Mad About Multiples!

Just Another Manic...Everyday or Life With Toddler Twins

Our guest poster, Christina Spicuzza, shares her "morning routine" with us today. I know most families with multiples can relate.

A bit behind on laundry duty, I try to throw a load in the washer at 7:30 in the morning to get a jump on the day.  My two year old Ethan is attempting to be helpful, but only getting in my way in the tiny closet of a laundry room.  Just outside the door, his twin brother, Colin, halts his play and gives me a look I know too well. 

"Did you poop?" 

He points to a puddle on the floor and says "Pee".

"Ok, take off your undies" which is all he's wearing, and I am thinking that at least I can throw them in the laundry right away.  As I continue to sort the dirty from the filthy into the washer, Ethan bounces all over the tiny laundry room chanting "Hungry! Hungry!"  while pushing all the buttons and turning all the dials on the washer.  I say to Colin, "give me your undies" and I look over to see his attempt to be helpful. He took his undies off and tried to clean up the mess using them as a towel.  As sweet a gesture as it is, in reality he has created a 6 ft diameter smear of urine on the floor. I have but a moment to sigh before the sopping pair of undies are hurled at me and smack into my arm in all its warm wetness. 

Back to the kitchen, it's time to make my oldest daughter's school lunch.  Ethan is still bouncing at my knees yelling "Hungry! Hungry!", even though his microwavable Trader Joes pancakes sit in a cold stack on his breakfast plate.

"Do you want a sausage egg sandwich?"
"Yah"
"You have to eat the egg too, not just eat the sausage and leave the rest"
"Yah"

I take out a frozen breakfast sandwich and pop it into the microwave and quickly set it for 1 minute, knowing that I need to come back in 30 seconds to rearrange the sandwich or it won't cook right. 

In the next room, I hear the dreaded "uh-oh" uttered from Colin.  In my mind, I already know what it is.  I rush over to see Ethan's chocolate nutritional drink, which Colin intensely covets, has been spilled on the carpet.  Grab the vinegar, grab a towel, blot, blot, blot.  Then clean up the urine smear drying on my floors on the way back to the kitchen. 

Where's my coffee? 

Turn on the Keurig, reads "not ready, add water".  Crap, the bottled water is in the garage.  The unattached garage. That requires me to go outside, in the front, to get to it. I am in my pajamas. 

"Alexis!  Can you run out to the garage and get me a jug of water while I make your lunch?" I ask of my 13 year old. There is at least some benefit to having kids old enough to do stupid little things like this for you.

Gotta make her lunch, she needs to leave in 10 minutes.  Pull out the peanut butter.  Ethan begins the "Peanut butter! Peanut butter!" bounce and chant.  I pull out a small spoon and give him a taste. Pull out the bread. Ethan wants another spoonful.  Spread the PB on Alexis' sandwich and Ethan wants another spoonful. I quickly put it back in the cabinet before another request.  Add jelly to the sandwich, and then Ethan is chanting "Jelly! Jelly!"
"You want a spoon of jelly?" This is a completely new request, so I question it.
"New jelly!" as he points to the cupboard I had just opened to put away the peanut butter, which contains a yet unopened jar of jelly.
"No, I am not opening new jelly" and I decide it's time to employ mommy ignore tactics, and go on with what needs to get done. 

It's at that moment, I remember that I was supposed to turn his breakfast sandwich in the microwave after 30 seconds, 5 minutes ago.  I rotate it and set it for 30 more seconds while I get back to trying to finish my daughter's lunch. Throw in a drink, the sandwich, some bagged snacks, and go to the fridge.  Champagne grapes, those are a big hit for all the kids right now, and will go great in the lunch.  Upon sight, this creates a frenzy for Colin.  Frantic calls of "Gapes!  Gapes!"  as I wash off a bunch for the lunch.  I manage to ignore the immediacy in Colin's request long enough to get the grapes in the lunch.

Where's that water for the coffee maker? 

We are busy using our summer vacation building a better website! We'll let you know when the all new and improved integrated Gemini Crickets site is done. Now, go outside and enjoy this weather!

Redirecting Children's Behavior with Etsuko Tsukagoshi

 On Friday June 7, Gemini Crickets is pleased to be hosting Etsuko Tsukagoshi who will be giving a talk about Redirecting Children's Behavior. Here's a Q&A session between Etsuko and her grad school roommate, former New & Expecting Parent's Liason and mom to preschool twins and a grade schooler, Mari Beal from her first visit in Aug. 2009:

Mari: So Etsuko, I've vaguely heard of INCAF, and always thought it stood for “I'm Nearing Craziness, Accredited to Family”. Apparently, it stands for something else. Can you please tell me more?

