Yesterday was just one of those days. Parents, you know what I mean. One of those days where you toddler or in my case two toddlers were just out of this world cranky. Nothing was fun to play with. Walking for them was like running a marathon, so everytime they fell it was like their whole world came crashing down. So let me tell you how exhausted me and Matt were by 6:15. We were laying on the ground just staring at each other from across the living room.. He had a very long day at work and I had a very rough day at home cleaning, cooking and entertaining two kids.
Matt had decided when we got back from vacation that Lucy needed more space to walk around.. Que my eye roll. While this seems like the best decision, this child gets into everything!! Literally EVERYTHING! Her latest fascination has been with the dog water bowl. Nothing says a good parenting time like watching your kid splash around in the 10 inch round water pool like its Sesame Place. You can go ahead and face-palm with me when she attempts to pick it up and spill water all over my dining room and living room carpet… ohh but it gets better. Before I can even intervene with my roll of paper towels.. This kid is crawling in it, like a penguin of the antarctic, belly sliding through the puddle. Needless to say watching her alone is a full time job and Jocelyns not independently walking yet but I probably only have a few weeks left before she figures it out and tackling my twins will be my own daily marathon.
Now back to the story. At this point Jocelyn is crying walking along the coffee table for I’m not sure what reason and Lucy is attempting to climb up me also for an unknown reason. So we attempt splitting up our focus one parent per child to entertain and hope we can last until bedtime at 8. My efforts started strong then dwindled as Lucy lost interest in the fridge alphabet letters. She started making her way back to the water bowl so I had to think big and fast.
Here’s what I quickly learned: nothing is more entertaining to a young toddler than watching you attempt to play with one of their toys that was not made for an adult. So here I go pretending I’m looking for her, “Lucyyyyyy, where are you?” Magic phrase for us right now.. She whips around the corner of our couch grinning from ear when she sees where I am. Then her eyes light up like I had just given her the best snack in the world (‘nacks are this kids favorite). Here is me, mom squished into their baby ball pit, arms wide open inviting her to climb in. Balls over flowing all over the carpet. She ran and dove right in, tossing balls everywhere. Boy was this girl having the best time just tossing balls out then back in then splashing them at me. It’s truly amazing how much enjoyment they get out of this kinda thing. Meanwhile i’m trying to get balls off my back and out from under my ass secretly as I didn’t want to distract her from her good time.
Well as you can imagine jocelyn wanted in on the fun so she got as close as she us as she could on the end of the couch and began whining. So Matt picked her up and plopped her right in this ball pit where more balls just spewed everywhere. Now me and two small children are squeezed into this pit, legs hanging over the side.. I only wish i had a picture to see how ridiculous this looked. The girls laughed, smacked balls around, and talked to each other in baby language and I couldn’t be happier than to be a part of that moment, ball stuck under my left buttcheek and all. Things were fine and dandy til well Lucy decided she was over it and ran off leaving me and jojo to play. Jocelyn was having a blast and I wasn’t gonna chase Lucy down since she made her way back to the alphabet letters.
So Matt was keeping an eye on her when she started to get into something else. She’s a quick one and way too smart. While I left her gaze to play with Jojo she took off. Matt told her no and went to go get her. But from where me and Jojo were playing I couldn’t see what shenanigans this kid had gotten herself into. Matt looked at me and said, “Snack time?” See what I mean this kid loves food. I looked at the clock, 7:45. Surrreeee that’s not tooooo early for snack. Sat this kid down, gave her some teddy grahams and milk. After the girls got fresh overnight diapers, pajamas and jocelyn got her bedtime meds. We say our goodnights and kisses all around before the girls lay down and snuggle their lovies.
Yes I was tired, exhausted really, we both were but tonight we did it as a team and we found something for both the girls to do. I couldn’t be happier than to be in that moment with the two of them. I’m sure it’s not something they will remember but it’s something I’ll keep locked in the memories forever. Now it was time for us to enjoy an adult beverage and watch our beloved Flyers kick some Canandian booty. Tonight we survived and some days that’s how life with twins can be.
Following My Hearts 