1- I am addicted to many things in life, the list includes Starbucks, Bags, Notebooks, Chocolate and ice-cream (I tried to get rid of this addiction but haven't beaten any yet)

2- I am a very SOCIAL selective person which means that i am very social with the people i like (LOL) i can be very caring and funny but not with everyone (Some people including my hubby get annoyed with this saying I have to be as good with everyone but i just cant act)

3- If i don't like you, i will never ever tell you anything good as a compliment or something. I share only what is in my heart. So If i tell you good things, then i really mean it and it is how i feel about you.

4- I am an organization freak, i love my room and desk to be super neat.

5- I love Zara home to the extent that i would be happy to be a store manager or sleep one night there having all those colors around me. I even like the store smell (LOL)

6- I love the sea and would love to have a nice cruise but i have a phobia that the day i decide to do that, the ship will sink like titanic (LOL)

7- I appreciate nature and sitting in a place with the view of greenery and a notebook in my hand would be the best i can ever ask for

8- I love music, it just lifts my spirit. Sometimes i listen to things that do not go with how i look but i am crazy. If the words and the beat are nice, i can listen to it for hours

9- I am very emotional person and this is something that brings me headache most of the time

10- I talk a lot so i send long emails and long messages. I try not to but i cant

11- I was the first on my class in school since primary one till high school. But i was never the nerd who would sit on the first row. On the contrary i was active and i talk a lot in class but i love studying so i was the first during all my school years

12- I have visited London a lot with my parents and lived there for sometime. It is one of the places that holds a special place in my heart and would love to go there anytime. I like their culture, the houses, the royal family, the Big Ben, the red buses, the telephone booth, you name it...

13- My mother is my best friend, i love her madly and i care about her as if she is my daughter. If she is upset i cant even smile and when she is happy i can fly. My only prayer for God is to keep her safe for me till my last breath

14- Although i love brands, and into designer bags and so on but i love to buy good bargains and when my favorite store is on sale, i wouldn't mind sleep over there but they wont allow me

15- I get inspired by people i write about and each one has indirectly taught me something new or opened my eyes on something i never considered before

16- I love writing since i was a teenager but never thought i would take it professionally until I got pregnant. I used to write in Teenstuff magazine when i was still in school, then was a reporter in the University newspaper till i started working in magazines later beside my marketing research job

17- Although i worked in marketing research for 7 years, one part of me loves this job and the other part hates it and i have a list of reasons for both

18- I used to be spoiled by my parents but I can act like a man when needed. all the close people tell me I am reliable and dependable person

19- I am so addicted to my work and wish one day i can own my own magazine or write a book (Am working on it)

20- I want to be healthy person and i like healthy food but my love for deserts always bring me to square zero (LOL)

Today was the first day for my kids in the nursery and I couldn't but share it on my Twin Mummy's Diary page:

I was so excited that finally I got the guts to admit my kids in a nursery, now that they are 2 years 8 months, it was about time it happens but starting yesterday night, the excitement I had began to fade and be replaced with so many mixed feelings.

I was getting so emotional and felt guilt, fear, happiness, sadness but the most evident feeling was the guilt part. I felt like i am throwing them to the outer world (i will not filter my thoughts nor try to beautify it, i will just say it as it is on my mind). I have been taking care of them alone since day one (with the help of my blessed mother) so instead of being happy today that finally i will have some time for myself, i felt bad.

I know it sounds negative but that is what i went through, i wanted to not take them in the morning but i kept reminding myself that they will enjoy having new friends, they have to mingle with people, they need to learn more discipline, they have to know I am not there all the time to cuddle and spoil, they should get prepared to school and so on. But still i was somehow down till i took them back home.

I am a very emotional person (Unfortunately) but I have never felt so much emotions in one day. I have always thought that they are so attached to me and they cant let go, maybe I am also as attached if not more. Today i felt lonely in the morning, wanted to be with them, wanted to tell them I am still here, I will take you home in a while but this was not allowed for their own sake.

But I guess I am being selfish, because i want them in front of my eyes all the time and this is not realistic. Sooner or later they have to merge with the world and they need to mingle with other kids and people. Am I happy? i cant say I am but i am sure that few days down the line, I will get used to it and feel better. Because part of being a mother is to accept and embrace anything that would make your kids happy so as long as they are happy, so will I be...

I just wonder If i went through all this on the first day of nursery, what will i feel when they graduate from university or get married (If I am still there to experience that) LoL

Merits of having twins

It is always the case that moms to be feel horrified when they know they will be having twins. But today I decided to take the chance and spot the merits of having twins for a change J

1- Despite being double the hassle (or slightly more than the double), they are also double the fun. You have two little funny creatures at home who more often than not are nothing alike.

