Sunday, August 10, 2008

Adorable! Horrible?

I never realized before how much alike those two words sound. Try it. Say adorable. Now say horrible. Adorable! Horrible! Adorable! Horrible!

Oddly enough the two words have even more in common than their pronunciation. They both are apt descriptors of the twins. Twins are adorable. Twins are horrible.

Most of the time the twins are adorable.


What's cuter than a pair of identical--and yet fraternal--twin babies?! (Yet again today the twins were complimented on just how identical they look. !?! We've decided to just agree with everyone who thinks the twins are identical. How many pairs of identical boy-girl twins have you met?! Same sex identical twins are so common.)

Here's a more recent adorable shot.


Now for an example of horrible.


It's a horrible experience dealing with two screaming infants. Unfortunately, screaming twin toddlers are not easier to deal with than screaming twin infants. At least the infants couldn't chase me around the house clinging to my legs.

This past Saturday I was alone with the three little ones. Something happened and one of them started crying and soon the domino effect had all three in tears. They came rushing to me trying to get me to hold them. I sat down on the floor so I was more accessible, but I still couldn't accommodate all three at once. One crying little one was pushing another one out of the way to claim prime lap space. Who do I comfort? Who do I neglect? Do I discipline the pusher? There just weren't enough arms for everyone. It's not fun dealing with multiple, unhappy, impatient, little ones.

So, smiles are adorable; tears are horrible. What other horrible acts do the adorable twins perpetrate? Well, Bentley has lots of examples of the twins acting horribly. Remember Kara's recent post on the VivaJake Monster?

Well, I've met the VivaJake Monster, too. Two toddlers really are more than double the trouble of one toddler. If you have one trouble making toddler you can keep your eye on him/her. You can track him/her from here to there. You can drag him/her away from the problem toy or area. You can physically control him/her.

You cannot control two toddlers simultaneously. You cannot control two toddlers in sequence. While you're removing one from a forbidden area or object (the toilet, the staircase, the cat, the bookcase, the plant, etc.), the other toddler has free reign.

It's not easy to herd two toddlers out of a room or to get into the bathroom alone. On Friday I pinched Jake's little finger in the bathroom door when I shut it quickly to keep Viva out. It was HORRIBLE. He was screaming and bleeding. Kara called the doctor. I comforted Jake. He quit crying. Viva kept crying. She wanted attention which she did not get because her mom was on the phone and I was freaking out over what I had done to my little grandson. Jake was lucky (I was lucky!) and his finger was not seriously hurt.




Yes, our twins are adorable!

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