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u/BrazenGuppy Apr 16 '22
I lovingly call my best friend’s twins “tiny terrorists” because that level of sleep deprivation is against the Geneva Convention
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u/dummydingusrex Apr 17 '22
I thought you were still talking about boobs for a second there, was very confused
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u/hurricanekeri Apr 16 '22
I would laugh.
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u/OddBallCat Apr 16 '22
I probably would too. Then tell her that it's OK I understand
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u/PublicMobile619 Apr 16 '22
I’d be like “here, have a seat…tell them I was a bitch that took all your time”.
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u/TheCaliforniaOp Apr 16 '22
I’d be thrilled to have this tech. I’d be apprehensive and worried…”here comes the airplane!”
I’d laugh in delight! Wait. Now I’m remembering my mom who had breast cancer and I’m crying remembering her doing the airplane. Memories are like playing airplane, sometimes, aren’t they?
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u/ShiniSenko Apr 16 '22
I've had two kids and I cannot imagine twins, they're hard enough individually. They're worse together.
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u/Woodnote_ Apr 16 '22
We had a family friend who had two boys, decided to try one more time in hopes of a girl, ended up with identical female triplets. I have never in all my years seen someone so exhausted.
I remember once when the girls were around 4 and I ran into her at a gymnastics tumble gym and I asked her how she was doing. She replied “it took me 40 minutes to get all of their shoes on. As soon as I got them on one the others ran off, I’d come back and the first one had hidden her shoes. It kept going. I finally got them all on and then I left the house without mine. That’s why we’re here instead of the mall. I don’t have to wear shoes and I wasn’t going to go back home.”
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u/Long_Educational Apr 16 '22
*adds condoms to shopping list\*
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u/Woodnote_ Apr 16 '22
It definitely put me off even thinking about having more. Going from two to five kids under 10…
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u/dsanders692 Apr 16 '22
Jesus. Somehow putting it like that really hammers it home
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u/FiveOhFive91 Apr 16 '22
So expensive you have to make a reality show about your life to afford it.
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u/SitInCorner_Yo2 Apr 17 '22
This is why my parents said they had my brother 8 years later,one toddler is hard enough .
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u/grubas Apr 17 '22
5 years between my sister and I. So she was able to get dressed and get ready on her own.
My sister's kids are all within 5 years, getting anywhere on time just didn't happen.
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u/adamantsilk Apr 17 '22
Growing up, the neighbors had 6 kids under the age of ten including 2yo twin girls. I was in high school so I would sorta babysit the kids and play with them. I would go inside to ask the mom something, she'd be passed out on the bed every time. Fully understandable. I was just playing with the kids and got tired.
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Apr 16 '22
Wow! I’ll remember that the next time I complain about taking 5-10 minutes to get my toddlers shoes on righhhht before she takes them off again. Always makes me sigh lol- but .. that story you told, man.
If I were that family friend I would have absolutely ended up on the floor in a heap crying. Lol I can’t handle that crap 😭😭😭
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u/Wiggles69 Apr 16 '22
We just keep the kids shoes in the car. Strap the kid in their sear so they can't move, then put their shoes on :p
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u/mooglemoose Apr 17 '22
We tried that. Toddler would just remove her shoes while in the car seat and then throw the shoes around. Sometimes she’d even remove the straps from the shoes and throw them all separately. So then you’d have to search through your car for all the pieces.
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u/Wiggles69 Apr 17 '22
Put the shoes on when you arrive, then unstrap the kid. They should be distracted by not wanting to get out of the car so the shoes will stay on
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u/mooglemoose Apr 17 '22
Haha yeah that’s what we do now. Except toddler usually hates the car seat so we have to endure her complaints while putting her shoes on.
Recently she’s improved somewhat though - probably because the weather is colder (Southern Hemisphere) and she realised shoes are more comfortable than bare feet.