2- They do get jealous from each other so when one is not eating and finds the other one eating, he gets to imitate him / her

3- Having twins make you as a mother more efficient with everything and a real multitasked person

4- They always feel company even if alone with you at home because everyone always has the other person

5- It is being said that they sleep better because they don’t feel alone in their rooms

6- Everyone would want to give a helping hand because twins sounds scary so you find people feeling for you all the time

7- The dad has to get involved in many tasks when he is a father of twins

8- If they are the same gender, they can just share everything together especially toys (For me because they are a boy and a girl, they are worlds apart

9- In school it is nice when they get to study the same things, they can even study together or compete who is better

10- You will won’t have to worry about how many years gap between the babies, you got both in one shot

11- You go through all the early months hassles once, I can’t even imagine that if I had one baby I will be considering now a second one

12- You have double the love, double the kisses and hugs. I love it when they feel jealous of who hugs me and kisses me more

That is for today but I will keep updating this list <3

Tips for parents expecting twins

- Be smart when it comes to baby shopping. Now that you are expecting twins, you need to prepare your list and abuse sales in the stores. I remember I used to wait for my favorite stores to go on sale so I can get my babies all what they need with good bargains.

- Not every new toy has to be an individual toy; try to get toys that match both tastes and interests. In my case having a boy and a girl there is no option of sharing when it comes to dolls or cars but there are other games that can be enjoyed by both.

- Don’t get tempted to buy everything in the world for the babies. The baby brands’ marketing is doing a very good job to make us wrongly believe that we can’t live without their products. Truth is I fell in that trap ad after I gave birth I discovered that I didn’t need to get all those things.

- Be careful when choose the baby stroller. Me and my husband (mostly him) did an extensive research about the twin strollers. In twin stroller don’t go for the fancy but rather go for the simple, light and small. The heavier the babies get the more challenging it is to maneuver the stroller.

- Accept the fact that you are having both Childs at once instead of being after one another. Actually having twins is helpful and has its own merits and you will encounter everything once like pregnancy pain.

- Seek help because there are times you will not be able to do it all alone especially the first few months. I have the most helpful mother ever where I stayed with her first 5 months and she was the greatest support. She helped me with the babies and took care of all my needs during my stay.

- The husband’s role is much more amplified when he is a father of twins. I guess if I was blessed with one baby only I wouldn’t have needed his help that much but now that they are two he supports me in many things especially when we go out because without a nanny it is almost impossible.

- Look for things to make your life better and easier. Again my husband supports me on that big time, for example we bought all the needed safety items for the house to ensure that when I am home alone with them, I don’t need to have anything more pressuring.

- For the mother I would advise if she can let go of her job for the first few years, this might really be of great help because taking care of kids and a career even if someone is helping you just drain yourself and you will enjoy neither of them.

- Mummies need to find a hobby for yourself or revive an old hobby because at times of real stress and pressure you will really appreciate these little moments you spend doing something you love.

- Think twice before you consider a nanny, nannies are not magical creatures. They have their own problems and issues and sometimes they even add more pressures. I tried them once and I was not happy at all with the experience. No matter how they show they care, no one cares about your kids as much as you do so weigh the pros and cons of having one and then decide whether you go for it or not.

Merits of Vinegar

Recently I have come to discover the merits of having vinegar around in the house and it is not only useful to make salad as you wrongly think, vinegar is a magical solution lying inside our kitchen cabinets. It is very beneficial for a multitude of tasks around the house, below are some of the things that I tried myself but there are tens of other uses.

1- Wash Veggies and fruits: Vinegar is effective in removing bacteria and pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables. So you only need to add some vinegar to the water you are using to wash your grocery. Other people say get a bottle and put ¼ vinegar and ¾ water and spray on all the fruits and veggies then rinse with water only.

2- Get rid of that sticky glue: if you accidently glue things together or have a sticky label on a product that you want to get rid of then you can use vinegar as a solvent to dissolve the adhesive power of the glue.

3- Overcome carpet stains: You can use a mix of water and vinegar to get rid of some carpet stains. You can also wipe the carpets using a clean broom dipped in vinegar and water to look shinier and as good as new.

4- Say goodbye to sticky scissors blades: if your scissors blades get sticky don’t wash it with water as this will rust the blades but rather wipe it off using a cloth dipped in strong white vinager.

5- Clean and deodorize your toilet bowl: Pour white vinegar into it. Let it stand for five minutes, then flush. Spray stubborn stains with white vinegar, and then scrub vigorously.

6- Add shine to your hair: Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to one cup of water while rinsing your hair to get that nice shine.

7- Get rid of bad odor inside your freezer: If you have bad odors in the fridge, simply use a solution that is equally water and vinegar, wipe it with that solution then leave it to dry.

8- Clean shower heads from Mineral residues: remove the shower head, put it in a sealed pleastic bag and ½ cup of warm vinegar and leave it for one hour. Then rinse, wipe and put it back, it will look as good as new.

9- Wipe off wax or polish build up: you can use a mixture of equal vinegar and equal water and use it on a cloth to wipe off whatever you want.

10- Dissolve rust: If you have old tools having rust on it, you only have to soak it vinegar for few days and you will see rust disappear.

11- Brighten up coffee cups and teacups: some people wrongly clean those using water and clore but it has been proved that this is very dangerous. The safer option is to use a mix of half salt and half vinegar and use it to scrub the stains.

12- Whiten your teeth (This one I have not tried myself): Brush your teeth once a week with white distilled vinegar. Dip your toothbrush into the vinegar and brush thoroughly. It will help prevent bad breath, too.

13- Freshen fabrics: Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spritz your home to neutralize odors in fabrics, carpets, shoes or any sprayable surface.

