!)

Our council has been undertaking recycling for a while now and they have just started taking a lot more plastic stuff, like yoghurt pots and strawberry and grape containers – great! However, we now find that we need a small extension just to store all the recycling, and cope with the number of red boxes, yellow bags and blue bags that we actually need to contain the recycling for the six of us. I also feel I could keep an extra person in part-time employment just to wash, sort, stack and load the recycling into the appropriate boxes! (ha – I wish!!) The problem this week is that we have been away and we missed the recycling week! So now we are getting towards four weeks of recycling building up – (bear in mind – four young children using milk, fruit, squash , yoghurts and other things) I fear we may drown in a sea of recycling before it gets collected next week! And I’m sure we’ll need to use most of the drive to fit everything on! Rob sometimes tells me off for leaving the recycling by the back door and not taking it out to the boxes in the porch (literally, it’s just the case of a few more steps!!) but in all honesty, sometimes I just can’t be bothered! I’m terrible for just dumping it and leaving it for Rob to sort out! (Well at least I wash it out for him!)

lost without routine!!

So I LOVE the school holidays. I love being with the girls, I love not being tied to the usual routines, I love the freedom! However, I do struggle a bit with keeping the day and week in order without the normal structure of the week. My day is usually punctuated with the school drop off, the playgroup drop off, the playgroup pick up, the school pick up, after school activities to take to and pick up from, that all help to keep me in check. Wednesday is no playgroup day and often tidying up day, cleaning, mopping, vacuuming, washing. Friday is also no playgroup day, and usually my ‘try to take it a bit easier’ day, I try to plan to have no shopping, cleaning or washing to do (although that doesn’t always work!!) Monday is a playgroup day and is for catching up after the weekend, sorting anything out that needs to be done and catching up on the washing from the weekend. Tuesday and Thursday (also playgroup days) are for shopping, sorting anything I need to do in town, sorting out the meals and washing days (you may notice that washing is a common theme throughout the week, as is cooking and clearing up) Blimey, when I put it like that, I definitely have quite a structured week – no wonder I’m a bit lost today! So, it gets to mid afternoon and I realise that I haven’t given the kids any lunch! I have got a bit carried away trying to do some tidying up and cleaning (and it’s not even Wednesday!) Admittedly, the kids had their breakfast a bit later that normal and I don’t think they’re going to waste away, but still, it made me think just how much those normal weekly routines keep my days and weeks running according to plan!

defeated by the weather!

17th July 2009

Well, we’ve admitted defeat! We’ve packed up the tent a couple of days early and are heading home. There is only so many days that you can take of sitting in a cold, wet tent, listening to the gale force wind batter it. The kids are starting to wind each other up, and who can blame them, when six of us are in such a confined space waiting for the next heavy downpour to pass. We tried to have a BBQ last night, which actually ended up with us sitting huddled in the tent, with the BBQ outside under an umbrella!! For goodness sake, there is something seriously wrong with this picture; I should be sat outside with a cool glass of sparkling wine, while the BBQ gently sizzles away!

We did manage to get out to a local place and paint some pottery yesterday, which is an activity that you can enjoy even if it is raining. Although it’s not the ideal place to take two lively two year olds, there were lots of beautiful bits of pottery everywhere, just waiting to be knocked off (bull in a china shop springs to mind). At one point Hannah held up a little pottery bunny and shouted “Look Mummy!” My heart missed a beat, as I tried to make my way over to her (carefully now, no sudden movements – all breakages must be paid for!) gently saying “Lovely darling, now put it back on the sh…wait a minute, the shelf is really full, I’ll do it, don’t move….., no, don’t swing wildly round that way……”

So Rob and I feel suitably awful about cutting the girls’ holiday short. Abbie made a new little friend, typical that she’s not spoken to another soul on the campsite until the moment we make the decision that we’re leaving! We’ve had a good time when we’ve been out and about, but the sitting relaxing at the tent part has been really missing. And the storms that batter the tent are keeping us awake at night, we’re cold and damp, it’s really not worth sticking it out just for the sake of it, but that doesn’t stop us feeling bad when Abbie and Millie are crying and saying that they don’t want to go home. However, Hannah and Georgia aren’t remotely bothered, in fact I think Hannah has been saying “Goning home now?” since the day we arrived!! (Goning is how Hannah says going)

Having packed up the tent and loaded the car, trailer and roof box we stopped at the services for some tea. The tables only seated four, so I put the kids on one table and Rob and I sat on the next table. A woman came up to us when we were outside the loos (during the usual trip to the toilet ritual that is a whole event in itself when it involves four young children) and said how well behaved she thought the girls had been eating their meal, and how impressed she was that we were even able to sit at another table to them. I was so proud of them! Having, only a few hours earlier, been reprimanding them for being nasty to each other, messing with things and generally lolling aimlessly round the tent, now I was filled with pride for the four sensible, well behaved children that had been noticed in the restaurant! That’s my girls!

rain, rain and.....yet more rain!