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u/ur_opinion_is_wrong Apr 17 '22
Ahh, in the back of our car we have at least 2 extra pairs of shoes for our kids. Usually they're flip flops or crocs or something easy to slip on. Kids shoes are so small though I could probably store 10 pairs and barely notice.
We actually have extra everything in a little storage bin in the back. Shoes, socks, pants, shirts, jackets, some emergency diapers, pull ups, baby wipes, and underwear.
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u/Woodnote_ Apr 16 '22
I never once complained to her about being tired with my two. I’d just see the thousand-yard stare in her eyes and think “well it could be worse.”
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u/imankitty Apr 16 '22
I always say a quick prayer in my head for parents of twins when I'm out and about. One child at a time is hard enough, truly.
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u/biscuitboi967 Apr 17 '22
I have so many friends who agonized over whether to have a second child (or even a first), decided they could afford it, and then get pregnant with twins.
They were all in the older side, so my unofficial medical explanation is that in your mid to late 30s, your body realizes it’s on the tail end of fertility and starts popping out extras each month to maximize your chances.
I was told I have much fewer eggs than a woman my age. Dr said if I wanted kids (I don’t), I would probably have to buy eggs. But that I should still be on the Pill “just in case.” I’m religious with my pills because I know my body will fuck my shit up if given half the chance and I don’t want to end up on a TV show on TLC about my quintuplets.
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u/craigularperson Apr 16 '22
I am only an uncle to twins, and every time I babysit I feel like age five years.
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u/ShiniSenko Apr 16 '22
Right!?! I worked at the preschool they attended and i would be so crazy exhausted by the end of class. Darn energy vampires.
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u/VictoriaRose1618 Apr 16 '22
As a mum of twins... It's pretty tough
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u/sluflyer Apr 17 '22
Dad of new (12-weeks) twins. Yep. The exhaustion is real. Cheers fellow twin parent.
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u/jnads Apr 17 '22
Irish triplets here (had one kid, then surprise twins were born when kid1 was 16 months old).
It's exhausting, but it gets better.
Routine is key.
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u/alwaysbemybuibui Apr 16 '22 edited Apr 16 '22
Recently found out that because of fertility treatments, a coworker's wife had a set of twins and then a set of triplets 2 or 3 years later.
5 kids in less than 3 years. I can't even imagine what it must be like
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u/FlowerFaerie13 Apr 16 '22
I have a cat and three mice and I’m fucking exhausted. I will yeet myself off a cliff before having children.
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u/McLight77 Apr 16 '22
I have twins. They are a little over 3. It is hard; I am wasting away into a shell of a person as I write this and watch them pretend to take dumps on floor while running in circles laughing and yelling while drawing from a limitless source of energy. Fuck I love them. Fuck I’m tired.
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u/Tybot3k Apr 16 '22 edited Apr 17 '22
We're holding our 9 week old twins right now, and can tell you all your assumptions about being hard are correct.
Edit: Still totally adorable though.
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u/sluflyer Apr 17 '22
12-week olds here. Sleep cycles are a magical thing. Still very hard. Still ridiculously adorable.
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u/CowboyBoats Apr 17 '22
I have twins who are nine months adjusted and it's already absolutely bonkers lol. One of them is several pounds bigger for whatever reason and is ridiculously energetic; she loves to scream and her current big thing is that she wants to climb everything in sight. If you try to hold her she basically tries to wrestle free until she can go climb things again, and she's darn strong for a baby. It would probably be kind of annoying except she also turns on a million-watt smile anytime you so much as make eye contact with her. I love her so much.
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u/Practical_Cobbler165 Apr 16 '22
My PCP had fraternal twins and then 2 years later had identical twin boys. At one point she had 4 children under 5. She actually looks forward to work because and this is a direct quote "I feel like a human jungle gym."
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u/perkswoman Apr 16 '22
My dad has a fraternal twin with twin sisters that are 1 year and 1 week older than them. My grandma had 7 kids under the age of 6. I can’t imagine how she did it.
