Another twin moment

We were just playing a guessing game with letters. It was N-man's turn. He said, "I'm thinking of something that starts with the letter N."

We all made a few wrong guesses, then N-man gave a further clue: "It's something you celebrate at night."

B-man yelled out almost immediately, "Halloween!"

"Yes!" Nate said.

We did let both kids know that Halloween starts with an H. I wonder what they think Hanukkah starts with...

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A still-not-well well update: We had our well repaired today, so the first step is done. A water sample has been taken, and results will be ready in 1 or 2 days, depending on how backed up the lab is. If by some miracle it's bacteria-free, we can start using the water. If, as is probably the case, it's contaminated, they'll have to put in chemicals to kill the bacteria. That takes 24 hours, plus a while to clear all the chemicals out. Either way, we're in the home stretch and should have usable water by the end of the week, or the beginning of next week at the latest.

I love clean water. I miss clean water. I think next time we chose a charity to donate to, it's going to be for a clean water fund or well fund. This has been pretty eye opening. I knew it would be inconvenient to live without running water, but I didn't know quite how inconvenient it would be.

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Green tip for the day: Be thankful for your water, and think of a way you can conserve water today! I'd love to hear your water conservation tips in the comments. It can be as simple as "turn off the faucets while brushing teeth" or the like!

Just like those 9 legged octopii

I wouldn't say I'm a particularly big crazy magnet. I've got enough crazy all on my own, thank you very much! But being out with twins does seem to attract a particular kind of crazy.

I was out with all three kids at the supermarket yesterday. It wasn't going great, though mostly in a "everyone is acting nutty but at least not grumpy" kind of way. We had to take a rather extended potty break in the middle of shopping, and when we got out of the bathroom, there was a guy standing there, I'm guessing waiting for his wife who was the poor unfortunate person trapped in the bathroom with my nutty kids talking loudly about their potty-filling abilities.

"They twins?" he asked.

"Yep," I answered, trying to keep the kids moving. And failing miserably as all the Christmas clearance was in a bin right outside the bathroom.

"Have you heard about the octomom?"

"Yes," I answered. I'm in no mood to chat as we've been at the grocery store for approximately 2 days already, but I'm trying not to be rude. It is interesting, though. I think queries about octomom now exceed queries about Jon and Kate plus 8. Are other twin moms finding that as well?

"What'd she have? NINE kids at the same time?" he asked.

"Something like that," I answered in disbelief, wondering to myself why he thought she was called the OCTomom.

He talked more about that, right over my kids who were pointing out every santa hat and glittery thing they could find in the bin.

Then, out of no where, he busts out with some insane political stuff, about how Obama is ruining our country. Seriously, it went on and on. I wanted to ask, "You live in MASSACHUSETTS! Do you pull this crap just hoping to rile the liberals?" But I was finding him so hilarious that I was having trouble not laughing. So I gathered up the kids and hurried on our way, finding this crazy-encounter a little more amusing than just a normal run-of-the-mill, unremarkable nut. Thanks, strange man. Your mixed up, ill-informed insanity actually brightened my day.

Sometimes it's fun to be a crazy-magnet!

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Green tip for the day: I'll go with something grocery related since my post was about grocery shopping. Figure out a way that works for you so you don't forget your reusable bags. There are some models that fit in your purse so you'll always have them with you.

Here's what works for me: After I unpack my bags, I put them right in front of the door. Next time I go out, I put the bags on the front seat of my car. It looks a little messy, and of course I have to move them when TK and I are both in the car, but I always see them there and rarely forget to bring them in to the store!

Just keep an eye on your bagger or you might end up with this:



Why yes, that is all my groceries packed into about 10 plastic bags, that were then shoved into my reusable bags. I was distracted at the checkout by my kids, and didn't notice until I was taking my bags out of my cart to load into the car.

I figure the guy who packed them either didn't notice until the end that I had reusable bags, or really, really hates the environment.

I hope this never happens to me again, though I must admit, I found it somewhat hilarious to open up my reusable bags and just keep finding more and more plastic bags. It's like an environmentalist's nightmare! Luckily, I know where the local recycling drop off is for plastic bags :)

One vs Two

So, my regular readers probably know by now that I don't write much about twins. I mean, I write about *my* twins, but not about the general experience of having twins. I very much take the "making lasagna" view of having twins: if you're going to go to all the work of making a lasagna, you may as well make two trays. Sure, it's more work, but if you're already doing it anyway...