15th July 2009

Last night we had a massive rain storm and raging winds. The wind was buffeting the tent around, shaking it, tugging at it and the rain was lashing down with such force the noise made it hard to even hear each other speak. It was scary and exciting all at the same time! Rob actually went out to check all the ropes at one point, as it really felt as though the tent might, in fact, blow away. We thought we might actually have to spend the night all hanging onto a corner of the tent to keep it on the ground! A couple of times I actually thought the force of the rain might be enough to flatten the tent to the floor!

16th July 2009

So, someone tell me, where is the fun in six people sitting in a cold wet tent for days on end? (with the four youngest members winding each other up and getting on each other’s nerves). Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for enjoying a good camping holiday, and I’m even up for being all snuggled up listening to the wind and the rain on the tent, on the odd occasion; but really – this is just taking the mick!! Nothing but rain (that’s what it feels like) since we put the tent up. I’m sure there has been the odd sunny spell, but it’s all just blurring into one great big, cold, windy, rainy experience! (You’d have thought we’d have learnt after last year, but no…here we are again…the word ‘fools’ is springing to mind! – I didn’t think we could be this unlucky two years on the trot). The kids are driving us bananas, and we’re not getting to do all the things I thought we’d do. Sitting, huddled, shivering in the tent with my glass of sparkling wine is NOT the same (in any way what-so-ever) as sitting outside enjoying the evening sunshine, aarrrrgghhhhh!

It’s not all been bad, we had a lovely day on the beach yesterday. Cloudy, but the rain held off! The girls all put their swimming costumes on and splashed at the edge of the waves. It was a stony beach, but there was a bit of sand when the tide was out. Georgia really enjoyed digging about in the sand. Hannah managed to get over her fear of the sea. On our previous visit to the beach (in the rain, of course!) the day before, Hannah got a little bit close and the wave went over her feet and up to her knees. She absolutely freaked out! After that she was a bit scared of the sea and didn’t even like it when Millie was near to the waves! She was shouting “No Millie, sea….” and then crying – a lot! But yesterday, she seemed to get a used to it a bit! Abbie and Millie had a wonderful time, playing with ‘body boards’ that belonged to friends that we met up with. We finished off the day with fish and chips – yum!

Poo...poo and......yet more poo!!

14th July 2009

So, we have the tent up. I am sitting inside listening to the rain lash down and the wind howl around, shaking and tugging at the tent. I actually like to hear the wind and rain outside when I am tucked up in my sleeping bag with Rob at night, however, I don’t find it quite so much fun when we are trying to put the tent up and sort everything out. Luckily, the kids stayed at Nanna and Grandad’s while Rob and I went to get the tent up, so we didn’t have the usual bored kids fiddling with everything while we were trying to sort stuff out! They were quite surprised when we pulled up at the campsite and ‘da dah’ there was the tent, all sorted and ready. They must have thought we’d had a visit from the tent fairies! (we told them we’d gone shopping this morning, because if we’d told them we were going to the campsite they would have all wanted to come!)

