Thanks Somerville Moms

When I moved back to Somerville in September everything was different. This time I had two-year-old twins and very different questions about our community than I did fours ago when we left. This time it's been more important to know where all the playgrounds are opposed to all the bars and restaurants (though this is still important).

The weekend we moved back I ran into an old friend and his two kids, and was instructed to immediately join the Somerville Moms Yahoo Group (thanks for the great advice, Scott). It was started in 2003 by some moms who were attending a New Moms group,and now they have 1700+ members! They post questions that range from Pox parties (prompted a heated debate which was quite insightful), clogged milk ducts, how to get a 2.5 year old to take medicine, where to get waterproof mittens, and lots and lots of ISO and FREE.

Maybe it's because we're all living in a somewhat transient community, and certainly it's because we all have children, but the questions and responses in this group seem very relevant to me.

I looked for something like this right after the twins were born, when I had a little time on my hands between naps.  I found a suburban Meetup, which looked promising but wasn't, and joined the local chapter of the the Mother of Twins group, but even that doesn't compare to the activity on the Somerville Moms Group!  It's like having hundreds and hundreds of active and interesting friends.   I sometimes receive over 50 emails a day reminding me of a preschool open house, letting me know there's an Open Gym for the kids at the YMCA, there's kid-friendly music at a local venue, or asking if anyone has experience with re-circumcision, travelling with two-year-olds, and just about any topic you can imagine.  Regardless of whether it's relevant to me at the time, it's been very informative!

So thanks Somerville moms.  You have a wonderful community!

Confessions

My girls could have it worse.

I don't know what happened along the way, but I'm constantly doing things as a parent that I'd never thought I'd do.  I try to be a good mother, but I am definitely weak (read lazy) in other areas. 

Here goes....

• My children watch endless hours of TV.
• I allow my kids to eat Popsicles all day including first thing in the morning.
• I let my children eat fast food a lot. 
• My twins still sleep in my bed.
• If they continue to whine, I usually give in.
• I just stopped my twins from drinking milk before bed, not because of "bottle rot" but so they wouldn't wet the bed.
• Sophie put her doll in a time out the other day.
• We don't keep all our pharmaceuticals in a lock box or safe.
• I take them for exercise at the mall.

Judge me if you want, but it's the truth.

In my defense it's difficult to fill up a 12-hour day with educational enthusiasm.  We do lots of good things to offset the not-so-good.  We go to museums, paint, read, sing, and play all the time, but I'm looking forward to September when they'll have three mornings of top quality time in preschool, giving mommy time to re-charge so that I can be at the top of my game.