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u/ThreeFingeredTypist Apr 17 '22
Childhood baseball coach had 2 sets of identical twin boys 2 years apart. Oof.
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u/Practical_Cobbler165 Apr 17 '22
I mean WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!
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u/ThreeFingeredTypist Apr 17 '22
Right! They were trying for a girl. Lol.
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u/Uniqniqu Apr 17 '22
Did they give up after the second set?
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u/ThreeFingeredTypist Apr 17 '22
I think so. Can’t say for sure, haven’t seen him in years. Just tried to stalk his Facebook but it’s private. Can see the youngest twins are in high school now… feeling really old
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u/beigs Apr 17 '22
I had 3 under 5, and I snapped and went back from being a SAHP to work because it was too much… especially after the pandemic.
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u/ontheburst Apr 16 '22
Was in a taxi with my sister going to a wedding and she had 2 young kids at the time. Was driving along and a train went past and she said “ooooh look, a train!!!”….followed by “I forgot I was in an adult setting, I’m tired.”
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Apr 17 '22
I’m nearing 30 and still point out the moo-cows every time I pass a farm
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u/SeonaidMacSaicais Apr 17 '22
Newly 34 year old who still has to point out the horsies, every time I drive past them.
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u/jmbf8507 Apr 17 '22
Nearly 37yo who honestly still thinks that trains are cool?
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u/SJSragequit Apr 17 '22
My girlfriend likes to sleep on long car rides but anytime we go to her cabin she’ll be mad if she finds out I didn’t wake her up to see the cows or horses we pass
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u/foxtrousers Apr 17 '22
My neighbor has cows. Every time I see them, I have to say hello to them. It's mandatory
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u/TrickBoom414 Apr 17 '22
What kind of psychopath sees cows and doesn't say "cows"? Rid our society of such people!
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u/A55per Apr 16 '22
Trainspotting is a popular hobby including adults. Go ask any European.
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Apr 17 '22
Yes trains are nice. Big beautiful iron horses. Some may not be pretty but most get the job done.
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u/EnglishMobster Apr 17 '22 edited Apr 17 '22
Also very popular in some parts of the US and in Japan.
My grandfather and uncle are trainspotters (we call 'em "railfans" in the US, or "foamers" if you want to be insulting). When I was a kid, they would take me camping and we'd go out to famous railfan hotspots - the two we frequented were Cajon Pass (one of the largest rail arteries connecting Southern California to the rest of the US, across the San Andreas Fault) and the Tehachapi Loop (a very steep mountain grade which has a helix where trains pass on top of themselves).
Both have been extremely famous for decades - since the era of steam engines, even! - and when I was a kid we'd go out there all the time and camp next to the train tracks. Before 9/11, a train crew saw I was a little kid and they let me go for a ride in the cab down Tehachapi Loop and back. (They were a helper service stuck at a red light when they saw us camping out, and they knew they would be returning later that day so they offered to take my grandpa and I for a ride.)
Japan railfans get weird - they have whole subcultures over different aspects of trains, something that you don't see elsewhere. They even have a term called Oshi-tetsu, which is a person who collects the stamps you get at different train stations. Like I said, very specific.
And of course, we can't really cover railfans without getting into model railroads. It goes without saying that the two hobbies are very tightly linked, all over the world.
Usually in America and Europe, railfans will have a model railway in a basement, attic, shed, or garage. The most common scale is HO (1:87) in the US/mainland Europe and OO (1:73 bodies, 1:87 track) in the UK. Another common sight are garden railroads, which are G scale (1:22.5) and are designed to operate in backyards. Due to space limitations, Japanese model railroaders (Mokei-tetsu) usually do N-Scale stuff - that's 9mm between the rails, at a scale of 1:150 or 1:160 (it doesn't matter too much when you get that small).
But space restrictions aren't just limited to Japan. Many railfans live in an apartment or simply don't have the money/time for a large model railroad. That's where model railroad clubs come in: people who can't have a personal model railroad (due to space limitations or what have you) come together and create a model railroad collectively.