Well, our first evening we decided to go to the on-site pub for tea – great, no cooking or washing up and a playroom for the kids to play. We’ll be able to have a quiet drink and a nice meal, we’re onto a winner here, or so we thought! It’s funny how kids quite often have different ideas, and so it ended up with me spending more time in the pub toilets than anywhere else. Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, let me explain…… we’d just sat down and I took my first sip of my ‘well deserved’ half a lager, when Millie came up wanting me to take her for a poo, fine, off we go and get her sorted. Back we come, and once again I sit to enjoy my… hold on a minute, she’s back, she needs to go again, apparently there’s still some more to come out! Right, back now, sit down, relax…oh, here comes Georgia to tell me she’s done a poo in her nappy. Right, off we head again to the toilets, get Georgia sorted and back to the table. At this point, I do get some of my drink and our meal comes. After we have finished eating the kids go off to play. Less than two minutes later Abbie is back, she needs a poo and can’t possibly go on her own, so could I please go with her? Off we go and get her sorted out. We get back and I manage to sit down again….for all of two minutes…then along comes Hannah, I bet you can guess…she needs a poo! (do you notice the pattern emerging?) Off I go with Hannah, she manages a little poo (she doesn’t really like to go without her ‘special seat’ she hasn’t really mastered the art of balancing yet, and hangs onto me for dear life, which in turn makes it hard for her to relax!) Having returned to the table, I think, right, this must be it….surely…there’s no-one left to take for a poo (apart from Rob and I’m quite sure he’s perfectly capable of managing on his own!!) I course, it can’t really be the case that I am actually getting time to sit down drink my drink, relax and chat to Rob…..sure enough, back comes Hannah, she’s done more poo and it’s too late!! So off we troop, once more, for the sixth time, to the toilets, this time for me to clean Hannah up and wash out her pants. Somehow, the joy has gone out of the pub visit and I tell Rob I have had enough and I’m ready to go back to the tent! I wonder, if we’d had boys instead of girls would this duty fall to Rob more? Or is it just a ‘mummy’ thing?

holidays - the good times!

I had a fantastic day yesterday (obviously, the three glasses of wine I had at lunchtime might have helped!). We walked up to the pub with the girls and Nanna and Grandad. We met some friends for lunch. We sat in the sunshine, having a drink and a lovely meal, while the kids played nicely (most of the time) on the bouncy castle and play equipment. Then we came back to Nanna and Grandad’s for tea and cake (all very civilised!!)

Later on, we headed down to the steam, with the girls in their swimming costumes, crocs and raincoats (see I’m learning!) and we spent a brilliant hour in the evening sunshine, listening to the water bubbling, surrounded by beautiful countryside, watching the girls play (and not even having to worry about them getting wet!) Abbie and Millie were playing a fab game which involved them going under the bridge and coming out the other side, while talking about their ‘mission’ on pretend walkie talkies! This is what holidays are all about. I had to nip back for the camera and I saw my mobile phone on the side, I was about to put it in my pocket, when I thought “No, actually I don’t need my phone, or my laptop or any other technical gadget.” There are some moments when beautiful surroundings, a bit of water, sunshine, a few stones and your family are all you need! It’s nice, once in a while, to not be in touch with the rest of the world, to leave the emails, texts, facebook, Wi-Fi connections for another time and just enjoy being together – it was fab! I really feel like I’m on holiday now!

When I was putting Hannah and Georgia to bed tonight, it was so nice just watching them fall asleep, they are so beautiful (I’m sure everyone feels that way about their own children). Georgia was chatting away to herself, waving her arms at odd intervals, slowly getting sleepier and sleepier. Hannah was doing her usual shuffling about. Precious moments like that definitely need to be treasured!

scraped knees and stinging nettles!!

So, yesterday, we set off on our first little trip out, a walk round the village, a play in the stream and a walk up to the play park (I love the laid back speed of being on holiday, time to just wander around the village leisurely, not rushing to be anywhere at any certain time – bliss). So everyone is ready for the off, bikes ready, helmets on, trike and tractor with pulling ropes attached, wellies on, great, off we go. We get a hundred yards from the front door when the rain starts, we all shelter under a tree while raincoats are duly fetched and everyone is ‘coated up’, with a break in the rain, we press on, down to the stream. I think the kids managed all of five seconds before all their wellies were full of water and everyone’s clothes were wet! Numerous tipping water out of wellies later, I went back home for their crocs and began to wish we’d taken them down to the stream in crocs and swimsuits in the first place, never mind, you live and learn!

After our steam play we decide to head up to the play park. Despite numerous kids in dripping wet clothes, we make good progress, until Millie decides she wants to pull Hannah on her tractor. So I push Millie’s bike for her, Millie pulls the tractor, then disaster strikes, Hannah tips off the tractor and scrapes her knee, Millie then trips over the pulling rope and also scraps her knee, so now we have two crying children with blood running down their legs! Millie says she can no longer ride her bike or walk, so having managed to calm Hannah down, we bravely decided to press onto the park, with me pushing Millie’s bike with her sat on it with her leg rested up of the handle bars! The next disaster strikes in the park when Abbie gets stung by stinging nettles (let me tell you, that is a MAJOR incident where Abbie is concerned). So by the time we come to leave the park, Abbie can’t possibly walk (sting still too bad) Millie can’t possibly ride her bike (she doesn’t want to bend her poorly knee) Georgia is crying because she doesn’t want to leave the park and only Mummy can pull her!! Off we set, a wet, injured, stung little party, limping home, Abbie is having a piggy back on my back & I am pulling Georgia on her trike. Rob is pulling Hannah and helping Millie on her bike. Sometimes when you have four kids, you just don’t have enough pairs of hands!

