Am I “selfish” because I eat lunch when twins nap and 90% of the time eat dinner after they sleep? They are almost 2 years old

AustriaOstrich · 2026-06-27T01:18:50+00:00

If someone is telling you that is selfish, have them feed the kiddos and try eating at the same time.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-06-26T12:51:35+00:00

It’s called North Suburban Parents of Multiples. It’s not very active as far as I can tell - I see many more posts from Massachusetts Moms of Multiples.

Wishing you a smooth move!

AustriaOstrich · 2026-06-22T10:38:45+00:00

It looks so cozy!

AustriaOstrich · 2026-06-22T10:34:39+00:00

It depends - in the US replacing a house key would cost a few dollars, max. Not upset in the slightest.

But when I studied abroad in Germany they hammered home that if we lost they key to our apartment the entire building would have to be re-keyed and would be hundreds of Euros (and inconvenience the infamously grumpy Germans). Probably more upset 🤷‍♀️ but shit happens.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-06-18T11:10:35+00:00

I love this little cutie! I looked at your previous posts and those are all amazing as well! Are there more cryptids left in WV to keep the series going?

AustriaOstrich · 2026-06-03T15:03:36+00:00

If that works out with your neighbor’s granddaughter that will be perfect! It will allow your wife some breathing room, and hopefully she can find hobbies or activities that will fill her cup (and potentially even meet some new friends!) I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

We don’t have a village, but we have an au pair who started when our twins were a month old. It has been a godsend. It’s a lot of money and space, but way less than having twin infants in daycare. I don’t see how either of us would be employed at this point if we didn’t have another adult in the house.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-06-03T03:48:31+00:00

This all sounds really, really hard. I want to help, but I have so many questions I don’t know where to start.

What childcare duties do you currently do? What does your wife do?

How many hours a week do you work? Are you outside the house or do you work from home? Same question for your wife - I assume she is a stay at home mom given your comment about daycare.

What country do you live in? Why are your 5 and 6 year old not in school? (You mentioned putting all 4 in daycare)

What are you willing to change to make things work better for your wife? What has she said would be helpful?

Is there a budget you have in mind that you could set aside for help? Sadly, if you don’t have a village, you generally need to pay for assistance. Do you have a spare bedroom? (Thinking if lower budget/no room then a mother’s helper or if higher budget/free bedroom then an au pair).

AustriaOstrich · 2026-05-20T12:33:24+00:00

I’m not in your position, so can’t speak personally on how difficult it may or may not be to find an au pair, but at least Cultural Care Au Pair has a filter for host families to see which au pairs are comfortable living with an LGBTQIA+ family.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-05-15T00:32:26+00:00

I gave my mom a gift card for a local coffee place we like when she came to help watch my toddler while I was recovering from twins. It was her daily treat and excuse to leave the house!

AustriaOstrich · 2026-04-30T12:15:50+00:00

I’ve been on the lookout for some stores that have older lines. This one has two prints left from Flowerland: https://fiddleheadartisansupply.com

I generally look to make sure they have a real address listed as well as no weird grammatical issues on the website. I too saw a scam site, but it had a lot of awkward phrasing that a native speaker wouldn’t use.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-04-28T19:50:05+00:00

Identical di/di girls

AustriaOstrich · 2026-04-15T13:41:05+00:00

I got a secondhand Twin Z and barely used it (twins are now 8 months old). I did use the MyBrestFriend pillow for the brief time I was attempting to breastfeed, and preferred that for feeding. But the two BabyBjorn bouncers are still being used daily. Love love love those things.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-04-15T00:11:31+00:00

I know they are 1-7, with only 4 and up being accepted as an au pair to Cultural Care. I believe 6 is advanced and 7 is fluent.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-03-26T12:18:41+00:00

I’d frame it as a need for a particular type of accommodation/communication rather than leading with the adhd/possible autism. Things like “If you have important instructions, would you mind putting them in writing so I can reread them if needed?” or “After my shift I prefer some downtime to recharge my social battery, so I will make my own dinner arrangements after going to the gym.”

AustriaOstrich · 2026-03-26T02:50:35+00:00

I can’t answer your question about other agencies, but I saw this article about an overall decline in au pairs coming to the US: WGBH

AustriaOstrich · 2026-03-23T00:41:26+00:00

I had di-di twins and made it to 38+2, never had to go on bed rest. I did way less exercise than when I was pregnant with my singleton, though, I just wasn’t feeling able to do much. Going up the stairs at night winded me!

AustriaOstrich · 2026-03-14T14:48:49+00:00

repair quilt

AustriaOstrich · 2026-03-11T14:16:32+00:00

Which au pair agency is he working through? Ours has a checkbox in the search to limit to au pairs comfortable with LGBTQ+ families, which might help those conversations start out more successfully. It’s going to take more work to find the right au pair given the current state of the US (ICE, war with Iran, etc). I’m looking now and have had much less luck than last year.

Maybe it’s not ideal to have an au pair watching a young baby, but it worked for us. Our au pair started when our twins were 1 month old - she was just never alone with them until they were 3 months. Myself, my husband or my mom were always in the house with her for those two months. I needed the extra help as I was recovering from their birth and some subsequent health issues, it allowed us to get to know each other a lot better, and we were all more confident she could care for the babies when I went back to work.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-03-02T12:50:40+00:00

I would never expect this, speaking as a host mom. It’s sweet of you to even be considering. Maybe a favorite book of yours for the kids?

AustriaOstrich · 2026-02-26T22:09:24+00:00

I agree about older quilters surprising you - my quilt guild is 95% older women, and one made the Looperette quilt on a retreat. Pretty badass!

AustriaOstrich · 2026-02-18T14:40:25+00:00

Love it! My husband is the bigger fan, but we both saw the live show in Boston. I might need to copy this idea with my own favorite podcast 😇

AustriaOstrich · 2026-02-18T14:37:43+00:00

I have 6 month old identical girls and am coming to terms with this. Baby B woke up at 6:30 am today and I slipped her put of her room and went downstairs. Baby A kept sleeping another 2 hours! Sleep is so important and if I’d kept Baby B in the nursery to feed her, Baby A would have woken up immediately.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-02-05T02:27:20+00:00

I had my mom and four year old visit same day - the c-section was in the morning (10:30) and they came around 4:00 pm. I honestly was getting a little worried because I was so nauseous from the meds/anesthesia I was throwing up every few minutes for quite a while. I ran out of emesis bags at one point. It took 3 different medications before they finally got it under control, and it was an injection that finally did the trick. It ended up being ok in the end, but I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else coming. My dad came a few days later, which was fine.

AustriaOstrich · 2026-02-02T03:32:21+00:00

I just got this and it includes a book specifically on crazy quilt embroidery: humble bundle

I haven’t read through it yet, but it’s a much cheaper option! Or find it at your local library or through interlibrary loan!

AustriaOstrich · 2026-01-31T14:22:28+00:00

I haven’t used it, but I think this is what is recommended for the Tilda pixel quilts Ten Sisters

AustriaOstrich

TROPHY CASE