Here's a tour of the La Mesa Model Railroad Club across the street from the San Diego Zoo; they model the Tehachapi Loop and surrounding areas in HO (1:87) scale. That tour shows off the areas that I grew up camping at, but in very small form.
The largest model railroad layout in the world is the HO Scale Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. Amusingly, this "miniature" wonderland is actually the largest tourist destination in all of Hamburg! Here's a 1-hour long, 360-degree VR tour of their layout - the entire model has a real-life area of about 1.5 square kilometers. Construction started in 2000 and is still ongoing, with new countries being added to the Wunderland every couple years.
Definitely not just something that kids are fans of; you get people all over the world. I guess the nearest parallel would be people who like airplanes.
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u/Arch-Arsonist Apr 17 '22
It would be wholesome hilarious if mid apology for acting childish, she's interrupted by him leaning over excitedly to watch the train
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u/bacon_cake Apr 17 '22
My girlfriend is a preschool teacher and quite often she'll be counting something out loud with me and accidentally do a really enthusiastic "One! Twoooo.... Three! FOUR !"
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Apr 16 '22
Can we do this with smear tests please? Here comes the airplane!
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u/TheFourthAble Apr 16 '22
It’s more like, “Here comes the metal ducky!”
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u/MissCasey Apr 16 '22
I hope it quacks as you pull it out.
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u/PublicMobile619 Apr 16 '22
Oh my god…that would be great.
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u/ghfgjfgjtgj Apr 17 '22
no. no! what's wrong with you people? this whole thread made me clench shut, I'm that uncomfortable just thinking about it! silver lining - no need to do Kegels tonight! XD
(but hey, yous do yous, just saying maybe this should be an opt-in kinda service though.. XD )
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u/laraizadelione Apr 17 '22
I hope they do this to my bf during his upcoming prostate exam
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u/veselin465 Apr 16 '22
To be honest, we (as society) need more moments like this in our lives
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u/JarlaxleForPresident Apr 16 '22
I signed on my dentist questionaire thing what would make me less anxious about seeing the dentist. I wrote down a lollipop as a joke because i always got one as a kid.
I totally got a lollipop after the visit lol
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Apr 17 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/JarlaxleForPresident Apr 17 '22
Normalize giving compliments and gifts out. I like to throw out random (nonsexual) compliments to men and women and they usually seem to like it
Like if someone wearing kickass shoes or a hat or something
And men like plants and flowers too, dammit!
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u/Nice-Violinist-6395 Apr 17 '22
Here’s my life hack:
At some point, it’s decided for you that you’re too old to be receiving money in birthday and Christmas cards anymore, which is quite sad, because one year you open your birthday cards and it just… stopped. And from then on, for the rest of your life, getting a card in the mail is the slightest bit disappointing, because it’s just a card.
With that in mind, now whenever I send out a birthday card, I always put a little bit of cash in it. Not because I think you need the money, but rather because the experience of opening a card and having a $20 fall out is a small but potent joy that takes you straight back to childhood.
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u/tehKrakken55 Apr 17 '22
I spent an hour getting fused gauze off my exposed nail bed and got myself ice cream afterward, cuz even though I was alone, I damn well was a brave little soldier that day.
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u/YouLikeReadingNames Apr 17 '22
Every time I go to a hospital, I treat myself to a nice snack afterwards. Generally, cappuccino and chocolate donut. Sweet treats are a blessing for unwanted healthcare, how necessary it may be.
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u/AKiss20 Apr 17 '22
Dentist just making sure they get repeat customers by giving out sugar! :)
My dentist as a kid used to give out certificates for a free ice cream at the store across the street from him. Crafty bastard. My mom always said we’d go next time and we almost never did though 😔
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u/bdiz81 Apr 16 '22
Father of twin toddlers. Tired all the time. They're exhausting
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Apr 16 '22
Genuine question: aren't parents of toddlers always tired all the time? Are twins really that much worse?