The joy of kids and car journeys!

So once again the car is packed, roof box on, trailer attached, with bikes on, and kids loaded into car. Off we go for a week in (hopefully sunny) Devon. Last year we went down for my sister’s wedding, we went onto a campsite a few days afterwards, and spent one of the wettest and windiest weeks in a tent that I have ever known! The kids didn’t seem to mind, Abbie and Millie would ride up and down in the rain outside the tent. Hannah and Georgia seemed magnetically drawn to every puddle on the entire site and they got so many clothes wet that we found ourselves having to go into Exeter to buy new shorts and t-shirts in an effort to find them something dry to put on. Camping is definitely a warm, dry weather activity!

Long journeys in a car with kids, let’s see, first you pack loads of bags, equipment, footwear (boots, trainers and sandals for six people fill a large box on their own, before you’ve even started on the raincoats, caps, fleeces…..etc) in to the car until it’s stuffed full and bursting at the seams. Then you attach a trailer, strap a couple of bikes to that (then find that the bike rack is mounted a little too far forward to actually shut the boot!), put a roof box on top, filled with more important bits and pieces (then, luckily, notice at last minute that the keys to unlock the top box when you get there are still hung up in the house!). Finally, load four children into their car seats and strap them in to the seats that they have to sit relatively still in for the next few hours. Then you’re ready to get underway. Enjoy the first hour or so of the journey, as the novelty of setting off on holiday and the things you’ve brought to keep the kids occupied will only last for a short amount of time. Once the whinging, moaning and “are we nearly there yet?” “I’m fed up!” “I want to get out now!” starts, try to relax and remember that this is your holiday. You may be struggling in the rain, through heavy traffic with a car loaded with stuff and four crying, whingy kids, but hey, you’re on holiday!! Enjoy!!!

Is camping with kids really a holiday?!!

So we are all getting excited about going on holiday. We are off down to Devon to stay with Nanna and Grandad for a few days, before heading down to South Devon to put up the tent. I wonder why it is called a holiday when you go away with small children? You do everything you normally do, change nappies, get children dressed, tidy up after them, sort their clothes, put things away, make their meals, wash up, you just do it all in a different location. We still have to sort and pack everything before we go, sort it all out and do a mountain of washing when we get back. Perhaps we should just call it a ‘change of location’ rather than a ‘holiday’, at least until they get a bit older or we decided to go for something all inclusive (now that would be a holiday). Having said all that, I do love camping, the kids get to play outside, ride their bikes, go to bed late (& hopefully sleep in for a bit??!!) I love sitting outside the tent in the evening sunshine, reading a book, listening to music with a nice glass of something cool!

bedtime....oh joy!

So what is it about kids and bedtime? Personally, if someone helped me into my PJ’s, cleaned my teeth, asked me to get into a nice warm, comfy bed and read me a story, I’d be extremely delighted. I’d be only too happy to snuggle down, shut my eyes and forget about the stresses of the day. However, not so where kids are involved! Why do they insist on arguing, crying and getting themselves all worked up? Is it some element of the bedtime routine that I am missing? Is there a secret to this task?

Once, I made Abbie and Millie a certificate (a printed certificate - laminated – I went to some trouble for this!!) that said “I went to bed by myself”, just to try to get them to get their PJ’s on, clean their teeth, go for a wee, get into bed and GO TO SLEEP by themselves! Does that make me a bad mother? So desperate for a night off from the monotony of the bedtime regime and the whining, moaning and crying that seems to go with the ‘actually going to sleep’ faze! The amount of nights I used to sit at the top of the stairs waiting to go back in and calm Abbie down or put her back in bed. Just for information, the certificate only worked for one night…after that the novelty wore off! So, onto the next incentive to go to bed nicely……..!

End of Term - teacher thank you!

As another school year, draws to a close,
We say a big ‘thank you’ to teachers & those
Who look after our children & teach them to write,
& sort out their troubles, if they get in a fight!
*
Thank you for caring & showing them the way,
To work out the answer & to tidy away!
To use a computer & use a full-stop,
& how to add money, when they go to the shop.
*
A big thank you to you, for taking the time,
To teach them to spell & write down a rhyme,
For teaching them all about things from the past,
And how to take part in a Science task.
*
Thank you for teaching them skills in P.E.
& to work out their answers, independently,
Thank you for giving them skills that they’ll need,
To further their learning & strive to succeed.
*
Time to move on now; new names on the trays,
Packing away for the summer holidays,
We really do appreciate, all that you’ve done.
Now go and relax; have a break & some fun!