I've always said that I don't think having twins is *that* much more difficult than having a singleton. In fact, I think it's easier in some ways! But now I have a singleton as well, and can compare the two experiences. So here goes:

Pregnancy:

Twins: You get enormous much earlier, and end up completely gigantic, leading ob's (or at least Dr. Tact) to famously comment "you're HUGE!". Far more stretch marks. Entirely too many people feel the need to tell you horror stories that go something like, "my friend was pregnant with twins and then she lost them. Then she died. Then everyone in the whole town died. All because of her twin pregnancy." Seriously, folks, it's not a good idea to tell any pregnant lady horror stories, but it seems especially cruel to tell someone who already has a high-risk pregnancy.

Singleton: Far less sympathy/thinking you're a superstar. People treat you just like you're some normal pregnant woman! Getting comments from strangers that go something like, "You MUST be pregnant with twins" is far less amusing when you are in fact NOT pregnant with twins.

Advantage: Singleton. You know, so long as you don't end up having Braxton-Hicks contractions 9 zillion times a day for the last two months of your singleton pregnancy. And so long as you don't move 4 days before your due date. And so long as you're not kept busy chasing active 4 year old twins. Aw heck, let's call this one a draw.

Birth:

Twins: They give you the big room at the hospital. All kinds of special treatment and people cooing over your twins. They loaded us up with freebies when we left: 4 diaper bags filled with formula samples, bottles, diaper rash ointments, baby shampoos, tons of diapers, etc.

Singleton: They do NOT give you the big room. No freebies.

Advantage: Twins, by a long shot!

Going out in public post-birth:

Twins: Requires ridiculous amounts of planning. Creates a scene everywhere you go. People constantly stopping you to ask "are they twins?" Must use large twin stroller pretty much everywhere since it's not easy carrying two babies (let alone doing anything else like shopping at the same time!)

Singleton: Must constantly remind self to do any planning before going out, though have found that as long as we throw a few diapers, wipes and an extra outfit or two in a bag, we're golden for a whole day out. Still garners some attention, though not on such an epic scale as with twins.

Advantage: Singleton, all the way. Though I suspect a good portion of this is really "third child" rather than singleton. I'm sure if our singleton came first, we wouldn't be quite so cavalier about toting him around everywhere!

Stupid comments from the general public:

Twins: "Are they twins?" "God bless you" (okay, it's not the comment so much as the tone of "poor you" that normally accompanies this one!) "Better you than me!" "My grandmother's best friend's cousin's neighbor had twins" (or something equally insane...I don't need to know about every person you've ever met who had twins!) "Do you watch Jon and Kate plus Eight?" "Two boys? Too bad one wasn't a girl, then you'd be done" "Double trouble!" "Do twins run in your family?" Etc, etc, etc (Moms of twins, feel free to add your favorites! There are so many!)

Singleton: Almost none! People don't stop you nearly as often, and usually they just say something like "how cute" or "how old is he?"

Advantage: Singleton.

However, as a mom of three boys, I have some bonus stupid comments: "My three sons!" "Three boys? God bless you!" (Once again, it's the tone of "poor you" that is troubling). "You'll have to try again for the girl" "Too bad number three wasn't a girl" "My grandmother's best friend's cousin's neighbor had three boys, tried one more time for a girl, and had a fourth boy" (or something equally insane, though sometimes they'll switch it up and the person will finally get their coveted girl after x number of boys).


Okay, to be honest, thus far a singleton has been easier than twins. But, I suspect that has a lot more to do with us being experienced parents than one baby vs. two. So I'm still sticking by my belief that twins aren't *that* much more work than a singleton!

An odd twin moment

I've never seen much evidence of my boys being psychically linked. No crying when the other bumps his head, or completing each other's sentences.

But then we went to the doctor's office yesterday, and I learned you gotta watch out for these two!

Their doctor asked them, "what is your little brother going to be named?"

There was a pause, and then they both said in unison, with much certainty, "ZINK-O!"

We've never mentioned this name. They've never called the baby Zink-o before to me...they always just call him "Baby".

The doctor looked at me and said, "Really?" She did a great job keeping her voice neutral, with no sign of disapproval for what would obviously be a crazy name. But they'd clearly convinced her with their certainty, not to mention the fact that they BOTH said it at the same time.

I just couldn't stop laughing!

And for the record, while we're still struggling with a name, we did let the boys know there's zero chance of a little brother Zink-o.

Planning breakdown

Me, in my mind: Oh, I have a good idea! I'll head to the farmstand after our CSA pickup!

Me, in my mind: I'd go to the farmstand first, but I need to buy perishables like milk and cheese. Better go to the CSA first.

Me, in my mind: It's kind of on the way home, anyway!

Me, in my mind: I'm always trying to find ways to combine errands to drive less, this'll be perfect!

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Me, in reality: Wow, the farm is really muddy.

Me, in reality: I don't know why I'm surprised. It's the first day in 10 weeks it hasn't rained.

