I recently bought some pop molds that I’ll use to make fresh fruit and yogurt popsicles, we do fruit smoothies year round, and I busted out a batch of homemade oatmeal raisin pecan cookies last week (and the two mom’s in the household are guilty of finishing them off), but the easiest shmeziest snack of all has been a combo of yogurt and fresh berries that I’ve been serving up with homemade granola.

Well, the granola was actually meant to be granola BARS, but I’ve yet to perfect the recipe, and they’re more crumbly than intended. But crumbly delicious works!

Here’s what we use:

MMMMMMM, dee-lish! And just the kind of snack that the parents can enjoy alongside the kiddos, too!

Okay, now your turn to dish on a favorite spring/summer snack!

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Rachel is a work-out-of-the-home mom who is most recently managing the uncertainties in her life by taking control in the kitchen. She also writes about her family at Motherhood.Squared

Matou and the twins, 13 1/2 months.

We follow the kids’ lead where we might put our fingers in that crack in the concrete where the earth has settled, feel the softness of the bark a dying tree, behead an earthworm, touch the wheels of a parked fire truck, feel the bumpiness of rocks or the stickiness of a pine cone, chasing the black birds in the grassy lot across from the church, bark back at the dog in the neighbor’s window, peek around for lizards that have scampered into the ground cover. Sometimes, it might take forty minutes just to get to the park.

18 months.

Sometimes? Sometimes, we don’t get there at all.

So you can imagine that after five straight days of raining, we were all ready to get out of the house, even if there was standing water everywhere, an event that caused my partner and mother to want to keep the kids’ feet planted firmly on sidewalk.

But it was me, the Classic Type A Personality, the ENFJ, that announced to my mom and partner, “let them splash!, so what? We have a perfectly functioning washing machine just inside the house.”

(Granted, I had Type A motivations: sensory experiences and neural pathways and the hopes that it would help get them tired before dinner and bed. But, more importantly,) they loved the mystery of it all – the sound of a splash, how the water sleeps and then thrashes when stepped upon, the coolness of the water between the fingers, the heaviness of wet clothes, the changing color from clear to brown, the grittiness of mud.

And as one moment in a collection of moments, we remembered: we remembered being kids, we remembered uninhibited play, the encouragement to try something new, and the security of knowing that our parents would make us warm and dry again.

So today, I am thankful for the unintended consequence of my twins – that I’ve become more patient, more forgiving, that they’ve reminded me to be a kid, allowing me the freedom to be struck by awe and wonder at the simplest things around me.

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Rachel is the birth mom of a two-working-mom household to 21 month old boy/girl twins that can now open the gate at the bottom of the stairs. This is a problem. She blogs over at Motherhood.Squared

As a former elementary school teacher, this isn’t surprising, but I came across this GREAT website I wanted to pass along!  The curriculum/lessons start very young and go through preschool.  It’s very simple for my girls age (16 months), but it’s a guide with a great book to read, a game to play (pretend), arts and crafts (for older), etc.  It’s SO FUN!  The teacher in me is BEAMING.  Hope you and your kids think it’s fun too!

Amy is a SAHM to 16 month old twin girls, Reese and Riley.  Read more about our adventures here.

Happy holidays everyone and best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe 2010!

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Last winter, Tiny and Buba were still under a year old (9-11 months) and not yet walking. Being the germaphobe that I am, combined with the hassle of bundling my infants in the proper winter weather attire and then getting them into the car, out of the car, into the stroller, into our destination, and then all of that in reverse, most days I simply just chose to stay home. Now I know to some that may sound like a cardinal sin. After all, how many times have we heard that the key to staying sane as a stay-at-home mom is to get out of the house? But really, at that point staying at home didn’t bother me. We’d rotate around the house in between naps- playing with toys in the nursery, then jumping in the exersaucer and jumperoo in the kitchen, then out to the living room to play with other toys. The kids were happy (for the most part), so I was too.

Then the spring came. My kids turned one, they were walking fairly well, and I suddenly had a burning desire to get out and go places. Playdates, playground, library, shopping plaza- it didn’t really matter where. I just wanted to get out. So we did. And soon it became part of our routine to go somewhere between the end of morning nap and lunchtime. The kids got used to it, and I did too.

