Oh What A Friday

Two is less than four. Two less kids should be a lot less work for a mom, according to any kind of logic. Somehow that just isn't the case here. With Emma and Elizabeth gone during the day, I don't feel like it's much less work. On the contrary, I don't have any extra eyes keeping watch for naughty toddlers, nor any older siblings to play with younger ones.

I do in general look forward to Fridays. There is story time at the library, followed by play group at the park. This gets me all the way to lunch time, after which the twins will go down for their nap. That in general gives me a couple hours to get things accomplished, and then we can all happily welcome the other half of our family home. Daddy is home last by about 4:30, and Mommy has back up. (Sigh of relief.)

Today while I was getting myself ready to leave the house, Annie was with me in one bathroom and Maddie was off playing somewhere else. A little while later she comes in with a wet sleeve. Uh oh. What liquid can she get into?

Toilet water.

She made a lovely concoction of wet wipes, paper napkins (from the table), left over cereal from the high chair trays and all the new hair rubber bands (in an open plastic baggie) in the toilet. Which the last person to use never flushed.

Why don't my children flush after themselves?

I couldn't bring myself to keep the no-longer-new rubber bands. Into the trash they went.

Eventually we made it to the library, and Annie and Maddie were remarkably well behaved. We (and when I say "we" I really mean me of course) made the frog hand puppet craft, checked out Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on DVD and went to a park for play group. The twins had a good time, and I was getting little snatches of conversation with other adults, so we weren't in a hurry to leave. I started catching little yawns and eye-rubbing, so I knew I'd better go.

I had waited too long. Annie and Maddie were too tired and angry at the world to want much in the way of food. So down for a nap they went. I sat down with my left overs for lunch, and went over to Multiples and More to enter a bunch of give-aways. (Incidentally, there are a lot of cool things they are giving away. And they aren't all for parents of multiples. Check it out!)

Then I starting hearing crib rattling and toddler sounds. Oh crumb. That was NOT a long enough nap. I didn't get anything done.

There was a lot of weeping and wailing this afternoon. And hair pulling. Hair pulling is the twins' new "thing."

Enter Elizabeth fresh home from school. "Mommy, I'm tired. My eyes hurt." I gave her a hug and noticed her temperature was up. The thermometer confirmed my initial assessment. Tylenol and juice for snack it is! She continued to lay on the couch the rest of the day.

Evening time brought more crying. Dinner was late, Elizabeth wasn't hungry, and Annie passed much of her food to Maddie who threw it all on the floor.

Bedtime arrived, and I never made my bed, emptied the clean dishes from the dishwasher, swept the kitchen floor or did any laundry.

But there was chocolate ice cream. Hooray for that!