Act 6: 2012

02 Jan 2012 4 Comments

by amvhart in Stay at home Mom, Twins Tags: Family, Infant, Mother, Parenting, reconciliation, Relationships, sisters, Stay at home Mom, Twin

Welcome 2012!

At rise:  A city hospital patient room.  A first-time mother holds her newborn baby delicately.  Twin girls settle cautiously in an armchair in the corner, eyes wide with wonder and anticipation.   A woman tiptoes across the room juggling her camera, laptop and the coats and outerwear of the twins.

What better way to start the New Year than with love, tenderness and reconciliation.  These are a few of the miracles the birth of a baby brings to us.    On December 31, 2011 after many years of wanting, trying, suffering and praying your Auntie gave birth to her first healthy baby – your little cousin Zoie Camille.   When you are old enough, I will share the stories with you more, but for now, know that this little baby is a miracle indeed.   It is no wonder, she will be loved and treasured by us all.

Happy New Year Zoie Camille

What Zoie may not know, is that her birth brought more tenderness to our family.  Her presence softened the hearts of your stubborn Mommy and Auntie who haven’t spoken for nearly a year before today.   I know — that’s crazy, childish and inexcusable.  Guilty, guilty and guilty.  Girls, if you take anything from these entries that I preserve for you, please always remember that when I say love no one like you love your sister, it is not a mere cliché.   It should be the foundation by which you live your lives.   Your sister truly is your one and only true BFF*  Growing up, I can remember Papi often telling us to appreciate each other whenever we would argue.   I heard him, but I’m not sure I was listening.  I’m not sure either of us was.

“We are sisters. We will always be sisters. Our differences may never go away, but neither, for me, will our song.” ~ Elizabeth Fishel

Today, I came across a new blog and became inspired to commit to my word for the year.   This is an exercise that I have never done before, but as I was reading other mothers’ posts, I became inspired to reflect on the past year and what I might decide to focus on this year.   My chosen word for 2012 – LISTEN.

As we drove home from the hospital, I thought of what Auntie and I had bickered over and quickly concluded, as is often the case, that it was an argument borne from a breakdown in communication.   As you get older and meet more people, you will learn that it is not always what you say to someone but what they hear that counts.    You will also find that what you hear someone say will depend a great deal on how you listen.

In the car, you both rambled on and on about how tiny Zoie is, and what did I think she liked to eat, and when are her eyes going to open and why didn’t she cry a lot like the baby next door.  As I listened to you chattering away in the back seat, I found myself drifting off thinking of how cool it would be that you would have a cousin close by with whom you could grow up.   Then Madison shouted at me, “Mommy, are you listening to me?!”   No, sweetie, I actually was not listening at all.   That’s what I should have said, but instead, I pretended to recount your last few sentences because in actuality I had heard them, but I was not listening.

I’m about to say good night to the first day of a brand new year, and I am more certain than ever that I want to listen more this year.   I want to listen to you sing your sight word songs from the Word Wall; to enjoy every beat of “H-A-V-E  H-A-V-E  H-A-V-E spells have” sung, as Victoria proclaims each time, to the tune of Oh My Darling.  I want to listen to Daddy tell me about the latest thing he heard on the news; to keep my eyes locked in on his so that I absorb his enthusiasm and reflect his curiosity.   I want to listen to my athletes and the messages they send me through their body language.  I want to listen to my horses; to appreciate the effort they give and understand their apprehension.   I want to listen to all that happens around me, the sounds of the outdoors, the rhythm of the music that is typically background noise and the little bits of love that my family sends my way with a soft smile, a twinkling eye and a tender touch.

In 2012, I will listen not just with my ears, but with my eyes and most importantly, with my heart.

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*BFF = best friends forever if we have rid ourselves of these acronyms when you read this

Twins On The Go Blog by Ayo Hart is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.