But a two weeks ago we had a day where I just couldn’t do it. We were experiencing a wet, wintery mix that just made our daily field trip suddenly not at all worth it. Now Buba didn’t really seem to care that we weren’t going out, but Tiny knows our routines by heart and it didn’t take her long to figure out what was going on, and subsequently, to begin melting down. The standard toys for everyday play just weren’t cutting it, so I had to get creative. Luckily, I had some things stashed away that totally saved the day…

1: Sunglasses from last summer

Tiny’s glasses no longer had lenses (in fact, I’m pretty sure the lenses popped out the very first time she wore the glasses last June), but she didn’t seem to care. Even as I gave them both their sunglasses, I expected that they would rip them off immediately and then cry for me to put them on again. While that did happen a time or two, I was quite impressed that, for the most part, they enjoyed playing while wearing the glasses for a good 20 minutes. Somehow the glasses made those everyday toys more fun again.

2: Connect Four

This is not something I every would have thought of on my own. But Buba’s occupational therapist has one of these games and uses it to help him improve his fine motor skills. So T brought this one home from his classroom. Tiny loves hearing the plink when the game pieces fall to the bottom, so this was another 20 minutes or so of indoor fun.

3: The Tunnel

We picked this tunnel up at a yard sale over the summer. It’s suppose to connect to a playhut, but the kids have more fun just crawling through the tunnel by itself. It’s only 4 or 5 feet long, so completely doable in our living room. This was also tons of fun for 10 to 15 minutes.

And last, but not least…

4: Snowblowers

We may be the only homeowners on our street who do not own a snowblower. The noise combined with the spraying snow, made it completely fascinating to watch the neighbors snowblow their driveways. And this allowed me just enough time to make lunch.

I certainly hope we don’t have too many inside-all-day days this winter, but it’s nice to know that we can survive (and even have fun!) without getting out of the house.

So what do you do to keep the kiddos happy when you have to stay inside all day?

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reanbean is a stay at home mom to 21 month old boy/girl twins. You can now read more about reanbean, Tiny, and Buba at reanbean.com.

But I’ve taken the leap, ladies, and I’m VERY excited (and wishing I did it sooner): I’ve joined my local Parents of Multiples group!  It’s amazing to have communities of other MoMs like here at HDYDI.  I also have a couple friends of friends that have twins that don’t even live in my town that I email back and forth.  But to be honest, I don’t really have any friends with multiples that live by me that I get together with.  I’m looking forward to building friendships with other moms that are in the same boat as me.  And… make me feel like I’m not crazy like I sometimes feel!   ha!  :)  I’m so glad I finally did it and really can’t believe I didn’t sooner.

Are you a part of your local Moms of Multiples Group?  What have you enjoyed about it?  I think support of other MoMs is so important.  If you haven’t joined, you should!  If I can, you can!

Amy is a former elementary school teacher, now stay at home mom to 15 month old g/g twins, Reese and Riley.  She resides in the great state of Texas (yee haw!), has recently become obsessed with Starbucks Carmel Brulee Lattes (you should try one!), tries to find humor in life with twins, and is overwhelmed with how she has been blessed.  Read more at Beyond Normalcy: Life With Twins.

Happy Holidays from our family @ Beyond Normalcy to YOURS!

]]> http://www.hdydi.com/2009/12/moms-of-multiples-groups/feed/ 14 http://www.hdydi.com/2009/09/the-ability-to-self-soothe-begins-to-emerge-around-61-months/ http://www.hdydi.com/2009/09/the-ability-to-self-soothe-begins-to-emerge-around-61-months/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:57:06 +0000 Jen from Diagnosis: Urine http://www.hdydi.com/?p=3451 At five years old, my twins may be the oldest reflected here at HDYDI. They make up for that by having the maturity and social skills of two week olds.

I’m kidding! Mostly. During their first year, they attended two home daycares until we convinced my sister-in-law to watch them. She continued until I quit my job to stay home, and since then the boys have tolerated several teenaged babysitters and one Wednesday night church program, but that is the extent of their exposure to people outside our family. Playdates have been met with violence – not against the other children, thank goodness. When confronted with *outsiders*, one of my boys hides behind me and punches me repeatedly in the posterior. This is his way of indicating, “Mother, I am anxious and would like to withdraw from the situation now, if it pleases you.” It’s a lot like baby sign language.

The boys, before they realized I don't actually attend preschool with them.

Anyway, the boys started preschool last Wednesday. The first day, parents were to stay and the boys were cautiously optimistic when they saw all the toys and play areas. When parents were ushered to the next room for a meeting, I hoped the toys would keep the boys comfortable. I hoped so, fervently, for the first 5 minutes of the meeting, until a teacher brought one of my red-faced, teary-eyed boys to the door and beckoned to me.

