I was alone with Jubilee the other day and we were running errands together. At one store, we took the escalator. Suddenly, my heart became wistful. As far as I can recall, Angelina and Madeleine have yet to ride an escalator! When Jubilee was their age, riding escalators was one of her favorite pastimes. Our trip to NYC involved many an escalator ride as part of her tourist experience. And it’s not simply because she’s the oldest and the oldest always gets to do more things or do them first. It’s because she was a singleton. I just don’t walk around stores with my children anymore; Angelina and Madeleine are always in a stroller or cart. The most I’ve walked in public areas is from the car to the closest shopping cart so that I can “cage” the toddlers before going shopping.
It’s not just escalators. Every once in a while I would let Jubilee play a computer game called “Baby Banger.” It taught her that if she pressed a key, then a picture would pop on the screen. But how can I play that with two toddlers? I’m sure it’s possible, but it’s not easy because they already fight over toys. Nothing is easy when you’re raising multiples… and an older child!
Another game that they’ve missed out on is “1-2-3” where each parent is holding the child’s hand and you lift the child up into the air. Kind of difficult to do when you’re outnumbered by your children. We did manage to play 1-2-3 with Angelina the other day. We were both holding her hands and David was carrying Madeleine with his other arm, and Jubilee wasn’t with us to get jealous. Needless to say, Angelina loved it. Thankfully, Madeleine didn’t seem to care.
I guess a lot of this comes down to being more diligent in giving Angelina and Madeleine these experiences.
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