My friend Erika came on Tuesday night to spend the week with us. She has 7-year old identical twin boys and two sweet little girls that are 5 years old and 2 years old. And she's pregnant too.Erika and I have actually never met in person before, but we have known each other online for several years. We are part of this secret group of twin moms and I know we have a lot in common just based on our parenting styles. And luckily, we hit it off. Our kids were instant friends and we talked like we had always known each other. It was so nice to have adult conversation. I miss that so much.
The kids spent a lot of time outside playing and Erika was able to take a nap each afternoon because the 5 little ones all slept at the same time. (Genius!) I was able to run a few errands and squeeze in an appointment, without having to drag the kids along with me as usual.I even got to take a shower two days in a row. And I'm pretty certain that I haven't done that since the babies were born. Or at least since Jason left. It's now been almost 17 months since he left.
Perhaps my favorite errand was getting a (much-needed) pedicure. Erika watched the kids and treated me to a pedicure. It was an hour of pure bliss. It was relaxing and quiet and... strange... but in a great kind of way. I have pretty toenails. Now I can conquer the world!
Three 7-year old boys are quite a handful but they also play very well together and entertain each other. However, after watching Erika's boys interact, I'm certain that I am correct in my assessment that twins have a whole different dynamic, unlike singletons. I can't exactly explain it, nor can I put my finger on precisely what is the issue. Maybe it's just identical twins? I don't know. But her boys act like Leila and Sarah- they like to touch each other and have a lot of physical contact, anything from grabbing hands to hugging, wrestling, or poking and irritating. They think as a single unit sometimes, working together to get things done in a way that a single child would never be able to do it. There's this unspoken, but obvious, connection. It's fascinating and yet completely foreign to me. It goes beyond the typical sibling bond and everything seems magnified... more touching, more giggling, more mischief, more everything. I think I kind of love it.
And one of these trip of 7-year old boys lost a tooth on Tuesday. It was my boy.Matthew lost his first top tooth and was very proud that he pulled it out himself. And now whenever I see that toothless grin, I'm reminded of just how fast he's growing up. Too fast.
In the midst of the chaos, Erika got a pretty good glimpse at my life. My real life.I don't always write about the little things that happen on a daily basis. I don't even think about them that much. But when Erika posted a comment about all the things that were happening each day, I had to laugh. We had poop incidents, a dog barf incident, my garage door broke and I fixed it, my toilet flooded and I disconnected it and replaced the wax ring, my cousin was in an ATV accident, we made two trips to Target, and we rearranged car seats in my van. It was a normal kind of week for me but kind of interesting to have someone here sharing it with me.
And, for the record, Erika thinks I'm insane for wanting more children. (Most of you agree, I'm sure!)
But this crazy life is so much fun! Even when the kids make a mess and Leila gets a bubble wand stuck in her hair, it's fun.
I only get to live this life one time. I only get to be a mom to six little children once. How could I not enjoy this?
I probably ought to write about how Erika discovered my OCD tendencies and about how I got some not-so-great news at my ENT appointment yesterday, but that will have to wait. Right now I hear babies waking up and ten bucks says someone pooped.