I spent the rest of the day as the only parent forced to escort her children through circle time — one boy burying his face in my neck with his legs wrapped around my waist; the other angrily punching me in the behind. I didn’t know what to do, so I just smiled extra-bright and sang, “Wheels on the Bus” and played Red Light Green Light like the boys and I were conjoined triplets.

My husband works second shift, so he handles preschool drop off. Thank God, because I don’t think I could take it. Days two and three of preschool went as you can imagine, with sobbing and screaming and clawing desperately to get back into the car. Apparently they calm down within a few minutes of Jason leaving, and they tolerate the rest of the day reasonably well.

P told me, “One time I started to cry, but I told myself, ‘I gotta pull it together!’ and then I was okay.” Now if only their mother could also master this skill, we’d be in business.

So the triplets are walking, sometimes running now. There are battles over toys, sippy cups & affection from mommy. There are regular attempts at escaping their corral every day. There are minor injuries, whining and a sudden increase in the most foul-smelling of diapers. (??) There is teething and hair pulling and the flailing of food in every corner of the kitchen. And PS – we’re moving. So there are boxes everywhere (though it looks like I’ve barely made any progress at all). Oh, and our 7 year old now has to be at football practice…four nights a week. And guess who’s helping out with coaching those four nights a week? You’ve got it…my darling hubby! Add that to his one late work night a week & that’s FIVE nights a week I don’t have my tag-team partner enter the house until after 8pm.

Need I say more? I was desperate for a break. I was tired of being tired. I was tired of the tension headaches & the fatigue. I was tired of not seeing the scale move, despite the rare chance I have these days to sit down to a meal. I was tired of STILL not being able to fit into my pre-multiple-pregnancy jeans. I was tired of feeling trapped in our house. So I was determined, single-minded, unwavering – I was going to the gym & all four kids were comin’ with me!

Now I had to be quite strategic about this venture. The child care center at the gym is only open for certain hours of the day and those hours could not conflict with meal or nap time. (We don’t mess with naptime.) It would have to be immediately after breakfast – admittedly the easiest meal of the day – no problem.

Time was ticking. All four kids are fed without any fuss. One by one, the triplets are deposited into the corral to play, whilst mommy cleans up the kitchen. (please take a moment to imagine just what that entails…) Ok, so our eldest is self sufficient & after repeating myself only three times, he eventually follows directions & gets his teeth brushed & himself dressed. I’m already dressed (it’s easy when you go to the gym in the same shorts & t-shirt you wore to bed the previous night – hypothetically speaking, of course). So it’s just a matter of changing & dressing the triplets, packing their diaper bag & loading everyone into the car. ‘I just might pull this off’, I’m thinking. I get everyone changed & dressed & as I run into the kitchen to grab sippy cups, I remember – SHOES! Oh, how I hate shoes. I swear, part of the reason I stay home with them sometimes is to avoid having to put shoes on those six fat, uncooperative little feet. But I can’t let them go the gym barefoot – so I run up to sort through the shoe crate in the nursery, praying for matching pairs & perfect fits. Two out of three go well & after going through two pairs on the ‘eldest triplet’, everyone’s shoed up!

At this point we’re only 10 minutes behind schedule. I grab my iPod, my water bottle & the diaper bag, bark at my eldest to go to the bathroom, go myself & head into the family room to grab the first baby to strap into her carseat. Truly, those three were left alone in there for mere minutes, yet I returned to find that one had taken her shoes off, one had taken the elastic out of her hair & the other had decided he would choose that as the perfect time to, well – dirty his diaper…again! I was this close to throwing in the towel. But then I thought about how good it’d feel to be on that elliptical, iPod blasting in my ears, working off this triplet bod…I was resolute! I deserved this, damnit & I wasn’t giving up! I sighed heavily, prayed for patience & did what I had to do.

20 minutes behind schedule & everyone’s in the car. The gym is just around the corner from us, and as I approached it, I wondered just how I would get everyone inside. I’d left the triple stroller at home, deciding that it probably wouldn’t fit through the gym doors anyway. So I manage to nab the parking spot closest to the door & quickly advise my eldest of the game plan: he would walk his brother in, firmly holding his hand and not leaving my side – I would carry the girls & the diaper bag.

As I said, most people don’t walk into the gym sweating, but I sure as heck did that day! What a sight we must have been. Name tags were distributed, brief instructions were given & within minutes, I was warming up. I couldn’t believe it! Sure, I kept an eye on the doorway from the elliptical machine, expecting one of the child care providers to drag me away for one reason or another, but no. I got in nearly an hour before I went back to claim my kids. It was a success and I felt great!  And you can be sure I included that pre-gym prep time in total calories burned that day! 