Me, in reality: I even thought to bring their rain boots. I must have known it'd be muddy.

Me, in reality: Wow, the boys are getting really, really dirty. And wet.

N-man, in reality: Mommy, those kids just splashed through the puddle by me! I'm all covered in mud!

Me, in reality: Holy moly, he's got mud splashed EVERYWHERE on his body!

B-man, in reality: Mommy, my boot got stuck in the mud!

Me, in reality: And you stepped right in the puddle in only your sock, I see.

Me, in reality: I have to strip you guys before we get in the car.

Me, in reality: And I only have one extra outfit in the car.

Me, in reality: I can't go to the farmstand with naked kids, can I? It's really more like a small grocery store. Shoot, and their boots are really unwearable, since they got mud inside and out.

Me, in reality: Probably should have just gone to the farmstand this morning, huh.

A Potty Post

Yep, here it is, the ol' standard of a mommy blog. I'm feeling a little mommy-blogger-y today.

What I really need is advice. See, my boys have just started to pee standing up. Exciting, right? Ha, everyone with boys knows it's not exciting...it's messy!

So my question is: is it fair to require TK to wipe up the disaster of misses every night since it's his Y chromosomes that are causing this "pee standing up" mess? I feel like since *I* contributed the X chromosome, which everyone knows is the "pee neatly sitting down" chromosome, I should be excused from the endless cleaning of the 5 foot area surrounding the potty...

Fine moments in WhatACard parenting

Good parenting: going to the store because you're out of milk and bread.

Great parenting: being out of milk and bread for over a day, and only going to the store when you realize you're also out of ice cream.

Good parenting: Dressing your kids in the morning.

Great parenting: Dressing your kids in shorts and t-shirts when it's only 53 degrees out. Then taking them to the grocery store before realizing it's freezing so they cling to your legs saying "I'm SOOOOOO cold, Mommy!"

Good parenting: Take the kids to visit the grandparents.

Great parenting: Take the kids to visit the grandparents because you're absolutely sick of cleaning up your own house and keeping it "open house ready".

Good parenting: Give boo-boo kisses

Great parenting: Having to give two consecutive kisses to two different children, both of whom ended up with a black eye. Special great parenting bonus: being secretly glad each child was responsible for his own black eye, so no one had to be punished.

Good parenting: Expose children to a variety of different music.

Great parenting: Wonder what your children are talking about when they want you to sing the rose song, until you finally realize they're talking about Poison's Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Special great parenting bonus: Have child ask later that same day what Red Hot Chili Pepper's Suck My Kiss is about.

Hope this helps my Mother of the Year application!

Just call me Crash!

So, I was in a car accident. With the boys in the car. I know, freaky, right? Luckily, it was a minor fender bender and we're all fine. And it was the other guy's fault, which in a refreshing "restore my faith in humanity" moment, he owned up to right away and apologized for not paying enough attention. Isn't that nice? No fake "why'd you stop sharply" or "you should have gone" junk.

Anyway, this guy rear-ended me. I was actually driving TK's car. Mine was in the shop, and the boys and I were just coming back from dropping TK at work when, exiting the highway, the guy behind me ran right into us.

It's not that bad. I drove away, though the cop wasn't too happy about it as I was missing a tail light (okay, fine, I was missing most of the left back side of the car. Well, missing is a bit of an exaggeration. I picked it up and stuck it in the trunk ;).

Only problem is I was driving a 2000 Civic. That's not worth a ton. So we're waiting to hear if it's totaled or not. For now, it just sits in our garage, with its big ol' owie.

In related news, the boys were totally excited about the whole experience. "That guy BOOMED us!" they tell me excitedly. "That BAD car hurt our car!" they say with total glee. They got to see a police officer! I swear, this was possibly the most fun activity we did all week.

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Random Unrelated Thought (ohhh, remember these? These had fallen by the wayside for a while, but are making a reappearance today!): Did you ever notice that Yellow by Coldplay was the last song they released that didn't become unbearably annoying by the third listen? Here's how it goes every time I hear a new Coldplay song:

First time: Hey, is this Coldplay? This is pretty good!

Second time: This Coldplay song again? I feel like I just heard it.

Third time: Oh geez. Let me channel check.

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Oh, bonus random unrelated thought, though it is marginally related to the coldplay thing but unrelated to the main gist of the post, though if I keep this up for too long, who's really going to be able to say what the main point of this post is: I heard Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue on the radio the other day.

That's it. It's kind of noteworthy, isn't it? I mean, what radio station is still playing Home Sweet Home? Did this one lose some kind of bet with another radio station?

I tease because I love it! I listened (and sang) to the whole song. Rockin'! Now Motley Crue, those are some songs that can handle more than 3 listens each decade!