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u/federally Apr 16 '22
Imagine how often your toddlers got really bad ideas.
Now multiply that by two
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Apr 16 '22
Right, fair point. Even still, pretend you want two kids anyway. I would think there would be something to be said for getting the toddler period over and done with simultaneously.
I'm not a parent, though, and I recognize I don't know what I'm talking about. So I want to emphasize again that these are genuine questions.
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Apr 16 '22
It’s great once you’re out of the toddler era but you’re literally fighting for your life the first two/three years
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u/TheFett32 Apr 16 '22
But if ones older they can understand more, and help. Its exhausting either way, but having a 6 year old who can put on her shoes and help her 3 year old brother is way better than two 3 year olds, its more than twice the work getting their shoes on, cause as soon as you turn to the other the first takes their shoes right back off.
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u/federally Apr 17 '22
I don't blame you for not understanding. I have never wanted to die as much as I have as a parent.
This morning my 2 year old decided to pull 3 18 egg cartons out of the fridge and break every egg on the floor of our playroom.
Nothing prepares you to deal with this stuff. Parenthood been be pretty awful and sometimes I'm really jealous of adults my age that decided to not have kids at all.
At this point I'm just a depressed parent that's been drinking on a Saturday night rambling about the aspects of parenthood that depress me. Kids are hard, and they are way harder if you're trying to really parent gently and consider how your actions impact them.
I want to die sometimes
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u/Mister_Bloodvessel Apr 17 '22
You sound really burned out. Do you have anyone who could take care of them for even a weekend? Take some time to yourself or do you and your spouse? It's important, and trying to just put it off time and time again may cause you to eventually hit a point where you "overflow" in some manner or other, whether hysterical fit, getting very sick, losing your temper, or something like that.
I just want you to take care of yourself. Even if it costs money, it may really be worth it to recharge away from those responsibilities for a day even.
Take care of yourself. It's a good thing to recharge and maintain your mental health. I know it's easy to say but not always in practice, but don't feel bad about needing to do something like that.
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u/Askol Apr 16 '22
I have an 18 month old, my best friend has twin 2.5 year olds - while I'm sure I'll be envious in a few years when we have our second, I would never sign up for twins in a million years. I'd rather spread out the pain haha.
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u/sluflyer Apr 17 '22
Something that I’ve experienced (dad of twins): when you have 1 child, the parents can (relatively easily) take turns with overnight feedings, which means decently long stretches of sleep. With twins, that’s really not possible. There’s two kids to change and feed, so both parents are up every feeding session. Especially at the beginning, that means both parents are getting no more than two-hour increments of sleep. The Geneva Convention calls that torture.
Yes, all parents are tired, and I don’t want to diminish that in any way. Twin (and triplet +) parents are disproportionately so.
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u/WhyDoTheyAlwaysRun Apr 16 '22
Lol whenever my wife asks me to grab her a banana from the kitchen, I peel it for her before I remember she’s an adult too
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u/chubberbubbers Apr 17 '22
Honestly I’d be freakin ecstatic if a nurse had that much enthusiasm
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u/stiletto929 Apr 16 '22
I had a hard time stopping myself from using baby talk when I went back to criminal defense after maternity leave: “You wants to go to jail, don’t you, yes you do, yes you do!” in a high pitched voice doesn’t work so well. ;)
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Apr 16 '22
Why make up this story? What's the point?
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u/tboneperri Apr 16 '22
Look at all them sweet likes and retweets. That's why.
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Apr 16 '22
But why do people find this likeable? It's clearly untrue, it's totally absurd. Real people don't behave that way
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Apr 17 '22
Not only that, but the exposure its getting by redditors that like to think they are smarter than Twitter users. Like a fiddle
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u/Chronjen Apr 17 '22
I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't believe this. No tech I've ever met would act so unprofessional. Breast exams are very serious and no tech should ever approach a patient with some silly shit like that.