However, as the months went on, I felt like I was missing out on less and less. Music class? We started that at about 20 months and had tons of fun. Gymnastics? We started that at 18 months and was also a blast. We can do playgroups and trips to the park and to a friend’s house as easily as anyone with just one toddler. Dinners out? Well, we probably wouldn’t do that even with one toddler, what with our 7pm bedtime and my dislike of just shoving (expensive) food in quickly so that I can eat at the speed of a two year old. That’s what babysitters are for, in my book. And we have a great one who isn’t phased by putting two two year olds to bed.

But my kids are now coming up on 2 1/2 and suddenly I think those singleton moms and kiddos are getting out a lot more again. A trip to the Science Museum on a weekday morning? Hell, no. Between rush hour traffic and trying to keep track of two (fast) two year olds, I might not survive until naptime. The same goes for the Aquarium and the Children’s Museum. Could I try to attempt it if it I really wanted to? Probably. But I’m a bit concerned about safety and keeping track of both of them in such a big, crowded space. And honestly, I’m really not interested in having them do a 30 minute nap in the car as their only nap of the day. My friends with one kid seem so much more willing to mess with that nap. But me, on a day when it’s just me from 7am to 7pm? You’ve got to be kidding. I’m just too tired not to have an hour or two to myself, to eat lunch, respond to emails and maybe throw a load of laundry in. On weekends, fine. But just me days? No thank you. Now I am aware that this may have more to do with my own personality–there are certainly peppier, sunnier twin moms out there than me. But has anyone else found that 2 1/2 is a hard age to get kids out on TRIPS? Not the usual everyday ones, but the fun big ones, like museums or zoos or such? Anyone have any good tips for making it work?

Abigail enjoys a recent trip to the playground

This weekend was different. My twins will be five in a month, and for the first time at one of these events, my husband and I were both seated and eating at the same time.

We still made many, many runs to the bathroom, and the buffet line is still a bit tricky, but there’s no comparison to the holiday meals and picnics of 2008 and earlier.

We travel light now, too. Potty accidents happen so rarely that we don’t pack extra clothes. The baby is still in diapers, but she’s 2.5 and can last a long time without a change. We don’t have to bring bottles, or baby food, or look for a comfortable place to nurse. We don’t need a stroller, feeding seats, pack and plays, or any of the other gear that goes along with having multiple babies.

So, hang in there. All you have to do is get your kids to 59 months, and you too can enjoy a cookout!

Instead, I’m going to write a self-indulgent, hopefully humorous, look at a recent day in my life.

Just to provide some background… at the end of June we decided to sell our house.  We want it on the market by the end of July and my husband won’t have a day off this month since July 6 to 31 since he’s taking a course every weekend.

So, I’m very busy getting everything clean, packed and organized, which is part of the reason my blogging is suffering.

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Here is a numerical look at one morning this week…

Getting Going

Number of errands I planned to accomplish: 4

1. Drop 2.5 year old at the babysitter’s, after getting him up, dressed and fed
2. Grocery store,
3. Paint store,
4. Children’s consignment store

Number of babies I had hoped to have in their pajamas when we left – that’s easier than dressing them: 2 little girls

Number of babies still in their pajamas when we left: 1 little girl

Number of babies who spit up all over as we got ready to leave and needed to be changed before we could leave: 1 little girl

Number of noisy toys that 2.5 year-old son insisted on bringing: 1

Amount of time I was willing to take up arguing about it: 0 minutes

Number of trips to get the car loaded: 4

1. 2.5 year old with his noisy toy,
2. Diaper bag and one baby,
3. Purse, water bottle and other baby,
4. Double stroller

Number of phone calls I made on the way out the door: 1 (to the babysitter to tell her I would be arriving late)

Number of minutes I was late leaving to drop off 2.5 year-old at the babysitter’s: 20+ minutes

First Stop

Driving time to first stop after the babysitter’s (grocery store): less than 5 minutes

Number of available parking spots: lots and lots and lots as my 2.5 year old would say

(Note to self: grocery store isn’t very busy at 8:45 on Tuesday morning)

Number of babies sleeping when I put them in the double stroller: 2 little girls

Number of babies sleeping by the time I got inside the store: 1 little girl in pajamas

Amount of time it took to get refund on purchase from Sunday: 5 minutes

Number of times I had to answer questions about twins while getting refund: 2

Number of white candles I bought to give our bathrooms a “spa feeling”: 9

Number of cream candles I bought because they were the closest colour to an “earth tone” I could find: 3

Types of white towels I had to examine in order to find a “fluffy” set: 3 (obviously a white towel, isn’t just a white towel)

Number of white towels and facecloths I bought to create the same “spa feeling”: at least a dozen

(Hopefully, I can return the extras… I have no idea what I’ll do with a dozen white towels and 3 children under age 3!)