14- Eliminate dandruff (This one I have not tried myself): If your scalp is feeling dry or flaky, vinegar can be a simple at-home remedy. Once a week, pour one cup of apple cider vinegar over your scalp, and let it sit for 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with cool water.

Planning is the key

Many times I hear mothers complain from the lack of time, the multitude of tasks and how constantly they are over whelmed with their daily duties. When I suggest planning I hear things like “but how can I plan”, “Everyday there are new surprises”, “all the days are just messy”, “I don’t know how to stick to a plan” and so on. For me these are just an example of giving lame excuses (sorry for being honest). Why do you think there are mothers more successful than others? Planning is the answer and until you realize the importance of planning, you have one of two choices; either stop complaining and accept your messy situation or try to embrace a new way of thinking.

For me planning is more than essential, it has been my favorite life companion ever since I can remember. Having my to-do-list is an inevitable part of my life and the funny thing I have it for my personal as well as professional lives. Now that I am staying at home for my babies for some time, I can’t go on without my house duties’ to-do-list. I write every week what I need to do over the week and what I need to accomplish around the weekdays so I am left out almost free over the weekend. Of course a mother is never free but I choose to cook all week but not on the weekend. I choose to get done with the laundry across the week but not on the weekend. I intentionally buy all the things I need from the supermarket across the week so as not to waste my weekend in grocery shopping (when I would prefer to do some real shopping).

Instead of being overwhelmed and complain and end up finishing nothing Learn to PRIORITIZE. Select the most important tasks to be done and divide those urgent tasks among the week. If every day you do one major task, it will feel way better and you won’t feel (in a certain way) the multitude of the job. Target to have a free weekend (No major house chores); for me it feels good as I am kind of free from the major routine tasks, still there will be things here and there but no cooking, no laundry, no cleaning, etc. Keep a to-do-list in your kitchen for important stuff; I keep a small magnetic white board on my fridge for important dates, apportionments or reminders that can’t be missed.

From experience, I can tell you that there is no way out of the motherly tasks nor can you decrease the duties but for sure you can make your life better if you decide to make it easier. A good mother is not a free one, but rather someone who can plan her house and be smart in doing her tasks and still find time for herself.

Joys of being a mother

Many times I feel that we mothers give a bad impression about maternity to moms-to-be or to girls who fear getting pregnant because of what we continuously convey. I am not negating the fact that being a mother is overwhelming. I am not trying to prove it is not; on the contrary for me having to take care of twins without a nanny (which is a choice I am proud to have made) is even more overwhelming than being a mother for one baby. But the point is while we always tend to complain, we forget to highlight the blessings and joys of being mothers. Today I decided I will shed some light on the joys rather than the burdens for a change. While I will still keep talking about the burdens in the future and how to make it better, I hope you enjoy reading this for now… when you are a mother;

1- You start to look at your life with a different angle: your life no longer revolves around you. Now that you have kids, their own well-being and pleasure is much more important than yours. You can’t eat if they are hungry, you can’t rest if they are awake, you can’t have your me-time if they need you. Your own needs are not a priority anymore but rather a luxury and you do that so willingly from your heart.

2- The motherhood feeling of taking care of your kids is a real enjoyment: No matter how tiring it is, I still enjoy the feeling that I am responsible for them. I love taking care of their needs and enjoy doing them all the things they love.

3- Watching the world through their eyes is one of the purest things about having kids. It is so nice to look at life the way they do where their trouble revolves around a toy that they want to play with or a cartoon that they want to watch. When I go to the entertainment center with them, for few hours, I tend to forget the harsh life we are living it and try to get mad with them enjoying some rides.

4- Seeing your kids grow is another pleasure of life. Although my kids are not 3 years yet but seeing them develop from being babies to trying to be more dependent and playing alone is amazing. Seeing each kid develop a character is beyond enjoyable, I feel I am growing up my new best friends whom I want to be friends with till my last breath.

5- I was never a believer of a true best friend, I tend to be suspicious and my one and only trust worthy friend has always been my mother. Now I feel that I have genuine people in my life who truly loves me, I just hope they love as much as I love my mother.

6- Sharing their fun things with them is also a priceless experience. For me I love to sit, play and color with them. It distracts me from the world’s pressures and is just so much fun. Take the time to do that; if you enjoy it a bit, it will be the time of their lives. They really do appreciate being close to us and interacting with us more than we could think.

7- Enjoying their random hugs and kisses is my favorite part of being a mother. When they hug me or kiss me for no reason, I feel I don’t want that moment to end; it makes me feel life is worth living and that I am going through a lot of hassle’s but it is worth it. More often than not, I feel I need this hug to assure me that the world is still pure, kind and sweet

8- Being a mother teaches you how to deal with fears you never knew existed.

9- They are a source of daily inspiration for us. They are mini purer version of us. One day my sister told me a description that I cherished and wished to keep in my heart forever, she said your kids are angels that have not been stained by the filthy world we live in. It is true, sometimes when I look at them; I feel pity for they don’t know how harsh life is.

10- One of the dearest moments I love is seeing their eyes light up when they see something they love or when they get a toy that wanted. Sometimes I try to get them any simple thing just to see this excitement and happiness. It takes few seconds but makes me feel accomplished and fills me with joy for the whole day.