Merry SITSmas

What, you say it's only December 2nd and a little early to ALREADY be on to this? I know, I know, I don't set the date of SITSmas, it's just when it falls on the calendar. What's a girl to do?

Of course, my holiday season is nicely delayed this year. Hanukkah is relatively late, starting December 21. My inlaws are all coming up to visit for the holiday. And we're not doing Christmas until Martin Luther King Day. See, my idea of randomly changing the date of Thanksgiving is not without precedent.

But I'm in. I wish you all a very happy holiday season. May the lines be short for you, the traffic light, the prices on sale, and the cookies sweet. Oh, and all the "good will toward men" stuff, too :)

I'll leave you with this: my first experience torturing both my children and Santa. What's funnier: the looks on my boys' faces of sheer terror, or the look on Santa's face of sheer resignation? If my boys could have talked back then, I'm pretty sure they would have said, "We're half Jewish! Get us out of here!"



Happy Holidays, everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy whatever it is you celebrate! Have a safe, happy, wonderful December!

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Want to play along? Head on over to The Secret is in the Sauce. They're giving away a $200 Target gift card today, along with all the festivities...

Lazy Sunday

We're having a lazy Sunday here in the House of Cards. TK played some piano while the kids and I sang and danced around the house. We did a bunch of puzzles, we colored, we made some butterscotch pudding.

Most weekends we're running around like crazy, trying to make it to different places and fit in different errands. It's kind of nice having a day to do nothing. The boys are now playing quietly together (I know, small miracle!), and TK has fallen asleep on the couch. And I'm blogging.

Will the excitement never stop??

I don't know about you, but it's days like these that are special, when we have time to slow down and just be instead of do.

Of course, B-man just complained, "Mommmmm, we're not doing ANYTHING!"

So perhaps I better get on my cruise director hat and switch to "doing" mode!
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Michael Chabon is quite possibly the greatest author ever. I should give him his very own label on my blog, since I'm clearly in love with him. I'm reading The Mysteries of Pittsburgh for my book group, and it's so incredibly well-written that I could almost cry. The story is good so far, though no Kavalier and Klay, but the actual writing is such a treat.

I was talking to TK, who argued that you shouldn't notice how well-written something is...that it shouldn't be a distraction. And I agree to a certain extent. I don't like writing where the author is clearly trying too hard to write LITERATURE. You know what I mean, right? Chabon's prose isn't flashy, though it does tend to draw me out of the story sometimes just to marvel at how perfect it is.

What do you think? Any opinions about distractingly well-written novels? Is that a problem? The only other author who has routinely made me stop reading to actually notice his writing is Kurt Vonnegut.
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Current NaNo word count: 18,526

Current NaNo attitude: Chugging away, hoping to cross 20k today! I finished one major section of my book yesterday, which was kind of exciting, though I'm feeling the slow down of new characters/world building required in a new setting.

Another Meme

I rarely post on weekends. I know, don't fall over in shock that it's a Sunday and I'm posting. But I was tagged for a meme by Goddess in Progress, called Playing Tag with Memory Loss.

The instructions are these:

* Go to your Sixth Picture Folder then pick your Sixth Picture.

* Pray that you remember the details.

* Tag 5 others.

I wasn't going to play along since I am phenomenally paranoid and don't put recognizable pictures of my kids up on my blog. But I decided to take a look, and my 6th picture in my 6th folder actually doesn't show any faces! So here it is:

This picture is from February 2007 when the boys were 19 months old. It shows one of their favorite past times: pulling all the toys off the shelves. And then putting themselves on the shelves. That's B-man on the shelf. He has always liked to "put himself away" more than N-man does.

If you look closely, you can see N-man's little arm in the bottom left corner of the picture. He was causing trouble that day, too. And, toys strewn all over: that's a pretty typical family room look for us. The toys have changed as they've gotten older, but the "strewn all over the floor" remains the same.

I'm supposed to tag 5 people, but I just did a meme the other day and hardly anyone played along. So if you want to play, go wild. I'm tagging you all. Or none of you, depending on how you look at it :)

Replies to comments on Cooking for the Cure:

Snick: As I said on your blog, I almost told you Barb's husband was a plumber, but your blog entry said you'd already called someone. How funny that it was someone I know! And that's one of my favorite meals. I made it on Yom Kippur. TK was talking to his mom that night while I was cooking, and he told her what I was making. I had to own up to the fact that the whole Jewish holiday thing got me in the mindset of Jewish holiday food. I just couldn't wait for Hanukkah to bust out the latkes!

Sheri: I don't know why, but I just can't stand cucumbers. Ick! And I'll post the recipes over on The Veggie Project (I'll link it in here when I'm done).