Amount of time I spent looking for two items that I never found (garbage bags and training underwear for the 2.5 year old): probably only 5 minutes, but it felt like longer with all the stuff I was carrying and pulling

Number of people who stopped me to ask about twins: 5+, most of them were store employees

Number of people who offered to help while I carried a basket of candles and towels, and pulled a double stroller with a bag of groceries on it: 0

Number of important discoveries I made: 1 – It is easier to pull a double stroller while carrying a heavy basket than it is to push a double stroller while carrying a heavy basket

Number of babies asleep at the end of first stop: 1 little girl in pajamas

Number of babies starting to fuss by the time we got to the car: 1 little girl in a dress

Amount of time I spent wondering whether I should bother with next 2 errands: as long as it took to get to the car – if I put it off, I’ll have to bring 2 babies and their older brother with me next time

Amount of time I spent panicking when I thought I locked my keys in the trunk: 5 seconds, then I realized they were in my purse

Number of times I wondered if there was a drive-thru close by to get a snack without getting out of the car: 2, or 3, or maybe 4 – hey, I’m a hungry, breastfeeding mom of twins

Second Stop

Amount of time to get to next stop (paint store): less than 5 minutes

Number of babies who are still awake a second stop: 1 little girl in a dress

Amount of time spent wondering whether it is worth it to take out the double stroller to walk from a parking spot right in front of the door in to the paint store: 15 seconds divided as follows:

Amount of time spent calculating that I would be carrying 25+ lbs of baby, plus two car seats while opening the door: 14 seconds
Amount of time spent deciding if it was worth it to get out double stroller: 1 second

Number of paint samples I need to buy to do touch ups in our house: 2

Number of paint chips I had to go through to find the right colours because I’d left that information at home: Lots and lots and lots

Number of paint samples I need that the store had in stock: 1, but they’ll call me when the other colour comes in

Number of people who ask about twins: 2, both store employees (the paint store is also very quiet on Tuesday mornings)

Number of people who offer to hold the door while I maneuver my way out with a double stroller: 0

Third Stop

Amount of time to third stop (children’s consignment store): less than 1 minute, it is about 3 doors down

Number of bibs I plan to buy for babies: 2 or more so I don’t have to wash them so often

Number of bibs in stock: 0, the cashier suggests I go to Wal-Mart instead

Amount of time spent considering going back to Wal-Mart before going home, and unloading and reloading the car to find 2 bibs inside the Super Center which I’ve never visited before: 2 seconds, I can wash the bibs they already have

Amount of time spent considering whether to buy a double jogging stroller that I see for sale: long enough to walk over to it

Amount of time spent considering whether to buy same jogging stroller when I see that it costs $350 second-hand: 0 seconds

Number of teething soothers I decide to buy since I’m there and they have some in stock: 2, otherwise this trip would have been a complete waste

Number of customer appreciation stamps I would get for my purchase if I had my card: 1

Number of stamps that the cashier put on a new card for me: 1

Number of cards that I have at home with one stamp each:  I don’t even want to guess, probably lots and lots and lots

Number of people who ask about twins: 0 (they see lots of babies in the children’s consignment store)

Number of people who offer to hold the door while I maneuver my way out with a double stroller: 0

Number of babies who are awake and getting noisier: 1 little girl in a dress, and 1 little girl in pajamas

Going Home

Amount of time it takes to get home: 15 minutes including getting babies and stroller in car

Number of trips it takes to get everything in the house: 4

1. Unlock door,
2. Babies, – two car seats – one in each hand
3. Groceries,
4. Diaper bag and other purchases
(I left the stroller in the car)

Recap

Total time to make three stops: almost 2 hours

Number of hungry babies when we got home: 2 little girls – and one mommy too!

Number of ideas I have about what to feed them: None, but I have to find one pretty quickly

Number of things I didn’t find on my errands: paint, 2 items from grocery store, bibs

Amount of time I was home before paint store called to say my colour had arrived: less than an hour

Amount of time before I have to pack up 2 babies to go to the babysitters to pick up 2.5 year-old son: 5 hours

Number of things on my “to-do” list for those 5 hours: lots and lots and lots

Number of things I actually get done: not very many

Number of smiles from two happy, full, clean, and (finally) dressed baby girls: lots and lots and lots