The diaper bag dilemma

It is beyond challenging to find a suitable diaper bag when you have twin babies. You want a bag that is light, big and doesn’t take space; sounds like a joke, right? Finding the suitable diaper bag was never easy for me and whenever I settle on one, I later feel that this is not the one and that I have to start searching again to find the perfect bag. You want to go out with milk powder, milk bottles, pacifiers, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, diaper cream, jars, food, and few toys for entertainment enough for two kids. So basically you need a luggage bag to accommodate all this.

I started the maternity journey with a Chico diaper bag; the curvy small one which would can easily hang on the stroller. But few months later I discovered that it is not convenient at all because in order to take all what I need, it gets so cramped and I struggle to get what I need. Because things are on top of each other so when I need the wipes, I might need to empty half the bag to find it. So I decided that I will wash it and keep it aside and look for another bag. I went and bought the biggest diaper bag in the world. At first I was so happy because I could take everything I need. It had so many compartments that made it easier for me to arrange it. It was perfect when I went for house visits because it had everything and anything. But wait this was not the happy ending, the bag was too heavy to go out with; it was a burden on the stroller that it caused a technical problem in its maneuver.

So what to do now? The smallest bag is not enough and the biggest is not convenient. I was left with the only option I haven’t tried yet, the diaper back bag. This one has so many advantages, it is easier when you are on the go, and it is amazing when traveling. It doesn’t take much space and lifts the weight off your shoulder so you don’t feel it is as heavy as the bag on one shoulder feels. I got it but again putting all what I needed inside it was challenging. The day I decide not to take something, is the very same day I need it. Sometimes I used to say no need for extra clothes, on this same day the kids would vomit. Another time I decided not to take the jars, but they refused to eat anything else and I had to run to a supermarket to buy them two jars. So now this is not the ideal solution either.

To cut a long story short I will tell you what I have settled on after so many trials and so many more bags. Now I go out with a small cooler bag that has the milk bottles, the water cups, the milk powder and any food I decide to take. Then in my car there is another bag (one of the old unsuccessful ones) which has an extra flannel, tops and shorts for each kid as well as the diaper change supplies. Now if I am going to a mall or a visit, I only enter with the cooler bag which is more than enough for the food, water and milk. And if I need to change diapers or change clothes I have my emergency kit in the car. I hope you find this post helpful and please feel free to share your insights.

My diet failure trials

On my very last serious diet attempt, I used to record most of my feelings about food. I came to realize new things everyday so I thought I will write it down to share it with you <3 <3 <3

- Day 1: Never go to the supermarket while you are hungry because you will end up buying all sorts of food (mostly unhealthy and sweets).

- Day 2: Keep everything healthy at home so as not to be tempted even if you get weak; it is much easier not to find a bar of chocolate than to find one and resist eating it.

- Day 3: Eating healthy is easy and filling, it is just boring. There is nothing exciting about it. I wonder about people who eat healthy all the time, don’t you get bored (I am already thinking of someone and I am sure she knows herself)

- Day 4: Why are we obsessed with our bodies although we know that all the bodies in media is fake. It looks like this either by surgery or by Photoshop!

- Day 5: My problem is not food, my real problem is desserts. I can live very well with healthy portions but how am I supposed to live without chocolates and ice-cream!

- Day 6: Healthy food tastes better than junk so the question now is why we do crave junk? It really isn’t that nice.

- Day 7: Why is junk called comfort food while it is really makes so uncomfortable

- Day 8: Ever wondered who is the wicked person who invented fried food and cheese burgers?

- Day 9: A question for healthy people (again you know yourself) when on a diet and you get hit by emotional eating, what do you do?

- Day 10: Emotional eating and dieting don’t mix and is really challenging.

- Day 11: Great news: dark chocolate is healthy and boosts metabolism, so dark chocolate will be an inescapable part of the fridge (no wait, they say maximum one cube a day).

- Day 12: Mustard is zero calories so I can eat more of that. But what am I going to eat it with? Tuna (not a big fan).

- Day 13: This is so funny, healthy people say “binge on cucumber and broccoli” seriously? This is not the definition of binging

- Day 14: Things you never consider as sweet when you are not on a diet suddenly feels so sugary when on a diet.

- Day 15: Wow I started to crave yogurt as a dessert, I am definitely sick (But I put strawberry jam on it whether you like it or not healthy people)

- Day 16: When not on a diet you just eat everything and anything but now that am on a diet I question every single calorie.

- Day 17: Why was I not that picky earlier so I could have saved myself from gaining all those kilos?

- Day 18: I can’t keep ice cream nor chocolate out of my head, it is in my genes. Even my daughter adores them.

- Day 19: Dark chocolate tastes bitter while not on diet but too sweet when on a diet. (I wonder how much I have harmed my body).

- Day 20: Never appreciated veggies that much, I always tend to choose carbs but now veggies are my best friends when I am on a diet

- Day 21: Why don’t I eat healthy all the time, I love the taste of the healthy food. I could have saved myself all the pain and sadness I feel.

- Day 22: No diet; no rules. Now diet: New rules

- Day 23: I hate those people who eat everything and complain that they can’t put on weight

- Day 24: I stood on my new digital balance and it read 0 kilos. Great I disappeared.

- WAIT FOR MORE… TO BE CONTINUED… By the way I guess that I already gained whatever I lost during those 3 weeks because my clothes just feel the same. But I will keep trying to be a better healthier person.

