Spring has Sprung and I’m Trading Tylenol for Tulips
For the past six months our house has been a revolving door of sickness and I am not okay! Having multiples is awesome for many reasons, but the amount of germs and illnesses that have plagued our house this fall and winter is down right unfair. Our twins share everything: their room, their clothes, their respiratory infections, their stomach bugs…
I know I’m not the only one in this boat, and other families of multiples share feelings of despair when one of their children starts showing symptoms of illness. In our house it often starts with one kiddo whispering an ominous sentence such as, “Mommyyyy, my tummy feels funny.” or “Mommyyyyy, I thought it was just a toot!” At that moment you know it’s just a matter of hours until the rest of your herd starts falling like dominoes. You know it’s inevitable that you’ll be washing your third load of sheets and towels at 4am, while simultaneously wishing you’re not the next one to succumb; because we don’t have time for that!
Furthermore, we also dealt with a massive Tylenol shortage during the peak of RSV season which left many parents spinning, and with good reason. Potentially not having pain and fever relief for our kids when they needed it left me feeling helpless, angry, and anxious. I can now empathize with how so many parents felt during the infant formula shortage. Not being able to give your kids what they need is harder on the heart than I think any of us could have predicted.
In addition to perpetual illnesses, all of us withstood some very dark days. Here in Ontario we just emerged from the darkest winter in 80 years! The exceptionally low level of sunlight was enough to make even the most cheerful optimist not want to get out of bed.
With all of this in mind I hope all parents of young kids, especially parents of multiples, feel proud of themselves for making it through this winter, showing up for your kids, and coming out of these long and dark months on the other side.
Not only did we have to function in the dark, our kids were sicker than sick. Even though the extremity and frequency of child illnesses were predictable given the isolation required to manage the COVID Pandemic, our parents’ hearts could not have predicted the level of worry that came along with seeing our kids ride the incessant waves of illness.
I am so thankful that the sun is back and it’s our time to shine, friends. Sure, now we’re going to be stressing about not losing our twins at the park, or making sure the ice cream cones are the EXACT SAME SIZE because, for three-year-olds, every lick matters.
The point is we survived the Winter. We survived Winter with multiples.
Our Spring and Summer days will be filled with new challenges but at least they will no longer be spent sanitizing every surface in the house and pushing the Pedialyte.
Now that spring has sprung, let’s trade Germs for Geraniums. Lysol for Lavender. Coughs for Clematis. Diarrhea for Daffodils. Boogers for Begonias. Okay I’m done. Fevers for Ferns. Puking for Pansies. Okay for real, I’m done!
By Lilly Pease