Anyone with twins have older kids, as well? Need advice.

12bailey18

The twins are due in October (induction will probably be in September) and I have a 4 year old son and 3 year old DD. I was planning on putting them in Fall activities because DS really wants to play soccer and he was in gymnastics last year. I always said DD could start activities when she turned 3. But now, I'm just not sure I can handle two extracurricular activities with newborn twins. Just typing that stresses me out, LOL. I hate to limit their activities based on the twins and I'd like to keep things fair but I also don't want to overwhelm myself. WWYD? Fall activities or no? I'm kind of torn. 

eringerard35

I'm in sort of the same dilemma. I have a almost 7 year old daughter and I was contemplating how much extracurricular activities she will be in this fall...I would say that if you have a lot of family/help in the area then go for it! 

RayRay007

Where is the father in all of this? Can't he take the kids to activities? If it's going to be stressful, just skip the fall and try after Christmas. 

12bailey18

@RayRay007: He is very involved but he's also active duty military so his schedule can be unpredictable. One activity would be during the week (when he's at work) and one would be on the weekend where he could most of the time help with. We're also not around family, although my mom is coming to stay for about 8 weeks. @AshB62: That is kind of what I'm leaning towards; waiting until Spring when our routine is a little more established. Thanks!

24karat

If you do decide to go for fall activities, I'd go with something they can do at the same time/same place. I'm a manager for a gymnastics academy and we have two "preschool" age brackets for our classes (3-5 and 4-6) so a lot of siblings will do those. We also try to schedule our little kids classes at overlapping or back to back times to make things convenient for parents with multiple kids. 

A lot also depends on when the twins arrive vs when the activities start and how much of a time commitment they involve. I don't think I would have wanted to do stuff for the first few weeks even if I could have (c/s recovery restrictions) but about a month and a half after having the twins, DD was back to gymnastics and play dates. Even though it was hard to get everyone out the door, it was worth it to get out of the house after months on bed rest. I would also consider waiting till the babies are here to make your final decision. There are a lot of variables like NICU time, your recovery, eating/sleep habits, dispositions, general health, etc that won't become clear till after they're born.

HeavenBlessedMom

I would do it. It's only one extra curricular activity per child. I only wish grAce was old enough to be in something. She is 20 months And the triplets are three months.been having to really focus attention on her .activity I would have been good.

1blueridgemama

My kids are much older (8 and 13) so it's a little different situation but I would suggest registering the kids if you have help, like friends on the teams or inlaws, etc.  It's hard to predict how it will be with the the babies, especially as newborns.  My twins are also due in October, btw .  Our kids will be doing sports as usual but my wife will be taking them.  I imagine the first few weeks (at least!) will be spent just feeding, changing, and getting used to life with two tiny babies...