Are we emotionally what we eat?

Being a mother is a lot of stress; unfortunately it is a common practice that we tend to cure that by eating. I am one of those people who has let go to emotional year after year; I am almost 20 kilos overweight. Whenever I try to lose weight I go back to that emotional eating habit the moment I am faced with a stressful situation. Many times it happens that as soon as we feel upset, we go to the fridge and grab a piece of chocolate or feel like eating an ice cream. The way we seem to correlate between sadness, depression and eating is a common practice. Not only do we think about eating but also tend to be more attracted to sweets and comfort foods which it works out temporarily.

To find out that this is not an individual case but rather something that has clear biological and psychological reason, I did a lot of research. It is very essential that one knows and understands the mechanism of emotional eating in order to be able to fight it. With this post I intend to help myself and you to overcome this horrible habit. Emotional eating is a vicious cycle, you feel depressed, you eat, and you gain weight and consequently feel more depressed and so on. Emotional eating is defined to be “the practice of eating large quantities of comfort food (junk food) in response to feelings instead of hunger”.

It is a chosen drug for escaping from all our bad situations and tension. This is not a mere illusion; it has its biological rationale behind it. It is due to the fact that when one eats, the chemicals we gain from food not only affect the appetite but also our brains so the connection between food and mood becomes a bit complex and hard to separate. When we eat, hormones like serotonin, endorphins and dopamine are affected. These are the very same chemicals which affect the mood. They are even sometimes put into anti-depressant medicines.

Emotional eating is not a serious illness; it is a normal common experience in our lives and becomes serious only when we let go to it. Since I am sure that no one would want to have eating as her only resolution or ultimate problem solver. I collected some tips for us and will try to share more in the future =)

1- Hinder yourself from eating if you don’t feel that you are starving. Don’t listen to your body if you feel you just want to eat something. Hunger pain only stays for like 10 minutes.

2- You can always do things like net surfing, reading a book, calling a friend or even go out for a drink when you feel like eating.

3- Do sports and exercises on a regular basis. Not only is sporting healthy in itself; but it puts one in a good mood. Research proved that sporting helps release the happiness hormone in our bodies.

Tips for the perfect cookies:

1- Have all ingredients at room temperature for more glamorous perfect cookies, unless otherwise specified in your recipe.

2- Read the recipe perfect before starting and get all your ingredients ready in front of you before starting

3- Using fresh ingredients is very helpful, sometimes we use old flour, or baking powder or things that are about to expire. These affect the quality of baked products.

4- Measure the ingredients carefully, don’t think that by putting 2 eggs instead of 1 you are having a richer recipe. On the contrary, this can damage the whole recipe. This is a common mistake that I used to do in cakes.

5- Soften the butter by leaving it in room temperature for few hours before baking. It is better than melting it in the microwave and also better than doing it over the oven. Using soft melted butter by room temperature gives the best texture.

6- Freeze the dough for some time before you bake it. It helps the dough keep in shape and it makes working easier with soft cookie dough. They say that it improves the flavor but I never tried that so not sure of this point.

7- It is very important to preheat the oven 10 to 15 minutes before you begin baking cookies. This is usually consistent unless a recipe specifically calls for you to start with a cold oven.

8- All cookies need to be of uniform size and thickness so they all get cooked perfectly at the same time exactly.

9- Leave room between cookies, thumb rule is 2 inches because when they are cooked, they melt and expand so you don’t want them to stick to each other. If the recipe is for bigger cookies, adjust the space accordingly but 2 inch space is the space for normal sized ones.

10- Be sure not to overcook them because it takes a few seconds between a very well cooked crispy cookie of perfect texture and those which are slightly burnt and a bit hard to bite. First time I baked cookies they were as hard as a brick because I left 5 minutes more than the recipe. They say set the timer 3-4 minutes less than the time specified in the recipe.

Freezing tips:

a- If you want to freeze them for an occasion or a trip, you should freeze baked cookies in airtight freezer containers, freezer bags, or aluminum foil.

b- If you want to freeze the dough itself, this is pretty easy just beware because the dough absorb any odd odors present in the freezer so it has to be perfectly sealed and wrapped.

Don’t forget to have fun

More often than not we tend to only talk about the burdens of having kids and look at the kids as mere responsibility. While it is true that they are a huge responsibility (no doubt about that) and yes they pose some pressure on their parents but we tend to forget to celebrate the fun part of having kids. Which I believe is a reason why we scare mom-to-be from the motherhood experience. When I gave birth I used to feed the kids, change their diapers, shower them and put them to sleep so my mom always told me “don’t act like a robot, a mother is not supposed to only feed and shower her kids, you are meant to spend time with them, be close to them, talk to them, sing to them and so on” she says.

It is true I guess I only started to enjoy having my twins only recently. I spend more time with them, I try to talk, laugh, sing and play. It is so nice how they get happy from the simplest silliest acts you do. It only shows how you mean the world to them. They really appreciate being with you and spending time with you. Ideas like the reading alphabet books, singing the nursery rhymes, bed time stories and coloring are ones of many examples of how to spend time with your kids (Am talking about my kids’ age; two year old). Of course each age has its own ways of engagement and interaction. The point remains to be to try to spend time with them in a way that suits their age.

