A New Chapter
A New Chapter
By Allan Olson
When I learned over five years ago in the ultrasound room that my wife and I were going to be proud parents of twins, you could have heard a pin drop. My mouth unhinged like they do in many cartoon shows.
Never did I imagine that we would have twins. The technician must have been wrong in reading the ultrasound image. I mean, two heart beats, two separate images? Impossible, right?
Well, it certainly wasn’t impossible. It was totally possible, and it did happen.
In the hospital, I couldn’t believe that I had to take care of two babies at the same time. One was hard enough to handle, and now I had to multiply that by two (including the diaper duty).
I couldn’t believe that I was capable of feeding and changing two tiny little infants. How do you feed two crying babies at the same time and still manage to eat and sleep yourself?
I know today that somehow we managed to get through those most difficult few months.
In the hospital, I felt that I had to divide my attention between them equally, or I would be neglecting one, and then I would start feeling guilty. Today, I’ve learned that it has to do more with the quality of time spent together rather than the amount of time spent with either one.
Bringing the babies home and learning to take care of them as infants was a challenge, one that I will always remember.
As we adapted to having twins in the house, our oldest son Nikolai was determined that he, too, would become adept at being a big brother. Soon he was trying to figure out how to give them both a bottle at the same time. When one would spit the bottle out and begin to cry, he would say, “Mom, I can’t get them to stop crying.”
However, as enjoyable as those all those “first” moments were, I think they were mild compared to some of the firsts we have yet to experience. I would much rather deal with the first scrape from falling off the bike than the first broken heart.
This week the twins and I took their first bus ride as part of the kindergarten roundup, and we celebrated their pre-school graduation – both in a span of less than 24 hours.
This is a new chapter for us as parents and for them as children. This fall we will go from one child in elementary school to three, and from two children in pre-school to one.
It’s amazing how fast time rolls by. We went from “four kids, four and under” to nearly “four over four” in what feels like a very short span of time.
The two years of pre-school went fast; they entered as tiny three-year-olds and are emerging as confident young kids nearly five years old. They inform us constantly that they are no longer “little,” but rather, “big” kids.
In the interlude between pre-school and kindergarten, our challenge will be to keep them engaged and continuing their learning process, and for the next several weeks we will likely be fielding this question from Abigail: “Do I have school today?”
In her mind, she’s graduating from pre-school, turning five, and heading right into kindergarten – all within a day’s span.
Time is moving fast, but I certainly hope it doesn’t move that fast. This proves to be another exciting chapter, and while I don't want time to fly by, I'm eager to see how these two separate young minds will hand this new chapter, and how we as parents will adjust with them to meet their needs.
By Allan Olson
When I learned over five years ago in the ultrasound room that my wife and I were going to be proud parents of twins, you could have heard a pin drop. My mouth unhinged like they do in many cartoon shows.
Never did I imagine that we would have twins. The technician must have been wrong in reading the ultrasound image. I mean, two heart beats, two separate images? Impossible, right?
Well, it certainly wasn’t impossible. It was totally possible, and it did happen.
In the hospital, I couldn’t believe that I had to take care of two babies at the same time. One was hard enough to handle, and now I had to multiply that by two (including the diaper duty).
I couldn’t believe that I was capable of feeding and changing two tiny little infants. How do you feed two crying babies at the same time and still manage to eat and sleep yourself?
I know today that somehow we managed to get through those most difficult few months.
In the hospital, I felt that I had to divide my attention between them equally, or I would be neglecting one, and then I would start feeling guilty. Today, I’ve learned that it has to do more with the quality of time spent together rather than the amount of time spent with either one.
Bringing the babies home and learning to take care of them as infants was a challenge, one that I will always remember.
As we adapted to having twins in the house, our oldest son Nikolai was determined that he, too, would become adept at being a big brother. Soon he was trying to figure out how to give them both a bottle at the same time. When one would spit the bottle out and begin to cry, he would say, “Mom, I can’t get them to stop crying.”
However, as enjoyable as those all those “first” moments were, I think they were mild compared to some of the firsts we have yet to experience. I would much rather deal with the first scrape from falling off the bike than the first broken heart.
This week the twins and I took their first bus ride as part of the kindergarten roundup, and we celebrated their pre-school graduation – both in a span of less than 24 hours.
This is a new chapter for us as parents and for them as children. This fall we will go from one child in elementary school to three, and from two children in pre-school to one.
It’s amazing how fast time rolls by. We went from “four kids, four and under” to nearly “four over four” in what feels like a very short span of time.
The two years of pre-school went fast; they entered as tiny three-year-olds and are emerging as confident young kids nearly five years old. They inform us constantly that they are no longer “little,” but rather, “big” kids.
In the interlude between pre-school and kindergarten, our challenge will be to keep them engaged and continuing their learning process, and for the next several weeks we will likely be fielding this question from Abigail: “Do I have school today?”
In her mind, she’s graduating from pre-school, turning five, and heading right into kindergarten – all within a day’s span.
Time is moving fast, but I certainly hope it doesn’t move that fast. This proves to be another exciting chapter, and while I don't want time to fly by, I'm eager to see how these two separate young minds will hand this new chapter, and how we as parents will adjust with them to meet their needs.
Comments
Post a Comment