Stuck in the Pen

     It seems that up until any of my children are moved into toddler beds from cribs, crying erupts from their little mouths every time they awake from a nap. This morning was no exception. So as I heard the infant babbling-sobbing version of "Mom is NEVER coming to get us, we'll die! We are trapped in our cribs! Abandoned! Left behind! Orphaned!" from my daughter, I approached the little dumplings' room to notice such a peculiar thing: Baby Boy handing his pacifier through the bars of their two cribs (they are side-by-side) to Baby Girl who was hysterical at her current situation. Her upset halted. She twirled the tiny object around in her pudgy hands and then raised it to her mouth and started to chew. She was still in the same situation, but for an instant she was calmed.
     
     Life is hard. Not many will disagree, but life seems especially hard when you are in the "sapling" stage of it. That being said I have perfected something I'm not terribly proud of: Meltdowns. I feel like I could start the "Basket Case" clinic and be quite successful! Though just recently I have had far too many feelings of shortcomings and disappointments. House not clean, weight not managed, laundry not done, in a job I'm too busy for, in a job I can't leave, house too small, no time for my family, no time for my church, children eating too much, children eating too little, did I brush their teeth? did I brush my teeth? did all my children feel loved today? did I tell them I love them? not sleeping...and the list goes on. I feel I fail severely every day. Some call it depression-I call it being spread to thin...SO I cry. Cry, cry, cry...Overwhelmed.  Even abandoned sometimes by those around me. I feel trapped in a crib like Mama is never coming to get me out! This feeling can happen anytime, anyplace. Undoubtedly it does happen though. Now, please don't get the impression that I feel like I live in a mental black hole. Not the case. I just live life, hard life, and from time-to-time it seems to add a little more height to those baby bed bars to make it hard to see when relief is coming.

         There is a show out there that I think everyone should watch (even if you don't watch TV). It's entitled "What Would You Do?" It's a show that sets up bogus but realistic situations to see what passerby's will do: help or walk away. A baby in a car seat locked in a car on a hot Summer's day. A 14 year-old girl being forced to marry against her will into polygamy. Someone's drink at a restaurant with a mysterious fizzing pill put in it when the owner takes a moment in the restroom. Would you help these people? I would like to think that myself and my readers would answer with a resounding "YES!". What about something more simple? Helping someone go on a walk. Bringing mail in to an elderly neighbor when you're already at the boxes to get yours. Cutting another's lawn. Opening a tailgate for someone struggling with a heavy load. Easy, right?

     It's easy to be selfish. It's easy to be a silent colluder. It's easy to keep walking because you don't want to take anymore time out of your busy schedule to give away to another's needs. But when did a plant grow by focusing inward? It absorbs what will help it grow and flourish around it and does just that. Magical things happen when we keep the "pay if forward" circle going. When we help It says I can't fix everything that's going on, but I will make this moment a little easier for you, because we are brothers and sisters and we share the same planet.

back in the "pen"...

     It would have been so easy for Baby Boy to say to himself  You should have taken the opportunity to become addicted to binkies when mom gave you the chance, they would be IN your hand...too bad Sister! Instead he thought, I'm not suffering as much as you, so let me help...Bless him! OH! From the mouth of babes! (Well, at least the spittle-filled fists of babes...)

    It may come in the form of an hour of free time to donate to help  get laundry done, lift a son out of a cart he got himself stuck in whilst the mom handles the other three chilluns, or offer to help follow someone out of a grocery store seeing that they have a lot to handle. It would been easy for all these binky-holders to say  " I have my own bags to carry", " I have my own laundry to do", " I don't have time for this", "If I don't make eye contact they won't know I've heard them", "I hope that kid doesn't fall, oh well, his mother is nearby" " man, she should have only had that many kids if she knew she could handle them". Be a binky passer. Just through the bars, a short reach from you to me and from me to you. Realize that not all the blankets are softer in the other crib. Be a doer, a helper. We all  need to be helpers. After all, we never know when Mama's coming to get us out...

Twin Mama: Celebrity

     Shopping with twins is a paparazzi-worthy event. Don't believe me? Well, to give you an example of a recent shopping trip I had with my little twins I was stopped no less than seven times with the common question: "Are they twins?!" and for the blessed souls that didn't stop me on my journey they watched, pointed, smiled, whispered, awed, and visibly counted the amount of car seats in my big box warehouse-style Gigantor shopping cart. So YES onlookers: they are twins. I will on my venture answer questions on if they sleep through the night, give advice to those who have friends having twins, clarify why boy/girl twins are not identical (?), allow pictures to be taken, and yes, even reveal whether or not my sets were conceived "naturally" ( because we were both shopping for the same set of 1,000 Dixie cups so we are now super-close friends and so I want to tell you EVERYTHING...) and lastly, promise that I will definitely be back because you will miss my little dumplings until you see their squishy faces again even though you just met them...(sigh) *deep breath*