A couple of weeks ago I introduced the coloring crayons to my babies and they are loving it. They are still two years so they just take it and play round with it or just draw lines on blank paper. Today I sat with them on their table and kept drawing them things they asked for like a boy, a house, a car, a tree, a flower, a fish, a star and so on. Then I colored it with them, it made me feel I am in a very different world, for a moment I felt that I am disconnected from the pressuring life we are living in. I also felt great joy seeing them excited and happy with the coloring experience that I chose few papers that I will share with them when they grow old to cherish the memory of it. I guess we spent more than an hour like this and I am definitely going to repeat it soon but I felt it was so rewarding to the three of us, that’s why I felt like sharing it.

For every mother who is only keen on doing the mom tasks, I encourage you to think out of the box in order to spend more fun time with your kids. Make them a simple toy with your own hands, build them a house with Lego, hold their dolls and try to make an act with them. Very simple silly things will translate into big happy moments and unforgettable memories.

The nanny video is killing me

Yesterday I saw a horrible 2 minute video about a nanny with a one year old baby alone. The mother left her a hidden camera to see how she treats z baby. Guess what? She slaps a one year old on his face every time he cries. I still feel so bad. I cud barely sleep. I cried & wished I cud slap z nanny just z way she did to that poor baby. I want to tell u all, nothing deserves leaving a young baby with a nanny. Don’t go after money & leave a baby who can’t talk to b treated like that. He will be destroyed & he will never be able to tell u.

It’s very important to be beside your kids first few years. If you really have to go work, leave him with a mother or a mother in law. They will never hurt him like this.

I still feel shaky as of me writing this post. I feel horrible about it. I held myself for months to watch that video but yesterday I couldn’t. I wish I never saw it because it just assured me of how sick, filthy, fake, cruel, harsh, crazy, evil nannies could be. I had two experiences with Egyptian nannies where I was staying at home with them but both were bad ones. One was a liar & the other one had a psychological disturbance. I stayed two month with each & guess what. I was in doubt of what they do z moment I go to the bathroom. I never left them at home with the kids for a minute but I am telling u again don’t ever believe them. They don’t love your kids as theirs. It’s merely a lie. They don’t love you also; they feel jealous of every single breath you take.

I left my work & decided to put my career aside not because I don’t need it, nobody does. I did it because nothing is worth leaving my kids behind. Nothing is worth not sharing these few years with them. I get bored sometimes & get depressed that am home alone (especially that am currently not in my home town so my mother is not around). But I know I am doing the right thing.

Seeing a video like that or hearing horrible stories from other mothers assure me every day that I am right & I will take this responsibility as long as I can. No matter how tired & exhausted I get, I will cherish that I took care of my own gifts & saved them from a bad treatment. Hope ur not leaving your kid now with s nanny alone as of u reading this post!!

De-clutter your life

While for many people this is a punishment; for me arranging things is beyond my passion. I enjoy it so much to the extent that I want to create this profession in life, where I go de-clutter people’s rooms and drawers and get paid by hour. I can safely say it is one of my hobbies when I get bogged down; it makes me happy and more relaxed. Ever since I was young, my happiest day was when I tell my mother “today I will arrange these drawers or these shelves”. She used to act like "you don’t need to" but I know she loves it also. Although she is super clean, de-cluttering the house was for her overwhelming.

Today I decided to tell you some tips on how you can de-clutter your house. You can arrange it the way you want. Maybe you do it room by room, maybe you do all drawers in one day and all the shelves in another, all the bathrooms in one day. No matter how you divide the house, everyone does it the way she wants. Just keep in mind that you need two boxes where ever you are; one box for trash and one box for giveaways or donations.

1- Take the decision: Usually if everything is in place, you can take this decision once in every couple of years. But if you can’t keep things in place then you might to do regular de-cluttering activities.

2- Prepare two boxes one for garbage and one for donations: This way when you approach any place to de-clutter you will have the things you will keep which will go back to the drawer or shelf, the things you will throw away and the things that are in a good shape but not needed.

3- Start filtering out everything one by one: Get rid of the habit of collecting stuff. If there are cosmetics, ensure you throw away the expired ones. If these are pens try them, you will find many of them are not suitable for use already. If these are accessories, I can assure you that you are not using maybe half of them.

4- Clean the shelves and drawers: These drawers and shelves more often than not collect dust due to the presence of many small scattered items in them. So in order to ensure the de-cluttering process is done properly, you need to totally empty them, clean those in the suitable way then re arrange the items you decided to keep.

5- Put something that help you better with the arrangement: These can include drawer separators, plastic baskets, plastic boxes, jars, empty cups or even colored buckets. The purpose is to arrange the stuff / items in a way that makes it easier to quickly find anything even if you are in a hurry. The way you separate things not only makes it look neater but also manageable. Lastly whenever you want to clean this drawer or shelf any time soon, you will only need to move out a couple of plastic containers, clean and take them back rather than having items scattered all over.

6- Maintain that for as long as you can: Never let things pile up again. This is easier than you think. Leave one piece of paper on the eating table and you will find the table turned into an office by the end of that week.

