Parenting Forums

I have visited a few parenting forums in the past.
I have replied to a few questions that have been posted.
But I have never posted a question.
I have always either muddled through or have seen a similar sort of question asked by someone else. I am not very good at asking for help, I never have been. It not that I am too proud, its more that I don't like to bother people with my problems or admit I could do with a little help or advice.
At the moment I do not need help but a little bit of advice would be nice. Also a bit of understanding would also be good.
I have posted before about the twins climbing. It feels like we are constantly saying:
"no"
"get down"
"stop climbing"
But how do we stop this?
We have been telling them no and putting them onto the floor, but it is becoming a game for them. They giggle then go and do it again! Isabella is developing a defiant streak, we shouldn't be surprised, both me and hubby are stubborn, but as we are telling her no, she is staring straight at us with a look as if to say
"what are you going to do?"
I really cannot remember Joseph climbing as much as they do but of course there was only one Joseph. Now we have two climbing toddlers!
I feel as a mum of twins it is often hard to get advice. The majority of sites that I have been on do not cater for twins and multiples. Also the majority of health visitors do not have the knowledge to help with "multiple" problems.
So I am considering posting on a parenting forum.
It would be nice to hear how other "multiple" families have coped. New parents of multiples always ask "does it get easier?" in some ways yes it does but in other ways no it doesn't. It just changes and you have new challenges!
I have recently joined a new parent forum that has been set up by the people that brought`us the fantastic Gumigem (which I am a huge fan of) called Kiddieclinic  ( http://www.kiddieclinic.co.uk/ )
I feel quite different about this forum as it is new and it feels more personal. To my delight and surprise there is a section for "multiples" as well as forums specifically for different age groups all the way from anti-natal through to terrible teens, special needs and multiples. If the multiples section wasn't included this probably would have been a forum that I'd look at and then forget. For me, it has it all covered, I can look at forums that are relevant for Joseph's age and on the same site, read posts that may relate to the twins! It will be good to "chat" to other mums of twins who will no doubt understand how life is when you are running around after two curious toddlers but also be there to offer support to new mums of twins. Believe me it is a daunting experience and just speaking to someone who knows what it is like makes all the difference.
I know that it will get easier as the twins get older and have more of an understanding but I am not under the misconception that it will ever be stress free, with any children 1, 2, 3 or even 8 there is going to be stresses and worries. As they come, as parents, we learn to adapt and we cope. At the end of the day all of the changes are just our children developing and growing as people.

Disclaimer: Kiddieclinic have had no influence on my post and I have not received any payment for this post. This is just my honest opinion and thoughts.

Exhausting Day

The only way that I can describe how I felt at the end of yesterday is exhausted!
I spent the day catching up on house jobs. First thing in the morning i even got chance to potter around outside. I basked in the tranquillity of the our garden. Looking back, this was the calm before the storm!
The next lot of potatoes have been planted and I started to clear space for the broccoli, cauliflower and leeks. Even though summer isn't over we are thinking about what winter and spring vegetables we are going to have. I even managed to tackle the green house vegetables. The twins were getting tired tired so they sat really well, but their big brother was entertaining them! After snipping away at the abundance of excess leaves I found that we had a few tomatoes ripening and a huge cucumber that was hiding. Hubby was giving up on the peppers, however, after having a clear up I discovered some tiny peppers that are starting to grow.
Over the last few weeks, I hate to say, that I have neglected the beautiful sweet peas so that will be my garden job today.
After my relaxing start to the day I rapidly evolved into a manic mum, rushing to get jobs done before the twins sleep so that I wouldn't wake them. Then when they were asleep I was rushing to get as much ironing done as possible before they woke up. Rushing was my day! Once the twins woke we had to rush lunch so we could get Joseph to the tennis session he had booked.
The whole day was just manic.
I lost track of how many times I had to tell the twins to get down. Anything that they can climb onto, they are on. If it's not the settees, it's the chairs, if it's not the chairs, it's their toy table, if it's not their toy table it's the futon! They are all over the place! Gone are the days when I could calmly leave the room. After a couple of bad nights I was feeling well and truly frazzled!
Thankfully I was only up once with Taylor in the night but if I put him in bed with us, he snuggles up and goes back to sleep so I get more sleep too. I am feeling ready for the madness that the twins and Joseph bring to life. Whether I'll be feeling like this in an hour or so is a completely different matter so for now I'll just enjoy hearing my 3 beautiful children squeal and giggle as they play together!

