Sarah Cole
Naperville
Vice President of Visitor Experience at Adler Planetarium
What is the biggest challenge raising twins?
I have not always been the most organized person, and you’ve got to be organized with twins. They don’t leave a lot of room for mistakes. We learned really early to stick to schedules. Now we are machines when we go out. We learned the hard way. I think the other thing, it’s so easy to forget, even though they are twins, that they are still just two kids and trying to remember they are individuals.
What is the best advice you’d give to other moms expecting multiples?
I’m so new at this, I don’t feel like I’m equipped to give advice to anyone. People will always tell you to enjoy every second. No, don’t enjoy every second of it because not every second is great. It’s OK to recognize that 80 percent of the time you love it, and it’s OK to want to really sleep in or watch your favorite show. Whatever you do as a parent is the right thing. …We do a lot of disservice to each other as moms by holding each other to this unattainable standard. There’s not one way to parent. Moms just really need to say “I hear you, this is hard work.” We need to stick up for each other instead of critiquing each other.
How would you hope your kids describe you as a mom?
I think I want my kids to remember me being there for them. I think most working moms worry about that. The thing that I panicked about for a long time is are they going to know that I’m mom. I want them to know that even though Mommy is working, I’m there if they need me. And that I’ll listen.
Now that you are a mom, how is it changing the way you do your job?
(She got her start in children’s museums.) … What little kids want and need is not really all that different than what every single person wants and needs. We all want to be engaged, we all want to do something fun on the weekend. We’re trying to create things that a family can go do all together.
Describe your perfect weekend.
My perfect weekends are just low key. …Being about to go somewhere with very little expectation, other than we’re just going to have fun together. Also having a lovely perfect weekend when the weather is just right, the kids are both healthy, it all kind of clicks.