7- Clean regularly

De-clutter 101

Having a neat tidy house is very important. Yet we are in a culture that loves to collect things. If we look at each drawer and shelf in our houses we will be amazed because more often than not we are just keeping things for the sake of it. Usually the anatomy of any drawer or shelf will go like this:

- We have things that we haven't used for years yet we think maybe we will need it after we throw it so we keep it

- Or things that are not working but we tend to convince ourselves that it can be fixed and hence be useful so we keep that too

- Clothes that are outdated or got smaller thinking that maybe if we lose weight we can use it or maybe it is fashionable one more time although we never tend to look at the old clothes that are back in fashion but rather go buy new ones so again things kept with no potential use

- Pens that are no longer working simply because we don't take the effort to check them. These are only taking the space while they should be in the trash

- The list can go on but this is just an example of the top of mind things i have as of me writing this post.

Thumb rule is to keep things that you only use or things that you believe are beautifully outstanding. Other than that it is either trash or something that can be of better use if given to someone else.

Keeping your house de-cluttered has so many benefits like

1- It helps you feel more relaxed (This is a true psychological benefit)
2- It makes organizing everything much easier
3- It helps cleaning because when things are organized they have less tendency to collect dust
4- It saves time as you know where is everything located
5- It helps the poor since you can make them happier with things that for them is a necessity
6- It can even help the environment if we are in a more recycling savvy cultures

I will be posting something very soon about simple steps of how to de-clutter your house <3 Organizing things is my passion so I hope you will find the post useful.

Some tips if you decide to work from home

1- Allocate few hours a day for your work. Try to make some of those while kids are asleep. Don’t do all the work while they are around because you will end up being frustrated for not being able to concentrate. Also you might get angry with them and they don’t have a clue that you need to focus on something other than them.

2- Have a special table / desk for your work where you create a mini office environment. Not only will it encourage you to work, but also will be very convenient when you actually sit and try to get in the mood of doing something other than nappy change. On this table I have placed my laptop, an artificial plant, a cup holding all my pens, another for my highlighters, and a couple of notebooks.

3- Try to arrange and plan your house duties; be as efficient as possible with your house chores as this will give you more time for the kids and your work. Efficiency is of utmost importance given the fast paced life we are leading.

4- Never let your kids feel you’re with them physically not emotionally. Sometimes they call me and I notice that I don’t give the needed attention because I am concentrating on what I am writing. So they would keep calling, only when I go to them and look and talk and maybe appraise what they did, will they leave me and consider their mission accomplished.

5- Don’t let people feedback get you down. Sometimes you will get comments like “how can you do it”, “hope this is not affecting your kids”, “Don’t overdo it” and the list goes on. It is normal and expected but don’t let that make you feel guilty or upset. Don’t let comments like these bog you down or make feel selfish. You are a super mom for doing both things. You chose to leave you career behind, be a stay at home mom and do what it takes to be successful on both sides.

6- Juggle among tasks; I find it challenging but thrilling that in the midst of writing something I can go feed my kids. Maybe later while I am sitting reading something, I can go do the laundry. You are constantly doing a lot of unrelated tasks. The key to enjoy it and not be overwhelmed is to prioritize and have a to-do list daily.

7- Keep the kids happily busy when they are awake. Sometime when I have an important work task to finish, I give them a new toy or open them a new cartoon on TV so that don’t even notice I am busy. It is nice and it helps that you don’t feel guilty about your work.

8- Keep your home organized for when it is neat and clean it will greatly affect the wellbeing of your kids and accordingly your life, productivity and work progress.

Working from home?

Working from home can sound a bit overwhelming for some mothers but trust me it is not. I have been working from home since I gave birth to my twins; 2 years ago. For me it is very thrilling as it breaks my daily routine and makes me feel I am doing something for myself. It gives me the sense of accomplishment as well as helps me be more productive with the kids. It doesn’t feel right when all you do is related to the house and the babies. Sometimes you feel like a nanny although these are your own kids; you still need a break. Other times you feel like you are a housekeeper despite it being your own house.

But you will never think like that when you work from home. It helps make the entire maternity experience worthwhile. Yet it depends on the kind of work you choose; for me choosing to take my writing career seriously was the ideal option. Maybe the income is not that great, but it is more of a physiological fulfillment than a financial one. “It is better than nothing”, I say to myself. It is a nice pocket money that I have for myself. Not only am I having the luxury to be beside my kids and watch them but also I have the opportunity to build myself and utilize this time in doing something for my own career / future.

It is said that “working mums are happier than stay-at-home moms”. I know that not everyone can, but if you are one of those who decided to work (at home or outside), you need to know that you will be feeling better than you expect even if you stress yourself a bit more. With just some organization and planning, everything can fall in place and you can make the most out of both your work and motherhood…

Stay tuned for some tips of how to work from home efficiently which I will share over the next couple of days.

Easier said than done

Before I became a mother, I always used to judge mothers who leave their kids crying and screaming in the mall. “How can a mother leave her kid crying like that totally neglecting what he is doing”, “Doesn’t she know how much annoying this is to the surrounding people” this is just an example of things I used to say when I saw that scene. But guess what? I totally regret doing so earlier, I am now in those mothers’ shoes and I am the one who gets all the looks and the probably the comments. But what I didn’t know back then was that those mothers do all what it takes to make their kids quiet but kids sometimes insists on being naughty and stubborn. She might have been screaming from the inside because she can barely enjoy her long awaited outing but he is not giving her the chance to enjoy it. She is probably neglecting the screams because she wants the baby to behave and stop but he is still giving it a last chance.