Etsuko: Here is a little bit of background on International Network for Children and Families (INCAF) and Redirecting Children’s Behavior(RCB): This course was designed by Kathryn Kvols over 30 years ago based on Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, one of America's foremost child psychiatrists’ book, “Children: The Challenge”. Since its creation, the International Network for Children and Families (INCAF), created by Kathryn Kvols, has trained and certified over 1000 instructors. My husband and I took the RCB course right before we had our second baby, and were so impressed by this technique that I wanted to master it. I decided to become an instructor, got certified by INCAF, and I have been the teaching program in San Diego since 2008.

M: Hmmmm...sound like a class that would take take me a year to complete. I mean, have you *seen* my children?

E: It’s a total of 12.5 hours of instruction, and I usually offer it in a once a week course for 5 weeks format. In many cases, both parents attend the course, which makes lots of sense, but even if one parent is taking the class, the students can see the difference in their household. I also have many clients who live overseas, so I offer a lot of coaching over the phone.

Sponsored Post: Happy Campers at Camp Galileo

Just a few more days until school is officially done for the year, and although beach days and tie-die projects might top summer bucket list, you might find that your kids (and YOU) really need that week of camp to keep your sanity make your vacation complete. It's not too late and Camp Galileo has some fabulous programs you'll want to check out as we revist our post from last year.

With Spring Break over (or just beginning) for many of our school-aged families, parents of busy multiples *might* be wondering if it's too late to sign up for summer camp. While enrollment started last month for this summer, never fear, many camps still have room to spare for one (or two) more.

With that in mind, Mad About Multiples and Gemini Crickets is happy to announce that one of our members' favorites, Camp Galileo, is still accepting reservations for their many summer sessions. With a multitude of options for kids entering Kindergarten through eighth grade Camp Galileo has something for everyone.

About CAMP GALILEO

At Camp Galileo, pre-K – rising 5^th graders engage in hands-on art, science and outdoor activities every day, plus have tons of fun with camp traditions like team color day, water ball and capture the rubber chicken. Visit our website to learn about our four brand-new themes for 2012.

Check out four brand-new themes at Camp Galileo in Summer 2012:

• Galileo Olympics: Greek Art & The Science of The Games
• Celebrate the Golden Gate: SF Art & Bridge Engineering
• Leonardo’s Apprentice: Renaissance Art & Inventions
• Galileo Rocks! The Art & Science of Music

GALILEO SUMMER QUEST

At Galileo Summer Quest, rising 5^th-8^th graders try their hand at the things they love, diving into one exciting major during each weeklong session, with options like Go-Kart Makers, Fashion Design, Video Game Design and Chefology. Visit our website to learn about all 15 majors offered in 2012.

 

 

OTHER GALILEO CAMPS

 

The Tech Summer Camps (rising 4^th-8^th graders): Hands-on science and technology classes for aspiring scientists and engineers at the Tech Museum in San Jose.

Chabot Space & Science Camp (rising 3^rd-7^th graders): Fun engineering, technology, earth and space science classes at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland.

To enroll or learn more, visit www.galileo-learning.com or call 1-800-854-3684.

 

 

 

 

Not only is Camp Galileo an awesome place for kids to spend some time this summer, but Camp Galileo is awesome for supporting Gemini Crickets as well. They will be donating vouchers for two week-long camp sessions to our annual auction fundraiser this year. Thank you Camp Galileo!

This is a sponsored post to Mad About Multiples. Camp Galileo provided pictures and information about their camps for this post. We ask all readers to preform their own due-diligence to make sure any summer camp is a fit for their family.

Kindergarten - the End Game?

A couple weeks ago, we had a guest speaker come to our club’s General Meeting to talk about Kindergarten Readiness. It’s part of a two-part series we offer our members every year. The second part is on Preschool readiness. One of these sessions includes a professional speaker from Parents Place and the other is a panel of parents from the club sharing their own perspectives and knowledge. For the first time this year, we had a professional speaker for the Kindergarten session and a panel of parents for the Preschool topic (switched from last year).

The Kindergarten session was not only eye-opening, it was somewhat of a relief. The speaker focused on the fact that the greatest preparation we could give our kids for Kindergarten is to make sure they attain the self-regulation (e.g., pays attention, controls impulses, follows directions), social expression (e.g., curiosity for learning, tells stories, social play) and self-help/motor skills to be successful at the Kindergarten level. School programs focus on the academics, so a Kindergarten teacher is confident a child can and will learn the academics.

Back to Preschool (yeah or boo)

School starts in a week for my kids (well, truth be told, we are going to miss the first day of school by squeezing in one last vacation!) Last year my kids went to preschool for the first time, and they really blossomed.  

