Mummy To Twins Plus One

Mummy To Twins Plus One

I never thought I would have three kids.

I also never thought I would have twins as my first kids.

Yes, I wanted kids, but I thought I would do one at a time like other people have done, not two at once.

After having the twins, I thought that anything is possible.

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Childbirth and having two babies at once made me feel like I had an extra superpower. I know I don’t, I thought that if I can give birth to two babies, look after them and manage to take them places on my own then I must have an inner power.

Mind you I’m sure that other mums think this after having a child. You don’t need to have twins to think this.  Maybe after you have kids all mums are gifted a superpower? Wouldn’t that be nice? Pity I can’t pick what it would be. (Mine would be magically having a super organised and happy house always. No mess, no arguments and just inner peace and calm)

Lately, I have been thinking about how right our little family now finally feels. Yes I said little (Some think that 3 kids escalate you into being a big family)

Before it felt right but now it really feels right. Yes, strange to say and I know it might not make sense to many but maybe it will make sense to you.

Have you toyed with the idea of having the second or third child? Then you did and it all feels the way it was meant to be?

In January 2018 our little boy will be two years old. Hard to believe it has been two years already. It is also hard to think of our family without our cheeky and lovely little boy.

I was worried about how a third child would go. Would I cope? Would the twins adjust to another little person needing my attention? How would I get everything done and more???? Many questions went through my brain when pregnant with baby number 3.

Many articles I read online told me that if you have three kid’s things get harder. Much harder they said.

Really are three kids that hard? It can’t be that bad I thought. I have already got two kids that are pushing the boundaries, what is another one going to do?

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Alexander 6 months old

I just want to tell you, Yes, a third child does create more chaos and stress. I thought maybe they are just creating drama to get people to read their articles.

The chaos and stress of having three kids is real, but one that I would never change. The articles were right… yes, they were.

Getting all three ready to leave the house is often a drama. One kid cannot find her shoes, while the other is having a fit about what to wear and why she cannot find it.  The kid that cannot find or sort out her clothes is just sitting naked or only in undies.

The baby boy is trying to play with the twins toys he is not supposed to. When the baby of the family is told he cannot do something he gets annoyed, throws things, tries to scratch his sisters and hits his head on the floor or furniture. He likes to make a statement.

When we are all finally in the car the baby freaks out when the kids must get out due to school and other activities.

There have been many moments that we have endured constant screaming and tantrums, and this is not just from the baby. Mostly it has been but sometimes from the twins.

Oh, the joys of having a huge age gap. The twins and their brother have eight years difference.  He wants to play with them and the girls want to do their own thing with their friends.

So how has life with three kids been?

  • The twins seem to be understanding that it is not all about them all the time. It was a bit of a rude shock when mummy could not be with them all the time anymore. They did have nearly eight years of having mummy all to their selves…oh and daddy too. With the introduction of their brother, they need to share a little more.
  • The girls have also learnt to be more caring and helpful. Helping me with the baby or looking after him, playing with him and much more. I must say that the twins are very protective of their little brother. Both stood up to a boy at childcare that tried to take Alexander’s toy combi van from him. It was very sweet to watch.TheGirlsandAlexander_20April2016

    The girls and their baby brother 20th of April 2016.

 

  • My house is a constant mess and I have learnt to just deal with it. Having three kids, a blog, a life and other things to do mean that the housework never gets finished. Sad but true. I think I need a full-time cleaner/housekeeper.
  • Due to the age gap between the twins and Alexander I am making more time to be with him. He likes to play and to have fun. We play trucks, dance, read books and build trains and more. Some days I take him to get a babychino and we sit outside the café so that we can watch the trucks, cars and trains go by. Alexander is obsessed with trucks, trains and cars. Just watching the traffic go passed on the highway is a highlight of his day.

1Truck spotting with Bark the dog while mummy has a coffee.

IMG_0618Gotta take a truck while truck watching.
Also very civilised to do it while sipping your babychino.

  • One hard part is trying to do an activity for all three kids. It is hard to keep everyone entertained. A park is a good place as there are things for babies and older kids to play with, play centres are a good option as well. The older kids can race off and play with their baby brother.
  • It is amazing to see how our third child has grown up so much. Having older sisters, I believe has helped him learn more quickly and hit milestones before he was supposed to. He likes being with older kids and I think that is due to playing with his older sisters.
  • It has been a joy seeing our little boy learn, experience things for the first time and share them with the girls as well. I have seen both kids in our little boy. Alexander seems to do things that one twin would do and then do something that the other twin used to do.
  • We were lucky that the twins are now not needing booster seats, so we can get all three kids into the back seat of my existing car. Yep, old but still going strong. I am drooling over a nice new bigger car. One day I hope.
  • Due to the extra person in the family, we had to move some things around in the house. We lost our dining room, the twins moved into the office and spare room and the baby got the twins old small room. It was nice that we finally moved the twins into the bigger room, but I am sad that I have lost the dining room table and the space to do crafts, sewing or even have people over for dinner.
  • One thing that you need as a family to three kids is extra space and storage! We were working on this before we had our little boy but glad the house was not built due to our needs changing. Now we can make sure all the kids have a room for themselves. I go to bed dreaming of a new house with wall to wall cupboards for storage. This sounds odd, but if you live in a small old house with nowhere to store anything you would dream of storage options too.

Another point that I had no idea about was that now we are a family of three kids we are considered a large family.

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The girls and I getting exercise.

Who knew this would happen. I don’t know why only three kids put you in the large family basket.

I would have at least thought it would have started from four kids and onwards. What about you?

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The girls and Alexander on the 14th of December, their last day of school.

It is a joy to have a boy in the family. As a mum to girls and growing up with a sister I had no idea about boys.

Alexander is doing much of the same things the girls did as babies but with a slight difference.

  • He is obsessed with cars, trucks and trains and this was without prompting from any of us.
  • He growls when he runs and does anything.
  • Climbing came a lot earlier than the twins, although the twins are super good at it, Alexander climbed the ladder on the twin’s bunk bed even before he was running.
  • Does not deal with getting teeth very well. Painkillers don’t seem to have much of an effect and it is like you haven’t given him any drugs to take the pain away. Alexander gets multiple teeth at the same time. The twins got one at a time and dealt with the pain much better, Panadol or Nurofen and the girls were all good. You do the same for our boy and he is still screaming, crying and smashing his head into the floor.
  • If he is upset, in a mood, or in pain he headbutts the floor or the wall. He is a real billygoat. He was born in January, so he is a Capricorn and therefore a goat. The girls never did this when they got angry or frustrated, so this was new to us.
  • Understands everything you say to him but not saying that much. He is taking it all in but not saying a lot of words. It is only lately just before he is two that he is saying more words.
  • He is a joker and plays jokes on you and his sisters.

It feels like we have always had our little boy with us, but it has only been two years.

Time has flown by. Taking kids to school, swimming lessons, cubs, and art class, oh and more activities have helped me not think about the days or weeks. As a busy mummy, I am just dealing with what needs to happen next week or tomorrow.

Just after we recover from Christmas I will need to organise a birthday party for our boy.

Yes, you blink and soon you don’t have a baby you have a little boy.

How is your family going? Do you finally feel complete with the number of kids you have?

I hope I’ve not made you not want to have a third child due to admitting that it is hard at times and chaotic. It does have its amazing moments too.  So, if you are wanting to, then do it I say!

If you have gone from two to three kids let us know how the change was for you.

 

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