June | 2019 | Twins-on-the-Go

REMINDER: LIVE IN THE PRESENT & ENJOY THE STRUGGLE

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Marissa Goldstein

It’s hard to be discreet when you have twins so more often than not, when we are out and about, we often get stopped by people asking questions and reminiscing on their own children. The most common thing people say (besides asking “are they twins”) is “it goes by so fast. I blinked and they’re out of the house.”

That got me thinking about all of the day to day crap that we loathe, but how one day we’ll miss that very crap that made us crazy and stressed.

Imagine yourself 15 years from now and remembering when:

Poopy diapers were everywhere?!?. When you get your baby out of their PJ’s and there’s pooped smeared up their backs and some on their crib sheet. You realize you not only have to bathe the baby but also change the sheets. Who has time for this when it’s supposed to be a quick diaper change? Ugh, the morning routine is all messed up… but then they smile and splash around in the tub and you forget about the poopy diapers (or that your entire house smells like poop, or that your laundry pile is endless).
You go to put on your kids shoes or clothes and realize they are too small. Ugh, not only do you need to spend more money and buy more clothes but now you need to go through all of their current clothes and get rid of the ones that are too small. Who has time for this?… But, as you go through their closet, you hold a tiny onesie in your hands and wonderful memories come back and you can’t help but smile.
Crumbs all over the carseat and a filthy, disorganized car: always on the go, always rushing, always snacking… Who has time to tidy up your car when you have toddlers to look after? What happens if one of your mom friends offers a helping hand and actually sees the inside of your car!? No, that most certainly can’t happen! The good news is that if for some reason you had to stay in your car forever, you’d all survive because you have enough crap in it to get through anything. “Why do my kids always make such a mess” you think to yourself (everyday). But then you remember singing along to Frozen at the top of your lungs while your kids eat their snacks and feel content. Or those nights driving around for hours with your kids sleeping in their car seats so you could get that much needed silence. Oh yes, this happens more often than it should.

The truth is, 15 years later, the things that made you feel stressed and lost for time are the very things that you wish you could return to; if only they could be young again and need YOU all the time.

So, let’s try and live in the present and enjoy the moments. Before long, your little ones will be grown and won’t need you to wipe their asses, buy them new shoes, or clean their dishes (okay, maybe you’ll still be buying them things and cleaning up after them).

Come on mamas, we got this!!!

Our Favorite Travel Gear of 2019

Posted on June 13, 2019 by Marissa Goldstein

Our 4 kids have been traveling and have been on constant adventures since they were in the womb. Whether it’s flying between continents, taking an overnight train through the hills of Northern Vietnam, driving from New England to Canada or flying from the Northeast to the Northwest for a 48 hour trip, we couldn’t do it without our favorite travel gear.

Baby Carrier: with multiple kids, we don’t ever leave the house without a baby carrier. Baby wearing is key when traveling with little ones. Our favorite is the Ergo Omni 360 Baby Carrier All-In-One Cool Air Mesh. It’s on the pricy side, but definitely worth it when traveling in warm climates.
Travel Cribs: Not everyone needs to bring travel cribs along, but when you have twins and stay in all different types of places (hotels, airbnb, homestays, etc), we find we are safest when we bring our own. For years now we’ve loved our Baby Bjorn Travel Cribs and since they are lightweight, they are easy to bring along. Small hack we’ve learned — if you have multiples and want to pack less, leave the mattress at home and use a duvet or a towel to pad the bottom of the crib).
Travel Chairs: We’ve taken our Phil and Teds Ted Lobster Chairs on more trips than we can count. They are so easy to pack and hook on to almost any table.
Backpack Diaper Bag: We would never leave the house with anything other than a backpack as a diaper bag. We can’t be bothered to have our hands occupied with anything other than our children.
Stuff Sacks: When it comes to packing 4 young children, stuff sacks are a must. Each child (or sometimes each pair of twins) gets 1 stuff sack for their clothes. We use 1 stuff sack for our collective shoes and 1 stuff sack for misc. Our favorite stuff sacks are the Gonex Compression Packing Cubes that we bought on Amazon.
Drawings Toys: We don’t like to bring along too many toys. We think it’s easy to improvise when it comes to toys. One thing that our toddlers love is the Melissa and Doug Water Wow. They are cheap, not messy and distract our toddlers for at least 20 minutes.
Disposable Placemats: Whether you’re traveling in remote regions of the world or taking your kiddos out for a meal in your home city, it’s great to carry along disposable placemats, to protect them from the ewww that goes on high chairs. We love the Neat Solutions disposable placemats.
Snacks: First rule of thumb when it comes to snacks: get something that easy to transport and won’t stain clothes or hands. We love the crackers and snacks from Nosh. In fact, they just came out with a new miniature bar
that our kids can’t get enough of.
Shoes: we need shoes that can be warn for active activity and to the beach, and everything in between. They need to be waterproof, durable and safe for our little ones to run around in. We’ve been wearing Native Shoes through every size starting with their smallest, size 3. They are the only shoes we bring on trips
Hats: with four young kids, it’s hard to constantly put on sunscreen and keep them out of the sun. In addition to having our kids wear long pants and shirts, as much as possible, we never leave home without our Sunday Afternoon sun hats. The whole family loves them.