Manic Couple of Days

What a couple of days we have had. I really do not know how I am still sane. The twins have changed into climbing explorers and escape artists and Joseph has just been full on.
If feel that I may have jinxed everything with my post that said it was getting easier! I have not had a moment to even blog! As soon as we've had some peace and quiet I've been shattered and ready for bed.
Taylor has discovered that not only can he crawl with his seat still strapped on but he can also walk with it on. The chairs were my safety net that has now been whipped away. Whenever I wanted to keep the twins in one place I would put them in their chairs. So these last two days have been exhausting days. I have been rushing around trying to get house jobs done before they can get into any mischief. Believe me this has been a huge challenge and a lot of jobs have just not been done. But on the other hand I have had even more time with the children. Our house is rarely spotless and the floors are always covered with toys but I like to think that we have got happy and contented children which is much more important.
After all of Thursday's stress from a bad night on Wednesday and feeling like we live in a mad house, hubby suggested asking my mum and dad to come down for a BBQ. This was to our first BBQ in our own house. This time, chilling in the garden, with the people closest to me and a glass of wine helped me no end. We had a lovely couple of hours talking, laughing and reminiscing. Apart from my hubby, my parents have a huge role in my life. We missed 7 years together when I lived abroad and from the moment that I moved back to England we have been close. Even more so when I moved back into the village. I really cannot imagine living anywhere else. I feel so lucky to have them just down the road.
Yesterday I made the trip to see my nanna and grandad. This is the first time that I have felt able to go on my own with the twins. I normally go with either my mum and dad or hubby, if he is not at work. Our twins have always been quite shy babies. If they are around people that they see regularly, they are ok, but if they haven't seen you in a while or they don't know who you are, they are hard work. They just want to be held and scream at the "new" faces. This may be my fault as we do not go far from home. When Joseph was younger I took him to different play groups purely because he was, at that time, an only child and I wanted him to socialize. I don't do this with the twins. I feel that they have each other to play with. We did go, a couple of times, to a local playgroup to get them weighed and as we were the only multiple family it felt like we were a circus show. The other mums, who just had the one baby, found it fascinating to sit and watch and stare at the mum with twins. It made me feel like people were judging and watching to see how I coped. For any new mum, whether you have multiples or singletons, this is hard. So I did shy away from the groups. But also, anyone who has multiples, will understand that going anywhere require meticulous planning and organisation and when you throw in the school pick ups it is hard! With two clingy, shy babies it would have caused more stress than enjoyment.
I felt that this visit the twins would be ok as we were all there, as a family, at the weekend. I knew that they would still be fresh in the twins memory. Thankfully I was not wrong. Taylor went walking straight in and even Isabella never made fuss. This was probably the first time that they have interacted and played with their great grandparents in this way and I could tell that they were over the moon with this. Since having the news about my grandad I have been thinking a lot. I am going to take the children over so much more than I did do. I have come to this decision, not just for the children and my grandparents, but for me too. I want to spend as much time with them both before times get really bad. It is hard to imagine how we will all cope when he does get poorly so that is why I want to see as many good days as I can.
I want to create memories for all of us to treasure. We certainly achieved that yesterday.

Manic Monday

Manic Monday seems a fitting title  to describe our day yesterday.
The day started really well. I got so many jobs done. By 9:30 the kids were all bathed or showered, dishwasher and washing machine were on, we'd does the school run, cleaned and fed the chickens and watered the vegetables. I was on a roll!
But them the whirlwind that is Taylor struck! Arrr, he suddenly remembered he knew how to climb! He was on everything! The more he climbed the more fun it became and the more I took him down the more he chuckled! The more he chuckled the more intrigued Isabella became in what he was doing and before I knew it she too was attempting to climb. Thankfully, yesterday, she only got as far as one leg up, got bored of trying, and found a pair of shorts to put on as a hat!
The day flew by in a haze of running around after the twins yesterday and before we knew it bed time had arrived. Time for a break and spend some much needed time out with hubby.
Taylor after all of his climbing expeditions was out like a light but Isabella didn't have such a good evening and had tummy ache. This meant if it wasn't me with her it was hubby as all she wanted was to be close. In the end, at our bedtime, hubby managed to get her into her cot, at last we had a break, but sleep beckoned so that was our time gone. Luckily we don't have as many evenings like this as we used to and have got to the point where the children go to bed really well and we get some time together.

I Need Eyes In The Back Of My Head

On Sunday Taylor discovered a talent for climbing! Once he found that he could climb onto a leather chair in the lounge there was no stopping him. He progressed from the chair to toys, to using toys to try a climb on the tv table, to climbing onto the chair and trying to climb up the back cushion to look out of the window!
It was as if something had clicked and he suddenly realised that this was an exciting new game that made mummy run around like a headless chicken. The scary part was I could see Isabella watching and taking notes on how to copy her brother. One climbing is manic but what about if I have two climbing?!?!?
Please Isabella, hear my plea, please stay on terra firma and don't copy Taylor.
Gone are the days when I could sit them down, do some jobs, come back and they'd still be sat waiting.
However in all honesty I love watching how they are developing and especially both in different areas. Taylor is the physical one, whereas Isabella thinks more and jibber jabbers away non stop.
All 3 of them are my treasures and I constantly look at them in awe. My family is my world!