On this little trip, we have had to stop a few times for fuel, lunch, bathroom breaks, etc.
No matter where we’ve gone, the reaction is all the same. My life in public places pretty much goes like this:
I walk in carrying two babies, and three other children follow behind me. Or, I have a baby and Ace or another adult, or Gimme, has the other. Nonetheless, the entire tribe walks in. Most people just stare. But, without fail, there’s that one person that starts the following conversation:
Stranger: Twins?
Me: Yes.
Stranger: How old?
Me: Over a year.
Stranger: You must be so busy.
(or they say things like—You’ve sure got your hands full, that’s a big load”—Different words. Same meaning: YOU MUST BE NUTS!—)
Me: (fake chuckle) Yeah. They keep me on my toes.
(or some other polite response like—”Oh, but it’s so fun.” Or, “Yep, it’s crazy.”—Different words. Same meaning: STOP TALKING! THESE BABIES ARE HEAVY!—)
Stranger: How do you do it?
Me: I don’t know…Diet Coke?
(I never have a good answer for that, because sometimes I don’t do it. Like, when I ran to the store and left the girls home, and Birdie panicked and went out to the front yard, screaming/crying. When the neighbor lady came down and asked where I was, Birdie told her I went to Utah. Or the other day when things got hectic and all the neighborhood kids were over, I took Bogey into my bedroom to calm him down, and to hook him up to his feeding pump. Double Bogey in the meantime, just crawled out the front door and across the street to the Hispanic guy who then showed up on my doorstep with DB, and in his best attempt at English said, “Your bebe. He in da street.” I would have given the whole spill about Bogey and the extra kids going in and out, but my Spanish vocabulary is limited to what I’ve picked up on Dora the Explorer, and she has yet to teach the phrase ‘Mother of the Year’.)
Me: (Walking away.)
Stranger: I have ________(insert any number less than five) and I barely survive! I can’t imagine having 5!
This is where we either make or break the conversation. If my arms are still feeling strong, and the kids are still well behaved (you can imagine how often that is), I can throw Bogey’s heart condition into the little chat. But that’s only if I’m sure the stranger is going to a) Send me a Mother of the Year trophy b) give me a discount (this obviously only works at stores or restaurants) or c) give my arms a break, and hold one of the kids while he or she continues to praise me for my parenting.
Otherwise, I just nod my head and continue to walk away.
I actually like these conversations. I love to see the reactions on strangers faces when we have conversations and I don’t have all 5 kids with me. If I just have the twins, and I tell them they are numbers 4 &5—the people go ballistic. They can’t believe it. Do you think they know that there are people who have more than 5? Or people with two sets of twins?
Let’s not tell them. Otherwise, those Mother of the Year trophies are never going to show up in the mail.
Carolyn Anderson Photography
3 comments:
I've started getting those kind of looks/comments now that my belly is pooping out. They look at me, my belly, the baby I have in my arms and then at Aiden who still sucks his finger and then just tell some kind of birth control joke-it's getting almost as old as strangers telling me I'm tall! haha People are so fun.
Cutest family picture ever!!
Rachelle, I totally love your posts, and I really feel you are a wonderful mother! It takes someone special to be able to be the mother of twins and babies that have medical stories.
I have six kids. And I've decided that every time we go to the grocery store (because it is summer time), I put the kids to work. I have a list and I teach them how to grocery shop. It looks like a homeschooling group every time we go in, and when I am out of time, patience, or both, we check out. Last week, we made it down four isles. Hopefully by the end of the summer, we can get the whole list.:) Pray for us.:)
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