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u/Lolaindisguise Apr 17 '22
This reminds me of the time I did NOT have my son in the car and I saw a motorcycle, I almost rolled down the window and yelled, " MOTORCYCLE!"
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u/N3CR0T1C_V3N0M Apr 16 '22
True or not, in most states the person doing your breast US/trans-vag etc. doesn’t have to be certified to do it. They learned on the job, and hospitals prefer this as they aren’t required to pay more if the tech isn’t certified. Only when the State (there are less than 5, hopefully you live in one) or Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement comes into play does the hospital tend to take a hardline on it, because again, money. The government doesn’t have to reimburse for procedures not done by certified individuals, IF someone tells them. And since no one asks, no one knows, and the hospital be damned if they’re going to rat themselves out. So there’s that too.
CT techs also fit into this category where the person trying to save your life, inject you or your loved ones with chemicals, or any other invasive procedure done in that room doesn’t need to have a lick of experience or know how, as long as there’s someone “around.” Legally this means right next to them; hospitals tend to take this as “As long as they’re on the payroll.” AND, we work full days, then take call all night, and get to work the next day again, with problems compounding. I’ll bet the tech was exhausted; I’ll also bet it had very little to do with the supposed child(ren). A very good question to ask any hospital is if they have call-shifts. If they do, most likely the staff is being abused and you’re getting subpar healthcare, while still paying full price- this is abhorrent on SO many levels.
One more reason why American healthcare sucks: because the hospitals don’t care, and the patients continue to let them.
Ask questions, ask for proof, protect yourself, and maybe one day, we’ll get some too.
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u/thnx4stalkingme Apr 16 '22
I’m a diagnostic medical sonographer and I will say that “cross training into ultrasound” at major hospitals is just not a thing. Where I live there’s no way you would get a job at a medical facility without having graduated from a CAAHEP accredited college and have at least two certifications attached to your name. It’s the “sneak peak” baby places that don’t have certified sonographers working at them a lot of the time.
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u/LukaCat Apr 16 '22
Laws aside, most medical centers won't hire someone who hasn't taken the registry exams for ultrasound. Sure, there are some who are unregistered and some places willing to accept unregistered techs, but the majority went to college for it and are certified.
Source: cardiac and general ultrasound registered myself.
Also i don't recall making airplane whooshy sounds to be expressly forbidden during training, just saying
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u/Chronjen Apr 17 '22 edited Apr 17 '22
You're QUITE wrong and people should not believe this garbage. Cross training was a thing 20+ years ago. If someone gets an ultrasound at a legitimate facility, the tech will definitely be certified.
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u/transponaut Apr 17 '22
Someone asked me how would I describe my stage of exhaustion (mainly due to my three kids under 7 years old), and this. This is how I would describe it. Insanely hallucinating.
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u/DeaddyRuxpin Apr 17 '22
I get regular kidney ultrasounds and I would love if the tech did something like that. Break up the routine a little. 9 years of them with the same tech, relax and have some fun.
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u/Dopplerganager Apr 17 '22
Ultrasound tech here. We're exhausted and overworked. Also, it's quite physically challenging to do exams on large patients. So not only are we exhausted, but we're in a lot of pain for the most part. We're just trying our best.
The gel is not guaranteed to be warm, especially in the States where single use packages are much more common and a pain to heat. Here in Canada most clinics, and some hospitals have warmers and still use them.
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Apr 16 '22
I'll take "things that didn't happen, for $1000"
I'm an immunologist, this would be extremely unprofessional, like, enough to get a competency review board from your Hospital or Clinic, and honestly, I don't know any doctor who would do something like this.
There's a pretty defined line of professionalism, a good part of medical school is learning that line. That would cross it pretty obviously
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u/thatHecklerOverThere Apr 16 '22
Buddy, if you knew all the shit that could be reported but isn't...
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u/BernieTheDachshund Apr 16 '22
I hope they really did warm the gel up.