The eyes that are always on us

It is sinking in.  (Please don't misunderstand this post. Our family needs for Alexander to get this service dog.  I will do whatever is necessary to make sure all of my children are happy and healthy.)  However....

The reality of how this will change our life is beginning to set in.  We will no longer even be able to attempt to blend in.  Allow me to explain.

As a mother of twins, people are always staring at you. When I was pregnant, people would say things about how enormous I was (and I was only 6 months pregnant).  People would ask really intrusive questions, like, "Did you use IVF?" or "Are they natural?"  It was as if people felt that had some right to blurt out things because the pregnancy somehow turned off the receptors between their brains and their mouths.  I was once at a store and had the check out clerk as me if I was going to try to nurse the twins.  Again.... totally inappropriate question to ask a total stranger.

Then you have the twins.  Now a whole new level of  "oohhhh... let me see" starts.   For those of you who aren't parents of twins, trust me - this actually happens.  I remember one mother telling me that some stranger actually asked her which child she liked better.  Or another mother recalling how a stranger said, "Oh good - you have a spare."  I know the majority of you are probably sitting there reading this with your mouths hanging open, but let me assure you it is true.  My twins were born at 33 weeks at the end of October.  It would be the dead of winter, flu season, and we would have to go get something from the store.  People would constantly walk up, touch my children on the face, and get right down into the stroller to breathe their germy hellos to the twins.  This might not seem like a big deal, but people - babies, especially premature babies do not have developed immune systems.  The point is... twins make you stand out.  People notice you.  People pay attention.  You don't blend into a crowd.

When I take all three children out now, we can almost blend in.  People want to come over and see the "new baby" - but, for the most part, we blend in.

Next year this time, our days of blending in will be over.  When we walk into a grocery store, we will have a service dog.  When we go to church, the mall, Walmart... we will have a service dog.  I will be so thankful of the service this dog will provide, but it is a little daunting to realize that we will not blend in again.  People will notice the unusual - the dog in a store.  It is ok.


The blessings outweigh the fact that we will once again be on the radar of people who stare.... but the reality is beginning to set in.  Eyes will always be on us.