I hope all the people who give me the looks would come to this realization soon because the looks kills me and the whispers I see tear me into pieces. When you give me the look or whisper about how I am dealing with my kids, you have no idea of the pressure I am taking raising a twin alone. You haven’t noticed that I am a mother of twins who is not walking across the mall not having one or two nannies to serve me but rather taking all the responsibility alone with my husband’s help. You haven’t put yourself in my shoes to think maybe I am more annoyed that you are, because I am witnessing this all week and even when I decided to go out to refresh and have fun, my kid is not allowing me to. You haven’t seen in my eyes that I have tried and still trying everything to make the crying act come to an end but it is not in my hands as you may think.

It is very easy to judge others when you are not in their situation but once you are in someone else’s shoes, the story is totally different. Just in case you are a guy or a lady who is not yet married or a woman who didn’t have kids yet, please be kind when you see such a scene. Don’t judge the mother but rather wish her luck or pray for her that God grants her the strength. At the end of the day you can easily go away and avoid the noise but she might continue the entire outing suffering. So put yourself in her shoes; have some sympathy and if you can’t then beware “it is easier said than done”.

Were grandparents super heroes?

Did you ever wonder how come our grandparents used to raise 5 or more kids and they always looked happy and elegant in the pictures while we suffer raising 1 or 2 kids. Were the kids quieter at that time, was life easier, were the living expenses cheaper, how did they do that? We know for sure that kids are kids even if these generations are more aggressive, but a baby is a baby and he will always be dependent and demanding. It is not that long times ago babies would go to the kitchen and feed themselves. On the contrary if you think about it, there were no facilities like our days. Think of the kitchen appliances alone, everything was done manually by hand. Technology now makes things much easier and some tasks take no time at all if you just use the right tools.

Ok so what was it then? My mother used to tell me that when they were young, their parents would go everyday to the grocery stores to buy fresh veggies and fruits to be cooked on that day. Imagine someone going to buy molokhyia (real thing not the frozen one we cook), clean it and prepare it to be cooked for a family of 7 averages. Yeah, I just realized that even the amount of food must have been a challenge itself. Now we cook only for ourselves; mostly a family of 4 where two kids can barely eat so you end up cooking small portions. Ok so what was it that made them do it while we can’t?

Not to forget the expenses, even if life expenses were cheap, they took so little money as well. I hear in the movies that one would take 20 LE as a monthly salary. Apart from always failing to make sense of that, still a father was expected to take care of a big family of 7 average. My mind can’t make sense of this, 20 LE for everyday life expenses, schools, transportation, health care and the list goes on! I don’t believe in things like old days were blessed but our days are cursed; I think every age has its own challenges which people have to defy.

Maybe the secret was in our grandmothers themselves. Were they less complainers, did they have more energy? Maybe we are drained these days because our life surroundings are so stressful. Maybe because we have to work, so we can barely be up to leading two roles; a housewife and a career woman. Maybe being enclosed with technology, social media and internet is making our life tougher while we think it is the opposite. Maybe life was simpler before globalization and now we are more exposed to the world so we always fail to satisfy our needs. Maybe we have greater dreams than our grandparents so we waste so much time chasing them. I don’t seem to have an answer… If you do; tell me what you think?

Abuse the pregnancy

Well since my kids are already 2 years old, I am not going to take you through the past two years; otherwise I will lose you before I kick start my blog. However I will shed the light on the key highlights, milestones and phases that are worth sharing. The very first of which is the pregnancy experience itself. If you think I will complain and tell you about all sorts of pain I encountered, I will prove you wrong. Yes the pregnancy was tough and this had nothing to do with me personally; the twin baby pregnancy is more challenging by nature but I enjoyed it.

One great advantage of being pregnant in twins was that people always thought am about to deliver ever since I was in the 5th month. Everyone feels for you and wished to help. People would give me their turn in a queue, cars would stop to cross the street, even my clients used to appreciate that I am presenting with my tummy that big. I remember one day when I went for a big presentation, the client was so sweet that she kept thanking me that I came and made all this work while am about to give birth, I was in the sixth month by the way but I haven’t told her.

Probably you are thinking I was eating like a man but actually I could not eat much because the twins take so much space inside that they put some pressure on your stomach making it smaller. I could only eat half as much as I normally do, yet the chocolate and the ice cream consumption was not affected of which I was eating tons. Accordingly I suffered anima last couple of months of pregnancy but still I loved the experience of being pregnant.

Despite the heaviness I felt and my tummy which was as big as if I was putting two cushions inside I managed to stay at my work till I was eight months pregnant. I was also driving till that period although my steering wheel used to annoy my bump but I loved it. My doctor used to tell me that I am the best pregnant patient he has provided that I had twins inside. He was proud of me because I barely complained (it was fun).

If you are still pregnant or trying to conceive, pregnancy is a very enjoyable phase and relatively calmer than when you have the kids physically outside (One kid is no worries at all but two definitely is). Enjoy it and be positive about any pain you encounter. Always remember that after this pain you will have an amazing addition to your house that will be the most pleasant thing afterwards. No pain, no gain <3