The Grass is NOT greener

People often say things like, Twins! And both boys! Double trouble! I don't know how you do it. I usually smile and say Yeah, it's tough, but you deal with it. And it's a lot easier now.

Sometimes, of course, it's still not all sweetness and light. Like when they're rolling on the floor punching each other. Or when they're "talking" to me, trying to out-shout each other at the top of their lungs. Like I said, it's tough, but I deal with it. Anyway, there are so many families who have it waaaay tougher than I do. I really don't know how these people do it:

Families with twins less than 1 year old
Been there, done that, don't wanna do it again. I don't know how I did it either. The nursing, sleepless nights, diapers, need for attention -- times two. I always say the first year of the twins' life is a bit hazy for me because I've buried all the bad memories.

Families with multiples of higher order
No explanation necessary. From giving birth to feeding to cuddling to transporting everyone around, it just gets exponentially more difficult with the number of multiples.

Families with multiple multiples
Again, no explanation necessary. Jon and Kate (twins and sextuplets)? The Duggars (17 kids, including 2 sets of twins)? The Hayes's (twins, twins and sextuplets)? OMFG. And what about all the other multiple multiple families who don't have their own TV show? Hats off to you guys.


Baby bunching families
Yes, it's tough having twins. But at least the tough part ends for both kids at the same time. When you have 2 kids less than 2 years apart -- or OMG, "Irish twins" or siblings 11 months apart -- the agony at each stage is prolonged. Plus you don't get "awwww, are they twins?" pseudo celebrity treatment.


Single parent families
Alfie and I may not have close family around for support, but at least we have each other. When it's 6:30PM on a difficult day and I'm at the end of my rope, he's my lifeline -- I have the greatest respect and admiration for parents who do it all on their own.


But then again, I suspect these families wouldn't trade places with me for the world, anyway. They encounter challenges and they deal with it, for the love of their kids.