THAT mother

Today in ECFE our discussion turned toward cliches that came true once we had baby(ies). The top answers were "Everything changes," "You fall in love with your baby so much," and "It's worth the work."

Well, last month I wrote an article for my Moms of Multiples newsletter that was about cliches. I called it "I never thought I'd be THAT mother." I feel it's appropriate to reprint the article here. Enjoy!

I never thought I’d be  that mother. You  know the one...

I never thought I’d be the  mother who rolls over and  puts a pillow over her ears  when the baby(ies) are crying  in the middle of the night in  hopes they go back to sleep -  but ends up getting up with  them anyway.


I never thought I’d be the mother who takes her kids out in public with dirty faces and food on their clothes because it’s just too much work to clean them up, knowing they’ll get dirty again anyway.

I never thought I’d be the mother who joined the Y so she’d have two hours of free babysitting per day.

I never thought I'd be the mother who takes her kids out to a restaurant and leaves a GIANT mess for the wait staff to clean up. (But tips generously!)

I never thought I’d be the mother who categorizes her yoga pants into only-wear-at- home, workout, and “dressy.”

I never thought I’d be the mother who put more thought & consideration into buying a stroller and carseats than into buying her own car.

I never thought I’d be the mother who smells her children’s butts in public and announces “Oooh, someone’s stinky!”

I never thought I'd be the mother who unintentionally loses touch with friends after becoming a mom.

I never thought I’d be the mother who figures out the exact dosages and timing of Tylenol and Advil to give during teething in hopes it helps the babies sleep long hours!

I never thought I’d be the mother who carts her crying children all through Target, not because she necessarily needs more Cheerios or a new pair of socks, but because the trip to Target might be the only adult interaction all day.

I never thought I’d be the mother who has piles of laundry in every possible place in the house: in the washer, in the dryer, on the couch, in the living room, strewn across the bed…. And then digs through the piles of clean laundry to find something to wear.

I never thought I'd be the mother who knows where the "good" places to change a baby while about and about are.

I never thought I’d be the mother who warms up cold coffee in the afternoon for a
pick me up.

I never thought I'd be the mother whose Facebook updates are about her children 97% of the time.

I never thought I'd be the mother who turns down playdates, storytimes, and other outings when they take place during naptime.

I never thought I'd be the mother who parking lot lurkers curse because it takes 10 minutes to pack up the kids in the car.

I never thought I'd be the mother who blames the kids when she's 5, 10, 15 minutes late for an appointment, class, playdate, or church.

I never thought I'd be the mother who is awoken to giggles, chirps, squeals and “mamas” at 6:30 a.m. – and is happy about it!

I never thought I’d be the mother whose heart is bursting with love every single day.

And seriously. I never thought I’d be the mother of twins! How lucky I am!


And for your viewing pleasure, some of the messy faces I was talking about:

Now, if you're reading this and you aren't following this blog, do so! And if you are reading this and have a thought about what I wrote, why not write a comment? :)