Diary of a Twin Mum
by KatieBee

KatieBee's Twinsclub diary 11-17 December

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that people with lots of small children barely have time to do anything, let alone write a diary about it. I am Katie, I am married to Kevin and we live in Hertfordshire with our four children. Alex is four, Jamie is two (and don't we know it!) and Tom and Sarah are nearly five months as I write this.

SATURDAY
Laundry: 4 loads
My 'lie-in' finishes just after six: J wants to go downstairs and destroy stuff but finds himself thwarted when he can't open the stair-gate. I spend most of the morning putting away enough toys to make room for the Christmas tree that K, A and J put up in the afternoon. A goes off to a 5th birthday party; he gets invited to at least one every weekend. He has a more active social life than I do. T and S spend most of today lying under a playgym giggling at each other. It's lucky they're so good at amusing themselves.

SUNDAY
Laundry: 3 loads (v.good)
Today is the local Twins and More Club's Christmas party: we know we've found the right place because the entire car park is full of people carriers. Twenty sets of multiples plus their siblings. The whole thing is very well-organised and actually good fun; the entertainer chooses A to be her accomplice and he steals the show as usual - stage school beckons already. Santa puts in an appearance; fortunately he is well enough disguised that his one-year-old twin boys don't recognise him and shout 'Daddy!'. Tonight is T and S's first sleepover at their grandparents' house. They are sharing a travel-cot but have promised not to stay up all night talking.

MONDAY
Laundry: 6 loads (not great)
After taking A to school and J to a friend's house I have a couple of hours to myself; enough time to clean the house, or enough time to sit down with a cup of tea and catch up on my emails, which is more likely. J gets home and practises standing on one leg. He is still having a nap after lunch every day, which is a blessing. I take them all over to my parents' house after the afternoon school run to increase the adult to child ratio.

TUESDAY
Laundry: 4 loads
I'm lucky enough to have a place at a local toddler group where not only is it OK for one mum to bring three children, but there is usually someone or other offering to hold a baby for me. As it's the last one before Christmas, there's a service for the little ones in the church and lunch for all of us. It doesn't surprise me that the waiting list is over eighteen months. I'm part of an NCT group that meet on Tuesday afternoons. None of the other members have more than two children so I only take two of mine along at a time or it would be too much of a shock for the other mums. Today it's A and J's turn. One of the mums has been photographing homemade cakes at work and they need to be eaten up, so I do my best to help out. In the evening I've volunteered to go Carol Singing with our church so I have to leave just as the bedtime fiasco kicks off... shame.

WEDNESDAY
Laundry: 6 loads (how can a child in a nappy wet the bed, including the pillow, but the nappy stay dry?!)
I'm a helper at one of our church toddler groups (although how much help I actually provide is debatable) and this morning we're organising a Nativity Service for the toddlers from all three groups. I'm just glad I don't have to dress up as a donkey this year. I catch sight of one of the sheep nipping out for a cigarette at one point and I'm sure the shepherd is pregnant. The Twins and More Club have a coffee afternoon but I give it a miss because I have too much to do. T and S spend most of the afternoon gazing at the little fibreoptic Christmas tree.

THURSDAY
Laundry: 6 loads (including the sicked-on stuff sent home from school).
My community nurse comes to visit in the morning and gets handed a baby the moment she walks in the door. As soon as I've got the younger three down for their nap, A's school ring to say he's been sick in the school, dining room. Luckily K is able to leave work for 10 minutes to pick him up. Of all the people A could have been sick on, he has chosen the teaching assistant who happens to also be the girl who nannies for us several hours a week out of the kindness of her heart. Well if that doesn't put her off, nothing will. My homestart lady comes over in the afternoon to help with T and S, which means I can get some tidying done. However, we have a two-year-old in the house, so all my good work is undone within minutes of her leaving.

FRIDAY
Laundry: lost count
Today's challenge is weaning. The whole experience is messier than I remember from the last time round, but both T and S eat more than I'm expecting. The nanny who volunteers for us three times a week (yes, the one A was sick on) arrives after lunch with the bombshell that she's got a paid job so she won't be able to help next term. I'm pleased for her but there's a small selfish part of me that feels daunted by the thought of losing her. I wonder if it was the vomiting episode that put her off, or the fact that we can't pay her...Still, she's here now, so I take J off for some individual time at the swimming pool. We have a real laugh, he's great when he has me to himself, although he refuses to wear armbands and gets annoyed when he keeps sinking. When we're changed we have tea at the pool cafe together as a treat, which would have gone better if he'd told me before he needed to wee rather than after. The staff were very understanding. This evening is the long-awaited night out for the mums of the kids in A's class. I can't eat that much 'cause I already ate with J, but I manage to drink enough wine to make up for it. Someone suggests we go on to the private party of a friend of a friend, and when we arrive some bloke buys us two bottles of wine to share. When I get home it is somehow already one o'clock, and what's the first thing I do...? Yes, I log on to twinsclub.

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