It's amazing how different they are

Two recent things have just made me marvel at how different B-man and N-man's brains process.

First, I gave N-man a penny, then handed him a second penny. He said proudly, "1 and 1 make 2!" So I answered, just as proudly, "You're right!". Then B-man piped up, "No. 1 and 1 make ELEVEN." "Yes," I replied, "You're kind of right, too."

Isn't it weird that one is learning math, adding two numbers, while the other is concentrating on reading skills, learning that 11 is eleven?

Then the other thing, when B-man was first starting to potty train, he somehow started in with saying that the characters on his undies were sad if he had an accident. He'd pee in his Diego underwear, and then tell me, "Mommy, Diego's sad." So I'd wash out Diego, hang him up to dry, and then he'd announce, "Diego is happy again."

Well, yesterday I had N-man, who is still not even remotely potty trained, in Thomas the Tank Engine undies. N-man peed in them, looked down, and said, "Thomas is still happy!" Then he went right on playing in his soaking wet underwear, standing in a huge puddle of pee, until I came over to change him. He insisted he didn't need to be changed, since Thomas wasn't bothered by being peed on.

As a bonus kid story, since I'm on the topic, last night at dinner N-man announced, a propos of nothing, "I like touching my pe,n^is." And with that statement, I think he just distilled one of the most defining elements of being a guy into a single sentence. And yes, I do plan on saving up this story to tell his future dates. Oh heck, I'm nice. I'll wait until he's engaged to tell it.

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Replies to comments on Join the Rebel Alliance!:

Ronnica: I've never understood the draw of Catcher in the Rye. I just didn't think it was that good. You're right, it would be interesting to reread Lord of the Flies when it's not a force-fed part of high school English.

Gio: Hmm, Memory Keeper's Daughter started getting more interesting again. Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't read it...I'm up to the part where Norah is having a fling. You know me, throw some sex in a book, and I'm sure to read it!

Mary Ellen: Ooo, secret identity unmasked! My husband would also love a double oven, at least to hear me stop complaining about how small our oven is. Did you know I can't even fit a normal-sized cookie sheet in it? I had to buy all new small sized cookie trays when we moved here. Okay, complaining done.

Maggie: Yes, part of why I picked this up was because of Emlyn. And the twin thing. And just because it sounded interesting. But it's just not that good, besides the above referenced sex recapturing my attention ;)

Jules: You're definitely a rebel! I have so much trouble putting down a book and walking away. I feel compelled to finish them, even if it brings me no joy...

Rhonda: No matter how much I read, I never can stay up to date. Maybe I should pick more carefully and skip books like this one!

And so it begins...

As most of you know, I love winter. I love autumn. I love when the weather turns cold, and there's nothing better than a beautiful snowy day.

Having said that, I've had a shocking amount of fear about this winter. I've really not been looking forward to the end of summer. The problem is: germs. And my boys' ability to catch all of them. For the past two winters, we've had a tough run from about November until May, with all of us catching lots of colds, and croup, and ear infections, and pneumonia, and other yuckies. And that's with the boys home with me, without even having the exposure to a day care or other group of children germ factory.

But this year my boys are in preschool. Needless to say, I've been worrying about how bad the winter will be. The boys made it a week and a half, but today I didn't send them to school. On Friday afternoon, their noses started running, and it's continued all weekend. They definitely have colds, that they've since passed along to me. It's not a bad one. No fevers, not much coughing, pretty happy demeanor despite the cold. Just some stuffiness and lots of calls of "Mommy! I have BOOGERS!"

So while I'm glad this cold is mild, I'm still feeling a bit conflicted about this winter. I'm trying to hope for the best, and not borrow trouble, but I can't help but be worried about what this winter holds. I hope my fears prove groundless!

As an aside, for all you more experienced moms, when do you send your kids back to school? I kind of think my boys were probably okay to send today, even though their noses are a bit runny. But really, their noses could be runny for the next week or so, and with B-man's asthma, he'll probably develop a cough that hangs on for quite some time. So what's the rule on when to send kids back after a cold?

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Replies to comments on You're Not Going To Believe This!:
BrendaJean: I seem to have the same power to turn scratch tickets into losers!
Jongirl (or jongir, if you so desire): Yes, it is a weird tradition to exchange lottery tickets for Christmas. Fun, but you're still weird!

Replies to comments on Why do I need an Ipod?:
Wow, did I get mixed reviews! I guess it confirmed my belief that we don't *need* an ipod. Having said that, I can see how it would be fun, as long as I managed to load my music on it. Yesterday, N-man was in a mood where he kept asking for songs from different CDs, so we had to play DJ for him. And I was like, "Hey, we need an MP3 player with a kids' songlist!" Who knows what we'll ultimately decide. We just may decide to get one of for Christmas/Hanukkah! Thank you all for sharing your opinions!