    Now, do I sound bitter? Do I sound annoyed? Well despite it seeming like I want to avoid my "fans" like the plague, and like I want to wear a traditional celebrity pair of over-sized brand-name uber expensive celebrity sunglasses while I sport my celebrity twin-babies with their baby celebrity names ( Peaches and Plum...eria?) in the latest twin baby-wrap carrier and race through the store like all is well and I'm a commoner... Simply put, every outing exhaustingly is a reminder of how blessed and awesome I am.
     Just to clarify, I use the phrase "awesome" not to solicit glares, pffts, or even praise. I use it the way that Webster uses it:

awe·some

/ˈôsəm/

Adjective

Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration

     Awesome: Extremely impressive, yes. Daunting, YES. Inspiring great admiration...Let me save you the "yeah, right" trouble and just leave it at inspiring. I have the opportunity to inspire others. THAT in itself is laughable. But every time I use all my energy to get to the store, take my children on a walk, take a three-hour adventure to the park as a vulnerable adult human, I inspire others. I say "Yes, it's hard. It's also possible..." I take so much joy in this seemingly little concept.

    To just give you an idea of how life is now versus how it was in my world goes like this: (Before) College student (18 credit hours consistently). Worked full-time in the Service business (ug). Four main responsibilities to my religion, active participant in four different singing groups. Two other part-time jobs (one again in the Service industry {double-ug}) and exercised five days a week. Volunteered, participated, planned, organized, lead. NOW: full-time work (to say the least), Mom. Difference? Well, the most significant one is that I can't even volunteer to bring a salad to a church function without sending my chaotic world into an even-bigger tailspin. I live like a low-level Hoarder, remember sometimes that my husband isn't just a roommate, and shower when I forget the last time I did. So I guess bottom-line is this: I can't do anything outside of waking up every day, feeding and clothing my children, and try to make it out of the house once daily to ensure the stay-offence of cabin fever. So yes Fans, I got out of the house today. I am awesome.

    I am also not singly in this boat. You all with children, especially multiples know how hard everyday life is. Yet, with sheer endurance (and help of every one who offers) we get through. We go out of the house, we cook, we teach, we bring church salads, and even on a good day we shower. We sacrifice everything for the good of our sweet tender families. We are awesome. We tell others that can't muster enough mental energy to get out of the house that they can. Those that have two babies, two car seats, two diaper bags, two bottles, two sippies, snacks, blankets, stroller, purse, umbrella, extra set of clothes, and those that have to walk to the car in the snow uphill both ways to keep going... It gets better. It's Hard. Have hope. Keep going...YOU are AWESOME.

   Some days I feel like I have nothing left. Then I remember in some small way I can help others by just showing up. Times when I feel like I can't even help myself wake-up for the best job in the world. So off I go to the big box warehouse store to buy Dixie cups. I am a celebrity. YOU are a celebrity, WE are celebrities, WE need to be there for our fans. So YES warehouse lady who guards the tobacco cage: I will be back to let you see my little dumplings squishy faces, I promised afterall...

   I was once told that twins come to those who are special. If that is the case then I feel extra-special. But then again we really all are.

I will never be a Pinterest Mama...

     I will never be a Pinterest Mama. This was verified on the last American non-holiday St. Patrick's Day! Did I awake early and paint little green feet on the toilet seat? Did I then put green food coloring droplets into the toilet bowl water? Did I also proceed by throwing gold-wrapped "chocolate" coins about my house to allow my children to infer that that Pot of Gold sprung a leak? NO. I did none of these. And whilst I watched everyone on their FB accounts post pictures of Fruit Loop Rainbows on their tables on St. Patty's Eve, I realized that I felt terrible for not participating in this commercialized holiday. (I mean really, are there that may Irish Citizens here in the U.S.? I daresay not. But nonetheless...) Here I am, guilt ridden that my days aren't longer, and that I don't have more energy to run on two hours sleep so I can decide if that is the right shade of green in the bowl. Fearing my children's frontal lobes will not properly develop, I decided to keep my their imaginations thriving by choosing a few manageable crafts that might not put me on Pinterest, but would create activities for me and all my twinlettes to bond and allow more variety in all of our days. Also, I found crafts that could be changed or modified depending on what's already residing in our homes. Let's be honest, we don't need to add another "to-do" or "to-shop-for" list to our day! Alas, it is time:


Project 1: Popsicle Stick Puzzle (classic, right?!)

Thanks to Elahne Botho O'Connor (Irish?) for this pic, But see how easy? Glue sticks to a picture, then cut...CLASSIC! However, what if you have no sticks? what if you have no pic? No glue? Well then, This whole thing wouldn't come together now would it? Time to think out of our box mamas...

No Pic/No Glue: (You can always use a magazine or coloring book page if there isn't a picture you want to slice up!) but...

 

...AND if you find that you have no sticks, then cardboard, a cut-up cereal box, and last resort just plain ol' printer paper can do the trick. Of course use materials that are age appropriate!

 

Yay! One project down. That being said here is a last look to make it all "holiday-style"

 

Impressive mamas...

Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth Easy Mama Projects are listed on this great easy-to-follow site. ( All of these are also on Pinterest, just click here for an easy-to-browse page)

     http://stepbystepcc.com/toddlercrafts.html

 

* Copyright 2003 - 2009 * Jana's Web Design * All Rights Reserved     I have realized that trying to "Keep up with the Mama Jones'" Isn't truly within my realm, but I can still take part in the magical world of creativity and holidays if I just modify things the Mama way!