Don't mess with the schedule...

...so sometimes, it's ok.

Whenever other parents of multiples found out that I was pregnant with twins, they would often tell me to "get them on a schedule!" It was drilled into our heads from very early on. I remember when the girls were about 2 weeks old, despite trying to get them on a schedule, they didn't have one. I remember feeling panicked. If we don't get them a schedule ASAP, we're screwed, I thought.

Patience is sometimes not my strong suit. Sure enough, a few weeks later, the girls were on a pretty good feeding and bedtime schedule. Naps were still iffy. We stuck to that schedule, like a fat kid on cake. It was sometimes a pain. It felt limiting. We would have to rush home for 7pm, close the blinds, turn off the lights and block out that amazing summer sunshine that poured through our windows late into the evening. But, because of our perseverance, we soon had two fabulous little sleepers who went down like dreams at 7pm, giving us time to eat dinner like civilized adults.

When the girls were a few months old, we would cart them around all day because they would sleep anywhere at anytime. It was fantastic! They'd sleep in the car, in the stroller, in a restaurant. They wouldn't wake up when we would transfer them from place to place. As they got older and more mobile, this luxury disappeared. While I was alone during the week, we were out all the time. It was more for me than them. I wasn't ready to let go of my pre-baby freedom.

In the last few months, not only has our daily galavanting caught up to me, it makes for miserable and cranky little babies...er, I mean, toddlers ;) The girls are so active and do not want to sit in a stroller or car seat for longer than they have to. So now, our busy adrenaline-driven days have been replaced by "boring afternoons," as my mom jokingly calls them. We are always home at 8:45am for morning nap and about 1:30pm for afternoon nap. While I've only recently started "boring afternoons," I've grown to love them. The girls tend to nap for about 2 hours in the afternoon. The 'crazy me' of a few months ago, would never have dreamed of grabbing a quick nap or sitting down with a book. I had mommy guilt. Always mommy guilt. I don't deserve to have time to myself when the kitchen needs to be cleaned, dinner needs to be prepared, laundry needs to be folded...

Well, mommy guilt has exhausted me. The girls schedule has forced me to enjoy "boring afternoons." I do some chores but also take time for myself. Today I took 45 minutes to read Catching Fire, the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy (awesome, btw).

The schedule is good for me for sure, but has been amazing for the girls. They are far happier when they're awake. Have you heard the phrase, 'the more they sleep, the more they sleep"? Even on a perfect day of 2 2-hour naps, we'll get 11-12 hours of sleep from them at night. Happy and well-rested babies = two happy mommies.