Having twins is super exciting! The excitement fades very quickly however after the sleepless nights, crying (oh the crying), fighting with your spouse, and never being able to meet all the demands on you. The following 5 tips should help make raising twins a little less crazy.
Tip One: Get help! Don't be a martyr - you'll suffer and so will your twins. Friends, family, mother-in-law, neighborhood kids, mother's helpers, nanny - whoever you can get - line them all up to help you. Of course, everyone will want to see the babies and help with the babies. They can - for a minute - but then put them to work making meals, doing laundry (oh the laundry), and cleaning the house. This will allow you the time to bond with and enjoy your twins.
Tip Two: Do not turn on the TV. This may sound like a strange tip - it's not. The reality is that watching TV will waste away your precious time, keep you up late, and throw the twins' schedules off. You'll sit there exhausted right through the commercials and wait until another dumb show is over. Before you know it, it's 11:00PM, you're exhausted and ready for bed, but guess what - it's feeding time! Instead, watch videos. With videos, you have control. You can pause and start again without the fear of missing something. Watch short comedies that last only 1/2 an hour. Laughter is key during the first year, otherwise you'll go nuts. "Whose Line is it Anyway" clips are fantastic for this, but watch whatever makes you laugh.
Tip Three: Domestic chores - Delegate! Get your groceries delivered, or have someone else do the shopping. You want to hand off as many domestic responsibilities as you can so you can spend time with your twins. If it's in the budget, hire a maid service to come in and clean the house. This takes a huge load off you. If money's tight, you can always do it once per month, or every other month. It's just nice to have someone else clean the toilets and dig out the ground-in Cheerios from the carpets.
Tip Four: Take time for you. Get out of the house. Get a massage. Take a bath. Take naps. See friends. You'll need to schedule this time - it won't come naturally as your job is never done for the day - or night! Work with your spouse to coordinate "time-off" and take advantage of any help you can get to take the breaks you'll need.
Tip Five: Routine. You can't wing this. Develop routines and patterns. Get up, feed them, get dressed, feed them, change them, feed them, nap them, feed them - you get the idea. They'll adapt quickly to routines and your days will become smoother.
As a side note, there WILL be times when you don't think you can go on - this is normal. There WILL be times when you want to run screaming bloody murder - this is normal. You can and WILL get through this.
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