Replies to comments on Arrr!:
Giovanna: How awesome are the Backyardigans? I must admit, *I'm* a little obsessed, too!
Bridget: I've never even heard of Lazy Town! I'll have to keep an eye out for it!
LauraC: Aw, cute pirates! And no worries about Firefly, although I still contend you're missing one of the best shows ever! Maybe you just want to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog online. Odder than Firefly, but no western themes. Well, except some brief singing cowboys. Very brief.
Juli Smith: Thanks for stopping by! I visited your blog, and it made me wish I was at all crafty. A pirate themed party must have been fun!

Arrr!

Ahoy, mateys! We be talkin' like pirates today. Now who'll be joinin' me, ye scurvy dogs? Arrr! (Yes, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day, for those land lubbers out there).



My boys love this episode of the Backyardigans and are always telling the that a pirate says "arrr". They also like to ask, "What do you do with a scurvy pirate?". The answer: make them walk the plank!

Love that logo

I'm actively involved in the local Mother of Twins club. I have a great time with it...in fact, I'm on the board. I even have a shirt with our logo on it. That's pretty cool, isn't it?

It gets better. Our logo is hilarious. I don't know who chose this logo. It's supposed to be a mom with a baby on each side, and it's kind of heart shaped. I get it...mom, twins, love. Nice.

Yeah, well, what does this logo look like to you?




I was wearing my shirt the other day at the grocery store, and the fish counter guy stopped me by yelling out, "That's awesome...is your shirt flipping me off?" No, it isn't. Do I make things any better, though? Of course not. I answer, "No, it's supposed to be a mom with twins. But I think it looks a lot like a pe,n^is." (Sorry for the crazy punctuation, once again attempting to avoid any pervert traffic). Then I put my hand over my mouth, shocked by what came out. I swear, I think I have a short-circuit some where between my brain and my mouth.

So what do you think our logo looks like? And how much would you like to meet the women who chose this logo? I have to applaud their ability to choose a logo that simultaneously appears to be a mom with twins, a middle finger, and a phallic symbol. That's pretty impressive.

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Replies to comments on Book Group, as described by B-Man to TK:

FitMePink, I'm certainly making an exception to my lack of pink love for your blog. And I wish I'd seen your call for recipes sooner...I had too much to do to get any together. Plus, I "ruin" most of my healthy food with vast quantities of cheese and bacon ;)

Mommaof4Wifetor, Thanks! Our book group actually met at a friend's house, and I can hardly believe it, but she didn't pull out any trains for us to play with.

Gio, Book group was a riot, although we were even less focused than normal (I don't think that book really lended itself to discussions, though). I had a piece of pie for breakfast. What, I figure it has to be better than a donut!

Replies to comments on My DVR:

Gio, I can hardly wait until the next SYTYCD season!

Laura, it was incredibly easy to miss Firefly unless you were a wicked big Joss Whedon fan. Fox showed it on Friday nights at 9pm. Sometimes. Sometimes not. And they didn't show the first episode. And they canceled it in a heartbeat. *Everyone* missed it. Except my husband (a sci-fi lovin' engineer) and I (a plain ol' sci-fi lovin' geek). We stayed home every Friday night while it was on, and that was back in the pre-kids days when staying home Friday night meant something. I'm a little jealous that you get to experience Firefly for the first time. It's really wonderful, one of the best shows ever. And then you get to watch Serenity (probably my favorite movie). Yes, I'm definitely jealous. Push it up to the top of your queue, and enjoy!

Nancy, oh, you have to watch Firefly! It's so good. I'll lend it to you if you'd like. And glad I got your kids hooked on Wonder Pets ;)

Angie, whew, so glad to hear I'm not the only One Tree Hill watcher! Love your site...what a good idea!

Mommy MeMe

I was tagged by the lovely Ms. Giovanna Diaries

Instruction: Post a picture of you and your kids.



Oh dear, was that a cheat? I swear, it's me and my two lil' jokers. Ask anyone, that looks just like me, right down to the two heads. And my boys are working on their mustaches. Okay, fine, I know this doesn't really count, but I'll toss you out this freebie...something about me you probably don't know: TK and I collect playing cards. We have around 500 decks. All put away currently so the boys don't get into them. So we've kind of cooled on the whole "collecting" thing, but I still think playing cards are really neat.

Happy now? I'll go on...

