It's My "Normal"

I had coffee last night with a few of my mommy friends, and we were laughing about those moments when you pause to think, “Holy cow…I have TWO KIDS!”  Another friend said how she wrote the word ‘Mom’ as she was coloring with her boys, and she stepped back to think, “Wow.  Yes.  That’s me!”

Our girls are 3 ½, but I still relate to that sentiment very easily.  For years I’ve had those realizations at random intervals.  It was always a funny sensation, but a very real one.

I have realized something different within the past couple of weeks, though.  I haven’t had any of those realizations lately.

The most poignant example was the girls’ preschool open house.  I dressed my girlies, got their paperwork, and we headed in that morning.  We were all excited to see their classroom, meet their classmates, and reacquaint ourselves with their teachers. 

I was having fun, watching them explore, chatting with their teachers, and meeting some of the other parents.  It wasn’t until another mother said, “Are you the twin mom?” that it struck me our family was a little different than the others there. 

The other parents were watching one child explore the different stations.  I rotated between our girls, and I tried to hang back and take in the atmosphere, too.  It was very neat for me to be able to see how our girls interacted with new people and new environments.  It was neat, and fun…and “normal”.

After the open house, I took the girls to eat lunch.  I later realized how “normal” that felt, too.  The girls split a sandwich.  I ate half of my sandwich and boxed the other to bring home.  We all went to the potty together, and no one licked the floor.

I used to consider such experiences “Mommy milestones”…the first time I took the girls to eat by myself, to the park by myself, to the pediatrician.

I’m sure there are many other “Mommy milestones” I’ll mark, but it’s pretty cool to realize – particularly after the fact – that these recent experiences didn’t even prompt any butterflies in my tummy.