Yesterday, Eric and I had a cookout to celebrate our retirement...you know, from being Singletons. In our definition: Marrieds that can still fly by the seat of their pants, due to no strings (kids) attached. Now that we've got the court date, we're starting to realize our days of
spontaneity are coming to a slow. A bittersweet reason to celebrate, I suppose.
With our court date approaching, parenthood is starting to seem a little more like reality. Though honestly, it still feels a little unreal to me. Almost like a crazy dream. I find myself becoming more excited... but also more anxious and nervous! And people giving me looks of sympathy ("
ohhhhhh....twins?") -- or telling me adoption horror stories of someone they know -- is not helping. As if this process is not stressful enough!
An acquaintance of mine—a mother of twins—came to the cookout yesterday, and was a Debbie Downer the whole time; warning me of the perils of being a mother of twins, and all the stresses and difficulties that go with it. (I tell you, I could not drink my beer fast enough!) It is this kind of negativity that I don't want right now. I am aware that this is probably the most difficult thing I may ever undertake. But I also expect it to be the most rewarding!
Then again, there have been many encouraging words during this time. Another acquaintance of mine who is also a mother of twins (it's crazy how many we know, really), had such positive things to say about her experience... without sugar coating anything. The thing was, she had an entirely different outlook on it and it made all the difference in how she feels about the work involved with raising two infants at once. It was refreshing. Talking with her made me realize that I can do it. I will rise to the
occasion and do it as well as anyone I know. I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!
Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away. But I do realize there will be days when I may have to give myself this pep talk in the mirror.And so that I don't start to sound like a Debbie Downer myself, I must say that we have received an incredible amount of support from our family, friends and neighbors. I am overwhelmed at how kind and generous our community is. They have been our cheerleaders throughout this process, and I appreciate it more than words can express. It has brought to light how precious family and good friendships are! I cannot wait to bring M&M home so they can meet all the beautiful people that will help shape their lives.
Oh, and one last thing. I had another reality check yesterday. One of our neighbors brought her 2 month old daughter with her, and as I'm holding her, just in awe of how beautiful and tiny she is, and imagining that she must be MUCH smaller than our babies — her mother mentions that she weighs 13 pounds.
Ok... 13 pounds. So, like, 5 more pounds than my babies?!? Holy
crikees, my babies are itty-bitty
teensy-weensy teeny-tiny babies, weighing in at just over 8 and 9 pounds each. At 3 months. Crazy.
That sort of put things in perspective. I may actually be able to carry these babies around in my pockets. Won't that be handy?
Though we like to think of ourselves as skilled parents, we may have a little more to learn in the coming months. Turns out you can't drop off kiddos at the kennel for the weekend, let them ride in the car all willy-nilly with heads hanging out the windows, give them a bucket of water outside so they can play in the yard all day, or crate train them. Hmmm... this could be trickier than I thought!