1. How many children do you have? Two, fraternal twin boys.
2. What are their ages? Turned three this summer.
3. What time of day do you start your day? 6, unless one of the boys is up earlier.
4. What do you eat for breakfast? I'm addicted to Carnation Instant Breakfast...I love milk, I love chocolate, I love an excuse to have chocolate for breakfast. But I'll also eat oatmeal or pancakes or eggs or whatever I make for the boys. Just not cereal. I don't like cereal. It gets all soggy and...gross.
5. Do they watch TV? Yep. Mostly just Backyardigans. And sometimes Blues Clues or Jakers. 1 or 2 shows a day, maybe 3 or 4 times a week.
6. What are their favorite activities? Going to the zoo, the farm, or the playground. N-man like to pretend he's different animals, both like trains, and B-man loves board games (Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Thomas Bingo, Hungry, Hungry Hippos: you name it!)
7. Do you get a break during the day from them? They just started preschool this week, three days a week for three hours a day.
8. How do you end your day? Reading, watching TV, or blogging/playing of the computer.
9. What is your best parenting advice? Be adaptable and accepting.
   

Now I'm supposed to tag five people, but I'm feeling a bit anarchistic. So I'm tagging all of you. Well, all of you who haven't already been tagged. And who are mommies. And who are interested. Oh heck, you all get a pass. Play along if you'd like...I'd love if you did!

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Comment responses to 1st Day of Preschool:
Nancy, now that you mention it, I think it was you that said that all twin moms look alike. I totally stole that from you, and am officially giving you full credit!
Three Under Two: Wouldn't you know, at preschool today I looked at the floor and sure enough, instead of a circle there is half a hexagon taped out on the floor. Once again my little N-man came home upset that circle time "Isn't *really* a circle".
Mary Ellen: That's exactly it, that they have this secret life now. It's so weird!
Gio: Looking forward to Monday! And this commenting on comments thing is something I saw over on Three Under Two's blog...I loved it! I'm never sure what to do with comments...sometimes I reply in the comment section, but I feel like people never see my replies. So I'm trying this out!

1st day of preschool

It was weird. I've been a stay at home mom for my kids' whole life. Besides a few months of a 2 hour-a-week drop-off playgroup, I've pretty much always known what my boys have been up to. I know what their experiences have been...what they've done in any given day. Now there's this 3 hour block of unknown that I have to rely on their reporting of what went on. Here's what I got:

From B-man:

• They didn't read ANY books. (That was what he was most looking forward to)
• I played on the playground.
• I made this bracelet. I chose PINK beads (there were many color beads on his bracelet, but only the pink ones were worth reporting).
• I didn't pee-pee in the potty. (I know this to be true as I got back a bag full of peed on clothes. Or more precisely, Nancy got back my bag of pee-pee clothes. No one at the school can tell Nancy and I apart. You know how all those moms of twins look alike. Except we don't so it's a bit odd. But Nancy, I have a theory...I wonder if they're getting confused with the hair color since your kids' reddish with blonde highlights is closer to my hair color, while my kids' brownish with red highlights is closer to your hair color. That's all I can figure...)

From N-man:

• Mrs. Teacher put this stamp on my hand (and Mrs. Teacher isn't a fake name I made up, that's actually what he called her).
• I didn't have any germs on my pretzels or raisins. (What? I can only guess they talked about washing hands before snack??)
• When I asked if they had circle time, N-man answered, "It was more like a hexagon." (Um, okay?)

So we survived our first day of preschool. N-man had a breakdown and didn't want to leave the house to go to school. I had to drag him out kicking and screaming and force him into his car seat. We were still a few minutes late for school as I was trying everything I could think of to calm him down before we left. By the time we got to school, he was fine.

B-man was a different story. I gave him a kiss, and he grabbed me in a death hold and wouldn't let go, sobbing uncontrollably. I handed him off to the teacher and left. The director was standing outside and said I could call her in a little bit to get an update, and that she was sure he'd be fine. I knew he would be. At the boys drop-off playgroup through Early Intervention, B-man cried nearly every week for a few minutes at the start. It breaks your heart, though.

Sure enough, I called when I got home and was assured B-man was fine and enjoying himself on the playground.

How did I spend my time, you may wonder? Tagging clothes for the Mother of Twins clothing sale. I know, I'm wild and crazy.

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Comment responses to Pig Won't Goes to Preschool:

Giovanna: the book has apparently gone out of print. So maybe the MOTs did rise up in protest :)
GIP: I thought it was interesting, too, how the boys distilled the ideas of good and bad from the story.
Nancy: You'll have to share if you got any more information about preschool!
Three Under Two: I've "lost" many books here (don't hate me, but I "lost" most of the Disney library...I just couldn't take the constant princesses anymore! Pig Will and Pig Won't may have take a Disney Vaca as well :).
Maggie: Nothin' better than a good ol' book burnin'!
Crazy Momma: Hope you enjoyed your SITS day. I really enjoyed your posts!
Aubrey: Hi! Glad you stopped by!

