Touching the lives of others

I'm working on the Twins at Totstime anniversary and leavers party.  This is going to be a party to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the twins club that I started with the help of some fabulous friends; and a party to celebrate the children that will be starting big school this September.  

Whilst at Totstime this morning, I spent a moment going through our registration cards to check which Twins at Totstime children will be starting school.  

36 families!  Approximately 72 children that have one time or another joined us at the Twins at Totstime play sessions (some still coming every week since).  

There is a reason that this is a very poignant moment for me.  And that is, I started this group with a view to help families that have twins, triplets or more.  I wanted to offer them a place where, if they had had a bad night with their babies and just needed somewhere to sit whilst their babies laid on the floor sleeping, crying or playing - they knew that they could come to our sessions and they would not be judged no matter what the outcome.  Somewhere that people in a similar position would relate to exactly how they are feeling, and be able to offer words of encouragement or even laugh together.  

Having twins is a really hard task, you have two babies to feed and sometimes, if you're lucky, they want feeding at the same time - other times they want to feed separately and quite often it's when you're in the middle of a nappy change or you've just sat down to drink your cup of tea that you made thirty minutes ago.  

Having twins is also a very rewarding task, you become the master of picking two children up at once, you find inner strength that you didn't even know you had and you come across other twin families that have a huge impact on your life.  Just like I have. 

Looking at our Twins at Totstime registration cards today, I have noted that we have 187 registered families.  Registered families are families that have one time or another been to one of our play sessions, it does not include twin families that I have met in the streets, out and about or at other venues.  That's 187 families that have at some point touched my heart by supporting a dream I started in August 2011.

From this year on, I can confidently say that at some point I will have known the children who attend our play sessions regularly from newborns to school age.  That to me is incredible.  

I am so chuffed of how far Twins at Totstime has come.  I am honoured to have such a fantastic team of volunteers who help keep the group going and really have made some amazing life long friends.  

Thank you to each and everyone of the twin (and the triplet) families who have helped Twins at Totstime in one way or another, whether that be by attending a play session, volunteering time to help or donating items for raffles etc.  Thank you!  It really does mean the world to me.