Top 5 special things about multiples

Last week Karen at Tales of a Twin Mum wrote a post titled, "Top five special things about multiples" which was inspired, she says, by the post I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how we were wrong to celebrate our twins' arrival.  Her twin boys celebrated their second birthdays last week and she has come up with a list of positives in response to the article's opinion that twins are double the burden.

I don't normally participate in memes but I thought this would be a fun piece to write to celebrate the twins' four week birthday today.  Then again, you have to bear in mind that I have only been a twin mum for four weeks so a lot of the things that mum's with older twins would cherish I have yet to experience and appreciate.

So with my limited experience as a multiple mum I bring you my very own "Top 5 special things about multiples":

1)  While I was pregnant an online friend who had two sets of twins herself (a boy/girl set then two boys) wrote to me and told me how seeing them together would bring a whole load of "Awww!" moments.  She wasn't wrong.  Already we have had more "Awww!" moments than we ever dreamed possible.

2) I am in awe that God created two perfect, tiny little people and that they grew in me.  I still find it hard to realise that the big belly bump was housing these precious babies.  It's a miracle to have a baby.  It's such a privilege to have been doubly blessed.

3) Even though they are only four weeks old we have noticed that they already seem to know each other and take comfort in each other's presence.  When placed close together it seems they've missed each other and like to be nearby and snug together and they seem calmer.  To know they will always have one another is so heart warming.

4) Sibling jealousy in this house only goes as far as to whose turn it is to feed/hold/hug/kiss a new baby.  With twins there are more of the feeding/holding/hugging/kissing opportunities and the arguments are fewer and further between.  Yes, like I said, there are more of the feeding/holding/hugging/kissing opportunities.  Full stop.

5) I love it when I am cuddling up with both babies at the same time and all three of us are snuggled safe and warm.  I watch them together as they look intently at one another and then at me, then their sleepy eyes drift and I kiss their soft downy heads and I savour the moment.  I will only be able to do this for such a short time and I want to treasure every, single second of it.

I thought I would be hard pressed to think of my top five things but you know, I could have gone on.  And on and on and on.  I look forward to this list getting longer over the years but first thing is first - number five on the list is calling.


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Homeschooling - your flexible friend

I don't need to look at the calendar and know what date it is to realise that this is the week the children go back to school. Looking out of the window onto our normally quiet Close to see the number of cars using our road as a place to turn around in or park on tells me that term time has begun.

Our children don't have shiny new or spick and span lunchboxes. They don't have a smart new uniform and a new classroom to find their way around because they are home educated.

One big bonus of home educating (or homeschooling), is the flexibility it offers. We started back on Monday, a day or two earlier than the schoolkids headed back. As a family we loosely follow the mainstream school's term times but take advantage of the term times to go on field trips and days out. The prices are sometimes cheaper, it is less busy and we can leave learning around the kitchen table and our books behind on a whim, depending on the .

Yesterday we spent the morning working through the normal workbooks which make up their curriculum. After lunch our learning continued away from the house at a wildlife park. The kids got to hold tarantulas and snakes, they watched tiger cubs play with their handlers and giggled as lemurs leapt all over them while we walked through their enclosure. It was a full day of learning and fun combined and we arrived home with just enough time for dinner before all the children collapsed into bed in a happy heap.

They slept through for more then 12 hours. That is a sign of a successful day. Because we fitted so much in yesterday, we can afford to be more flexible with our lessons today. Learning is going to be more relaxed, discussing what we saw, what we learnt and vegging out on the sofa with Youtube clips of the animals we want to see more of. I love this homeschooling lark!

Tomorrow is Friday and we'll be finishing up the workbooks we began on Wednesday but never quite completed before we headed off for our field trip. The afternoon will be free time for all of us. The children will do some art project or choose how to use their computer time.

In the meantime I have made plans to take a slice out of my day to watch "Mum's Half Hour" - an online programme which is broadcast live at 1.30BST every Friday. Tomorrow's topics are on pre and post baby fashion (really, if you see me and my wardrobe you'll soon realise I am not a fashionista by a long shot), but the thing I'll be watching for is their piece on multiple births. I am not too sure whether by that they mean one woman giving birth multiple times or one woman having a multiple birth of twins, triplets etc. Still, being live you can ask your questions which they'll try to answer during the programme. It sounds like it might be interesting to look in on (and no, I haven't received anything for mentioning this - I just thought other mums of many or multiples might be interested in knowing about it).

For now though, I think I'm going to be taking today as easy as possible too. And that is one thing the kids do agree with me on for once!



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