Double the...TROUBLE!

Twins are something that continue to baffle me daily. Up until this point, perhaps I have been a little cocky about twin life. I have soaked up double the snuggles, double the smiles, the giggles and the kisses. There were rough times, and I have been overwhelmed on an extremely regular basis. Even then, I don't think in all of this have I ever thought to myself...

This sucks! 

Twins are HARD. 

That is until the past couple of weeks. 

Don't get me wrong, I still love our boys! They are completely wonderful. Having them both is how it was meant to be. I cannot imagine life any different way. However, there comes the time when you just have to call things as they are. And that's what I've had to do with myself lately. I've had to just say things to myself such as, "Twins are HARD!" or "If only they had come ONE at a time!" 

And more than ever before, in the past few days, it has been really hard for me to be nice to other people. When asked the question I have been asked at least a hundred times in the past 21 months, 

"I don't know how you do it!" 

(And yes I realize that's not really a question at all...but seems to be the only thing people can say to you anywhere you go), it has been really hard to keep my snarky comments of 

"You're right. You have NO idea how I do it!" 

to myself. 

Because I try to remember that everyone has their own hard things. And that even though that person only had their children one at a time, that's all they know, so this really is hard for them. Generally I do a really good job at thinking that too! It's just harder lately, because life is harder lately. 

And what, you might ask, has made things so difficult at our house as of late?

Well folks, it has officially begun. Those awful stories you hear, they are all true! 

The terrible twos are HORRID! 

Add to that the fact we have DOUBLE the terrible twos...my compulsion to eat healthy and stop drinking Dr. Pepper went right out the window! I'm not sure I could survive, nor let my children survive without them. And I am afraid we are only just beginning...

Fit throwing.

Screaming.

Hitting.

Screaming.

Pushing.

Screaming.

Climbing.

Screaming.

Screaming.

Oh, and did I mention the screaming?! 

Talk about mind melting. Oh goodness! It is a whole new level of ear piercing I did not know was possible. I knew I should start to expect some pushing of the limits soon...but I did not realize it would be over the most inane details of the day. 

For example, I figured that we would have some struggles when the day comes that I take away the beloved "Bup" aka binkie. (A day that has not yet occured, because teething is still in full swing in this household, and quite frankly, I'm too afraid for my sanity if I took them away!)

Or I assumed that we would have battles over eating certain foods. Which are becoming a regular occurrence at our house. Everett has become a moody eater, and the shear fact of me saying "eat your chicken" makes him turn his nose up with a very profound "NO." - lips pursed and stuck out far enough that I could rest a quarter on top of them. So I just don't tell him to do it, I leave his plate on the table and ignore him. Then he eats. And inside I say to myself "Yes! I win!" 

But never in a million years would I have imagined that doing things like asking them to walk up the stairs, putting on their shoes, changing a diaper, putting laundry in the washer, or turning on a movie would incur a horrendous fit - complete with throwing oneself on floor, kicking, and the SCREAMING! Gah! The screaming. And the past couple days, not even tears. Just a scream loud enough you can hear it outside of our house - and all the doors and windows are closed.

All of these things have provoked a fit of hysterics recently. Okay, more specifically this week. And sure, even more specifically in the past 48 hours. Just yesterday Everett had a meltdown in the living room over the fact I tried to put his flip flop on the proper foot - when clearly he wanted that shoe to go on this foot.

Or when Beckett ran from the kitchen to the front room and flopped onto his belly on the floor, burried his head in the carpet and literally started kicking and screaming...All because Mom had tried to hand him the binkie off the counter. Clearly I should have known he wanted me to lift him up so he could reach it for himself.

However, the terrible twos are not only about the fit throwing. Though this has become the overwhelming reality of our every day life. Perhaps the greatest example of the sheer mind melding wonderfulness that has become our norm around here happened last week. 

I had been to my golf class, and our amazing friend and neighbor was watching the boys. Upon my return home, they immediately went from happy, playing and giggly boys to grumpy, clingy and whiny about everything. As she was leaving I helped open the door for her, only to turn and see Everett STANDING on our kitchen table with my phone in hand. And folks, we have a bar-height kitchen table, so he was quite a long distance from the ground.

I hurriedly shut the door and grabbed the acrobat off the table before he chose to jump or fall off onto the tile floor and land on his head. I had no longer than turned and set him on the living room floor than to turn back around and see Beckett atop the counter. 

He managed to climb up the boxes of clothing being stored under the bar-top counter and was sitting on top, kitchen sink turned on full blast, water splashing everything - including my laptop and all school assignments that had been set down in a hurry to clear them from the table for breakfast that morning.

And such has become my life. 

I resolve that baby proofing and toddler proofing are nowhere near one and the same. Even then, no amount of "proofing" would suffice, short of eliminating all furniture in the house. Still, I am sure they would find somewhere to climb, something to get into, and some way of torturing the other. 

Yet, somehow, even amidst all the screaming, the chaos, and the disaster zone the house has become...I can still at least partially sanely say, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sometimes it's just nice to vent about it all for a moment. So, thanks for putting up with my rant. And please, feel free to ask me just how I do it. Because lately, I will quite honestly tell you - I have no earthly idea. Luckily, I just don't know any different. We just keep trudging along, taking it one day at a time. Who knows...maybe we will get lucky and the terrible twos will only last another day, right?! 

Yeah, no, I'm not holding my breath for that one either.

Until then...I suppose I will just focus on double the snuggles, double the smiles, the giggles and the kisses.