Where's Mommy?

I think she’s out to lunch, guys. Or maybe she went to check out that new swanky bar Uptown for an afternoon cocktail (okay, it’s 10am, but close enough)? No? Well, then she went to the mall to update her lame wardrobe of lounge pants, jeans, ratty t-shirts and flip-flops? Or how about she went for a day at the spa filled with a massage, mani-pedi, facial AND haircut?

Oh, wait…there she is! She’s coming around the corner right now. See! See! She just went to the bathroom for the Guinness Book of World Record’s shortest pee. That’s all, no need to cry.

You’d think I was some crazy, selfish, negligent mother the way Ella and Aidan act when I leave the room. I used to have such content little babies, but ever since they hit one year, the cling factor has ratcheted up to unimaginable proportions. It’s one of the less-than-attractive realities of having twins, really. Two whining, crying babies clamoring to get into your arms, clawing at your pants, trying to climb up your legs, digging into your shoulders with their sharp little nails for fear that you’ll, heaven forbid, put them down ON THE FLOOR!

Don’t they know that it’s physically very difficult for me to carry them around at the same time? Yah, guys, God put those two legs on you so you can get to your highchair on your own. If you’re so upset that I am going into the kitchen to get your milk, just walk on in there with me. I’ll even let you play in the open refrigerator. It doesn’t get much better than that! Oh, you say that you’re so upset that you can’t move? As soon as you see me stand up you have to turn into a limp fish and sob face down on the floor?

…And so it goes…

It’s times like these that I get really frustrated. Frustrated that I have two babies - and not one - to soothe and comfort and distract and pick up and hold and cuddle. I realize that at just 15 months these two are still new to this world and that separation anxiety is a very real developmental issue. I want to be there for them and help them through this time. But it’s hard! Not as hard as when they are both sick, but still nonetheless hard.

I used to have the luxury of being on the computer, cooking, cleaning, etc. while they happily played. Not any more. Those activities are now reserved for nap time instead.

So, I’ve decided to really enjoy the time I have to play with them instead of feeling resentment that I can’t cross off things on my " to-do list,” or do free-time type activities. Because really, what is better than playing, reading and totally romping around with two of your most favorite people in the universe?!

And so I continue to walk this road one step and one day at a time. And the great thing about it is that for the time being, I can always count on there being four little feet following really, really closely behind my own.