“Today, I’m FOUR!”
“Where’s the Christmas tree?”
These are two statements made today in our house.
Our twins, Mary and Caroline, are four today, and they couldn’t be more excited about it.
So much so that Caroline, confused at the gifts and their placement, wondered if it was Christmas! Ha! It’s only 85 today, but sure, we can pretend. Bless her short memory bank’s heart.
It feels like Christmas with the gifts and the fun and the treats around here. However, like any other day, we have had to move forward with our schedule, and the twins have had to just fall in line as usual. School, lunches, work, daycare, ball games, dance, piano…we’ll get to cupcakes tonight, but for the twins’ whole life, we have had to do just that: move forward.
I think that’s why today is so weird for me. I am near tears, and yet dressed for a meeting in a few minutes. I am yearning to spend time with them but have to keep the bus driving. We’ll be eating our dinner piecemeal (no pun intended) because of a hectic night of lessons and ballgames and such. If these were my first kids, I might spend more time worrying about the after effects of this, but now that they’re down the line, I know they’ll ultimately be fine.
I also read their disposition. My goodness, my girls are so darned sunny. They are cheerful and helpful and social and chatty. They sometimes are too chatty (let’s save the story about Mary noticing everything about everyone and commenting for another day). Maybe it’s our superior marketing skills of the everyday…you won’t be at a big fancy party tonight, but aren’t you so excited to see the piano teacher’s kittens? Won’t cupcakes after your sister’s dance lessons and picking up prescriptions and dry cleaning be FUN? I’m becoming a master.
Move forward and rejoice in the every day.
I think that’s the blessing of having little people in your life. Forward motion is the only motion and little things seem big and special. When you’re little, your memory bank holds those few precious memories that seem big, and when your attention span can rival one of a gnat, you can really move on from mistakes, missteps, and mismanaged situations well.
This is what having my twins for these four years has helped me realize.
Thank you twins for being born. Even though you have stretched our patience, parenting and budget thin, when you’re running up to hug my legs, tell me a story or sing me a song, I can’t imagine what I was worried about before you came into our life.
You may make me the oldest kindergarten mom, but I have never felt younger or more confident than now. I can run on so little sleep, it’s incredible. I can tackle any meeting, task, whatever, because I have reared TWINS.
Even though I want to look back at that day you were born with wistful tears, I am focusing today on looking forward. You now have big girl bikes. Your bakery set has your name on it, which you recognize, pinning the sweet nametags to your aprons. Your big sisters re-gifted their American Girl Dolls to you today, because you’re old enough, and they’re getting older, too. What a happy-sad day, right?
My sweet girls. I am so lucky to be your mom. I say that every year. But what I will also say this year is that I want you to always move forward. Life will be wonderful and the past will be fun to look back upon, but the forward motion that you feel as you pedal your bike today is what I want you to cling to. Move forward, rise up, look ahead. “Have faith and drive on” is what my grandpa used to say. He was right. That’s what we have done raising you in these last four years.
And my dears, sometimes, that’s enough.
Happiest of birthdays to my dearest, darling twin girls, Mary and Caroline. How lucky am I to be your mom.
