Responsible party

I took the kids to the dentist this morning (obviously the three older ones because the twins don't so much have teeth). And incidentally, I'd like to add how glad I am that this task only comes around once every six months. I've always hated going to the dentist, but I'm not sure why. My dentist growing up was a very nice man. And I only had like one cavity--ever. I just hate the smell of the dentist office and the whole ordeal of having someone scraping and cleaning my teeth. Yuck.

Back to the original story. While in the waiting room, I was updating some paperwork for T. When I signed my name in the "Responsible party" box and wrote "mother" on the "relationship to patient" line, it really got me thinking. Whenever I have to fill out paperwork like that, I'm always struck by the thought that I am someone's mother. And not just one someone, but five of them. Sometimes I still feel like a kid myself, much less someone who should be responsible for the welfare of other human beings.

I mean, it's all well and good to have babies--sweet, snuggly, babies who are perfectly happy with anything you do. But then those babies grow up to be real people; and you're responsible for teaching them and molding their personalities. There's that word again--responsible. With this thought process, I didn't necessarily have any epiphanies about how exactly to feel less overwhelmed by being the responsible party--more just a realization once again that my husband and I have been entrusted with five little people to love, care for, and teach everything we can to before we send them off into the world to become their own responsible parties.

Switcheroo

If you've never seen the inside of my house, then the above pictures won't mean much. If you have been here, you'll (hopefully) see that we've made some major changes recently. In preparation for splitting up the twins into two cribs, we came to the realization that S's room might accommodate three boys better than the current boys' room would. So, over the holidays, my brother-in-law and my husband switched beds and furniture for both rooms. My bro-in-law also assembled both cribs (our crib and a borrowed one from wonderful neighbors). And then I followed with decor, closet stuff, and misc. items. (Almost all of the quilts on the walls were made by my very talented mother.)

It was a lot of work but we're hoping it will be the best scenario in the long run. The older kids were really excited to make the change. S said it was the best day of her life, and H said sleeping in his new bed felt really good. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was the same bed as before...

Year's end

The year began with finding out we were having twins, and we're ending it with five kids and a very full house. I feel like my emotions were on a rollercoaster this year. Disbelief and fear when we found out about the twins; nervousness and worry while I was pregnant; extreme exhaustion, migraines, and hormone surges after they were born; and finally, attempts to find some sort of normalcy in our new lives. Add in some of my least patient moments as a parent (both before and after the twins were born) and this year has certainly been a doozy.

I'm a big fan of the TLC show Jon and Kate Plus 8. It chronicles the lives of a family who had twins and then sextuplets. A few months after our twins were born, I was watching an episode in which they took all their kids to the hospital where the sextuplets were born and the condo nearby where they lived until all six kids could come home. At the end of the episode, Kate talked about how many great memories they had of that condo because it was the last time they were a family of four. She said something like, "It was the last time things were simple." As I watched, tears started streaming down my face. I vividly remembered looking at our family portrait from 2007 about a week or so after the twins were born and wishing for the "good-old" days of three kids. Of course, I wouldn't wish the twins themselves away for anything, but at the time, I was lamenting the huge upheaval in our household.

Our lives have been turned upside down over the past year, but in so many good ways. I find myself crying often these days, just so overwhelmed by all of the blessings we've been given. As I watched the annual Nativity program at my in-laws' house on Christmas Eve (with S and N as angels, A2 as baby Jesus, and H and T as wisemen) I cried once again at the blessings of five happy, healthy kids; two jobs that pay the bills; a house that keeps us warm and safe; wonderful family and friends who drop everything to help us; and the Savior, who has truly carried us through all of the events this year. We are truly blessed.

Happy New Year!

Photo by suzyo photography

Early Christmas present from the twins

You're welcome.



(P.S. Lest you think I've forgotten I have other children, we did take photos of all the kids in their awesome matching outfits from my mother-in-law, but all of those are on the back-up hard drive that seems to have died. This was the only one that I had pulled off previously.)

Rules? What rules?

Something that brings out the worst in me: the elementary school parking lot.

This year, I've been blessed with wonderful friends who have helped with carpooling for school. I take kids in the morning and they bring my kids home. Especially wonderful because the afternoon pick-up scene is a nightmare. The drop-off scene isn't so bad because people are dropping their kids off at different times, so the chaos is staggered. But everyone (for the later track) comes at the exact same time to pick up their kids and, let me tell you, it isn't pretty. People cutting in front of each other, people blocking traffic to get out of their cars and get their kids, and on and on. And the ugliest part of all is the scene inside my own car. I've never gotten out and yelled at anyone (I've wanted to, though, believe me) but I'm usually muttering and/or yelling about this crazy parent or that crazy parent. So, it's been delightful to avoid that mess for the past few months.

However, I've discovered another big annoyance this year--the afternoon kindergarten drop-off. It's different in that there are a lot fewer parents in the parking lot because there's only one afternoon kindergarten class. Seems good, right? Wrong. Because there are fewer cars, parents feel like they can completely disregard the rules. No teacher guarding the bus lane? Well, that must mean we can charge on through and pull right up to the curb! Never mind the little five year-old kids walking on the crosswalk that goes through the bus lane. There are only a few of them, and we wouldn't hit them! And maybe we should park our cars right over the crosswalk so rule-abiding children whose silly parents have told them they have to cross at the crosswalk will instead run all the way down to the other crosswalk. Nice, don't you think?

I try to not let this annoy me, but would it really be that big of a deal to pull up to the drop-off lane like the rest of us? Does your child have a problem with walking an extra 100 feet? I can't tell you how many times poor H has stood at the curb, waiting an extra amount of time to make sure no crazy parents will come blazing through the bus lane. In the morning, they post teachers and cones in front of the bus lane so parents won't drive there. I remember the principal saying last year that she's had teachers repeatedly come in after this duty scared out of their minds because crazy parents in SUVs tried to mow them down.

I've e-mailed the principal about the bus lane issue but haven't heard anything back. I do feel slightly better having vented about it now. Perhaps I'll be able to silence my loud mutterings in the car every day from now on. Or maybe not. :)