*

by Sue Shaw July 2009

how constant are kids?

The hardest thing about having kids is how constant it is. From the minute they wake up in the morning, there is always someone who needs something, or wants something doing, a nappy to change, a name to sew in a jumper, a reading book to do, someone to get dressed, someone to pick up or drop off, someone who wants to tell you something. Even feeding them, as soon as they’ve devoured one meal you have to start thinking about what to feed the four hungry mouths in a few hours time. Then there’s the shopping, just when you think you’ve stocked up for a few days, it’s gone, consumed by four growing girls. The washing is constant too, as soon as you think you’re up-to-date with the washing basket, you can guarantee it’s steadily getting filled again. Cleaning and tidying, well that’s like chasing your tail and never actually catching it. I could spend the day putting things away and tidying but I don’t think I’d ever manage to finish, they can get stuff out faster than I can put it away! Sometimes, I feel like I’m juggling balls in the air and if I ever stop they will all come crashing to the floor. Even when the kids have gone to bed, there is a million (well it feels like a million) things to do and sort out! Does is ever stop? It feels a bit like a rollercoaster that you can’t get off! Sometimes I think, “I’ll do that, when I’ve just got stuff sorted” but what you come to realise is, you never actually get everything sorted, you just have to get on with as much as you can, as best you can and try not to let the rest bother you. Of course, one day, they’ll all fly the nest and leave me wondering what to do with my time! I really don’t know what I did, before I had kids (apart from having a full-time job), did I manage to get things done? Get to the end of a ‘to-do’ list? Instead of being on this constant rolling program of never ending tasks, that never gets completed, but you just keep doing enough to keep the list from overflowing and spiraling out of control.

And why do kids always have to follow you everywhere you go? going to the toilet without a gang of little followers is a distant memory!! If I nip upstairs to put the washing away, very soon afterwards there will be the patter of little people coming up the stairs after me. If I get everyone ready for school, leave them by the front door and say, “Everyone stay here, I’m just going to grab a shopping bag from the back porch,” it’s almost guaranteed that at least two, if not more will follow all the way there and back (you can also guarantee that, because you’re in a hurry, you will swing around quickly, not knowing that someone has followed you, and bang straight into them, then you have to comfort and sort out the onslaught of tears that follow.) Kids also can’t ever give you a minute, if you’re doing something, or on the phone, they will expect you to stop immediately to sort out their wish. If you’re not giving them enough attention, they will sit on you, climb on you, put something in front of your face (I have just removed the balloon Millie has thrust in front of my face) or fiddle with something they know they shouldn’t to ensure you turn your attention back to them!! Okay, rant over….back to cooking tea!!

twins? really?

Why is it that people don’t always seem to want to take my word for it when they ask if Hannah and Georgia are twins? The amount of times that people (especially older people!!) say “are they twins?” and when I say “yes!” they “Really? They don’t look anything like each other” Do they not believe me or something? I was there at the time, when they were both inside me, I was also there when they were born, I can confidently say I am 100% sure they are twins. Sometimes they say “but ‘that one’s’ shorter and ‘that one’ has curly hair” (using ‘that one’ about them too is not my favourite way to have them described either!) Do they think I’m might say “oh you’re right, my mistake, I thought they were twins, but now you’ve pointed out those differences I’m not so sure, maybe I’ve got mixed up?” The thing is, there is no reason for them to look any more alike than sisters, they were two separate eggs, fertilised by two separate sperm, it just so happens that they were inside me at the same time! In fact, if anything, Georgia looks more like Millie than she does Hannah. Georgia is like a little mini Millie! Hannah is a bit like Abbie, but not as much as Georgia and Millie. It’s funny, because personality wise, Georgia is more like Abbie and Hannah more like Millie! Ohhh, it’s just one big mix of Rob and my genes between the four of them! The other favourite comment from people who see me out with all four of the kids is “are they all yours?” and “you’ve got your work cut out there!” If only I had a quid for everytime someone said that to me! Still, I usually come back with my usual response of “Yes, well, no-one told us it was buy one, get one free, when we tried for number three! But we wouldn’t have it any other way!”