THIS FANCY CHAIR

When we moved into our new home with our six-week-old twins, my husband surprised me with this fancy chair. I thought it was the bee’s knees and couldn’t wait to style it in the nursery. The plan was to sit in it while blissfully breastfeeding the twins and rocking them to sleep—just like all those perfect pictures. But that’s not quite how it played out!

Little did I know that sitting in the chair with my twin breastfeeding pillow would take up all the space, and while my tiny babies could still fit fully on the pillow, there wasn’t enough room or support to keep them balanced. Long story short, the chair wasn’t big enough for the four of us. Plus, our kids never actually slept in their nursery; they stayed in our room until they turned one. So, their nursery became more like a well-kept museum that I’d visit only to put away clothes.

For the longest time, this fancy chair just sat there in the nursery, looking pretty but serving no real purpose. But recently, it’s become my go-to spot when bedtime madness kicks in—either to read a book or scroll through social media.

As a rookie mum, I used to fight this bedtime chaos—it was a battle of wills. I’d struggle to get my two energetic little humans ready for sleep, only for them to battle me right back: escaping, jumping around and on me, crying, screaming, and outright refusing to get ready for bed. It was a stressful ordeal, often ending in two crying toddlers and one very frazzled mum.

These days, my goal is simpler: get them upstairs into their room. Then I sit in this fancy chair and watch the end-of-day energy explosion unfold: jumping on the bed, running in and out of the room, tossing pillows everywhere, and crashing into pillow piles. I sit there for a good 20 minutes or so, relaxed and intentionally ignoring the chaos around me until they finally tire themselves out. And that’s my cue!

I spring into action and seize the moment, quickly getting them ready for bed. This new approach has worked wonders—they’re completely exhausted, ready to sleep, and no one goes to bed upset. The only catch? I’m left with two very sweaty, coughy little humans, making the task of getting their nappies and PJs on a bit of a struggle, followed by the challenge of helping them brush their teeth while dodging their coughs in my face.

But hey, on the bright side, this fancy chair is finally getting some use!

Xoxo,
Andrea