Bringing up baby... (From Bournemouth Echo)

Bringing up baby...

12:32pm Monday 7th July 2008 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

Everybody tells you how much joy your new baby will bring to the family. The first smiles, the first words, the first tentative steps hanging on to the furniture before letting go and stepping free.

And all that is true.

But few other parents are really willing to tell you how tough it can be bringing up baby.

The sleepless nights, the crying for no apparent reason, the not feeding are bad enough for dads, and we get to leave the trauma and go to work.

Both my adorable daughters, now three and six years old, have put my wife and me through the emotional rollercoaster ride that is parenthood.

I can only imagine how that ride becomes faster and scarier when you have twins. Two helpless little fellows taking it in turns to fill their nappies, taking it in turns to wake mum in the night, demanding a feed.

In the early weeks with our first daughter I wondered how my wife coped with the total lack of sleep. I barely managed on the hours I got but she seemed to be always pacing the floor cuddling Little Miss Parnell in a bundle of blankets.

My heart goes out to mums of twins in those early months. I'm sure the twins club, featured on today's page 10, helps ease some of that anxiety.

At least babies grow up into willing helpers around the house. Doing all those little chores to make mum and dad's life a bit less hectic. That's what I tell myself when the kids are fighting over who gets to play with which doll.

Having twins will mean there is twice the help around the house.

One day it might all be peaceful. Hang on to that thought, however unlikely it seems.