They attend the "Mountain School" in the woods and it is not for the faint of heart.  First of all, the parents are the students, and the kids come to play. Meaning - it's back to school time for the kids ME now!  One of the reasons I chose this school was the chance to do written observations on my kids (10 per kid per semester.)  When does a twin parent have the time to sit back, watch their kids, and take meticulous notes about their children's interactions with others, how they maintain their space, how they enter new territory, etc.  WE DON'T!  Heck, if everyone makes it through the day without a visit to the ER (which we have had 3 so far in our twins' 3 years!) then I call it a good day.  So I chose this school to have an opportunity to maintain a written record of how my kids are changing and adapting.

The other reason the school is not for the faint of heart is because it is MOUNTAIN SCHOOL!  Bugs, rain, creek-walking, mud, poison oak, peeing outside (my daughter is a professional outdoor pee-er!) Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors.  But when we were on a stroll in the rain one day last year and my daughter came up to me with two really looong worms crawling into the sleeves of her rain jacket, I had to really hold in my squirmy side and not freak out.  She is now the protector of all little bugs and makes sure that we cause no bug any harm.

Heading Off to School: A Mad About Multiples Perspective

Happy New Year!

The Holidays are behind us and parents of multiples are getting ready to tackle the next big challenge: school.

With many preschools beginning to offer open houses for next years enrollment and elementary school districts enrolling for kindergarten, parents have some big decisions to make in the upcoming month. As parents of multiples, we have the added fun of deciding x2.

For preschoolers, you might be wondering what kind of program best fits your children and your family. Parent participation? Drop-off? Full day or not? And for those of us on the cusp of elementary school the questions can be even greater, to seperate or not? To send together or hold them back? Go as a young 4 or wait a year? And what about transitional kindergarten?

On January 10, Gemini Crickets will be holding a panel discussion covering all things Kindergarten. To do our part, Mad About Multiples will be reposting somme of our favorite school-themed posts from those parents who have wrestled with these decisions. From preschool to grade school we hope you'll gain some help making your own decision in the coming months.

Double Click Tuesdays: Meeting Santa

This is a magical time of year for parents and kids alike. And a holiday highlight is getting to meet the big guy himself: Santa. Pictured are Kayla and Emily at three years meeting Santa for the first time. They look so sweet, they must know they're on the "Nice" list this year!

 

 

Thanks to mom Sandra R. for sharing the holiday cheer.

 This is an original post to Mad About Multiples and is part of the Double Click Tuesdays photo series.

It's the best sale of the year--and it's open to everyone. Come double on all your baby gear needs at the yard sale.

Going Stroller Free

 

Stella and Elise happy in the Bumbleride

I love my stroller. And it's not that I love all strollers, or even strollers in general, I just love my stroller. I agonized over choosing a stroller when we found out we were having not one more baby (as planned) but two. All of a sudden, my thoughts of just slinging the baby and strolling the toddler went out the window and I knew I'd have to have seats for at least two precious little bottoms.

 

I read comparisons of side-by-side versus tandem seating, watched video clips on ease of fold up, measured the trunk and thought long and hard about grocery shopping and the room needed for a double stroller. My husband wanted real tires (I agreed) and I wanted something the babies could ride in before they could sit up (I wasn't interested in carting bucket seats around--I had a snap'n'go for that). We both wanted something rugged and durable. We chose a Bumbleride Indie Twin after months of poking around and seeing what was out there.

We brought the stroller home when the twins were three months old, and never looked back. That stroller has been a part of more adventures and family pictures than I can count. When our oldest was involved in home preschool I loved to call the littles our "stroller brigade" as we wheeled through museums, hiked trails, and spent time at the park. I'm almost embarrassed to say my girls were late walkers (15 and 17 months respectively) because the stroller was so darn easy to use for me and comfortable for them. 

Hiking with the Stroller--Pinnacles Nat'l Monument

 

But. They did learn to walk and I started to let them. The beginning of the end for my lovely Bumbleride was the purchase of a "light-weight" (heh) double umbrella for "quick trips". And then forgetting to put the big stroller back in the car, and then, just, walking or using a shopping cart to contain the madness. Last year I tried to bring the stroller back and walk with two 3-year-olds in the stroller and my 5 year-old along side to school. A short lived plan as everyone kind of hated it.

And so now my lovely double stroller sits in the garage. My little girls are not that little anymore. We manage all day trips to Gilroy Gardens with nothing more than a backpack and 3 pairs of good walking shoes. We had a wonderful vacation over the summer where the trunk was not filled to the brink with the double wide bulk and no one missed it. I will always love the freedom it gave me in those first crazy years, but I think it's time to pass it on to another family, who are ready to stroll.

Speaking of passing your stuff on, don't forget that the annual Gemini Cricket Garage sale is coming up on September 15. Members, if you want to sell please check out Big Tent for contact details. Shoppers, we will be posting details closer to the date. And yeah, my double stroller might be making an appearance on the sales floor!