Pig Won't Goes to Preschool

We have an awful book. We got it as a hand-me-down from the boys' cousin. It's called The Best Babysitter by Richard Scarry. Yes, one of the Busy Town books. Here's my problem with the book: it's about twins. One is good, one is evil. Their names are Pig Will and Pig Won't. Didn't anyone tell their parents about children living up to the expectations that are set for them?

I hate the "one good/one evil" twin stereotypes. I mean, you would think most people would realize that with twins, there isn't really one good and one evil twin. Well, unless you're Spock. But that Star Trek universe is jacked anyway. But still, I've been asked three times which one of my twins is the "good" one and which is the "bad" one. It's a reasonably common comment parents of twins hear.

Let me tell you now: neither is pure evil. Neither is pure good. They both just are. Just like every other kid. Having twins doesn't dilute all the positive attributes into one child and all the negative attributes into the other.

Well, unless you're Pig Will and Pig Won't. I hate this book. So of course the boys love it and always want to read it. And they've distilled the basic message of the book into this annoying habit: when they don't want to do something, they shout "I'm Pig Won't!" Ugh. We're in the middle of the grocery store and B-man won't get into the cart and he yells, "No, I'm Pig Won't". I say it's time to leave the library and N-man doesn't want to go so he says, "I won't leave. I'm Pig Won't."

Have I mentioned that I hate this book? What must people be thinking? That I call my boys pigs? I don't. They came up with this all on their own, with a little help from the stereotypes perpetuated by Richard Scarry.

Well, B-man has been very nervous about preschool. Whenever we talk about it, he says, "I won't go. I'm Pig Won't." I've been a little nervous about how this was going to play out. I've been having nightmares about having to peel a shrieking child off my leg every morning for the next two years.

So yesterday was the preschool orientation. They opened up the preschool for an hour so parents could come with the kids and meet the teachers and play in the room. B-man was *not* looking forward to it, but we got him there. He walked into the room, hesitantly looked around, saw some fun toys, and off he went.

At the end of the hour, I asked how he liked preschool. He answered, "I'm Pig Will now."

Whew. That's a relief. And maybe I don't totally hate that book. Let's just hope Pig Will sticks around for tomorrow, the first official day of preschool!

Potty training, school, when did these kids get so old?

B-man is largely potty trained. N-man is still wearing diapers. Geez, I hate when one of my boys is "better" than the other at something (even though I know full well potty training isn't a competition or any reflection of intelligence). Potty training is just one of those things where it's impossible NOT to compare them. I mean, one uses the potty and one doesn't. One wears underwear and one doesn't.

Of course, I'm doing my best not to place any value judgments on which of these states is better, but other people do. Ah well, it's hard to have a sibling sometimes, and it's extra hard when it's a same-age sibling.

I'm reading The No-Cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. I thought it was going to be about how to keep ME from crying. Ha, just kidding. I guess I was going about it all wrong with the rolled up newspaper smacks to the nose.* I'm not finding the book all that useful, although it does reinforce my opinion that N-man wasn't quite ready for potty training yet. So we'll try again soon.

In unrelated news, the boys start preschool in just over a week. I can hardly believe it. I know it goes fast, but this is ridiculous!

Random unrelated thought: I've been od'ing on YA Vampire fiction. I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and then Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. Both were enjoyable, although Peeps was more up my alley. In Peeps, the "vampirism" is really a parasitic infection. Every other chapter is a description of a real-world parasite. I know, that sounds odd, but it really works and is so interesting.

I'm off to the library now...



*I'm always worried people don't get me. I'm just kidding.

He's a card, too

A few nights ago, we had a rough time getting the boys to clean up before bed. They just seemed to be EVERYWHERE all at once, and even with TK and I both watching them and trying to help them clean up their toys, there was still mass chaos. Finally, though, we got things reasonably neatened, took the boys up to bed, and got them to sleep.

TK and I went downstairs and I started puttering in the kitchen. TK went into the bathroom, and a second later, called to me, "Honey, you better come here. We have a pest problem in the bathroom."

Oh crap. We had carpenter ants in our bathroom last year and it was disgusting, annoying, and a big ol' pain. So I went into the bathroom. As I got there, TK said, "our bathroom has been invaded by dinosaurs."

Sure enough, sometime during clean up, one (or both?) of the boys had snuck in and lined up about 25 toy dinosaurs along the sink and tub.

So if anyone know a good dinosaur-control expert, please let us know. We'd like to get our bathroom back one day, but don't want to risk annoying those tiny-ranosauruses.