Sunday night I had to do some impromptu laundry...I thought the twins would be able to handle a few bites of jello on their dinner plates and learned quickly that the answer is no. Not wanting white shirts to be stained red forever, I gathered all of the twins laundry. Laundry day is normally reserved for Wednesdays. As I folded clean clothes, I realized I folded only one pair of socks for each twin. This means since Wednesday, we'd only gone out once. I felt badly about this, as both of them love getting out and about, especially Vivienne. Lately when we go somewhere, she squeals in delight when we head back to unbuckle her and go inside whatever place we've ventured to. Yesterday we visited Bryan for lunch, making the wildly unpopular choice of going into public by eating out. We tried a new burger joint which was really good. Laith and Vivienne were extremely well behaved. They stood next to us on the booth, eating the snacks I set up for them mixed with french fries and whatever else tickled their fancy. Yesterday, it was my hamburger bun that Laith kept grabbing at. I'm not a big fan of the no-low carb diet so I was glad when he switched to the sweet potato tots. The couple behind us kept being goggled at by the twins, much to my dismay and continued efforts to turn them around and focus on their own food. Luckily this couple was understanding, as they have 9 grandchildren of their own, and later learned, a set of twins. It was nice to share in the understanding of the difficulty that sometimes arises from having two at the exact same learning stage.
Later in the evening, we ventured out again. Bryan needed some new work garb so he dropped us at the mall to do some walking and exploring while he went to get fitted for a new suit. We wandered the bottom floor, checking out the kiddie clothing shops and the Disney store. I spoiled each with toys and new pajamas. Vivienne picked out her pajamas. I held up several different colors which she shook her head to all with a resounding No. The last choice was Ariel. She started to shake her head, then changed her mind and reached out to grab the gown. We also headed into a couple of stores I like, and got ourselves a salty pretzel to share. Laith thoroughly enjoyed his snack. Vivienne absolutely refused any after the first bite (which I later found in the bottom of the stroller). We started circling the mall (which takes about 25 minutes to make one entire circle) and after the first half circle, the twins started to meltdown. Bryan was still in the middle of measuring, so I pulled the last card up my sleeve. We headed for the kiddie play area. Normally I wouldn't dream of going into the kiddie pit. With all the germs, dirtiness, sickness, kids, adults, germs, stinky feet, stinky diapers, germs, and so on, it's not exactly my ideal locale. If Bryan had been with us, the whole adventure would've been kaboshed. But Mommy didn't want to deal with screaming in a loud echoing mall. We parked the stroller inside the kiddie area (I know...curse me now. However, watching two kids run in different directions that don't know how to entirely listen and watch my purse is not easy peasy). The shoes came off and the smiles were plastered on. Vivienne ran off without a care in the world. She never looked for me. Laith ran after his sister, to only come running back after 5 seconds to check I was still there. He kept an eye on me the entire time, making sure to check every 30 seconds that I had not evaporated. Vivienne ran out of the area twice and Laith once. It was a workout keeping an eye on those two...but the rewarding squeals, giggles and smiles were completely worth it. Once Bryan was finished, I grabbed both babes and rocketed off. I hadn't thought about the kiddie area being on the opposite side of the mall from where we had been dropped off (and would be picked up). Bryan was able to find a parking spot and walk inside just as we arrived at the meeting place. He said the smile on the faces of our children were amazing. He couldn't believe how happy they looked. When I told him about our escapade, he kept a smile, but I know deep down he was wanting to puke his guts out, grab the sanitizer, go through an air lock chamber, burn the clothes and probably the stroller, and maybe even just fire me from my position as mommy. But how could you? Especially when there was fits of laughter and jibber jabber all the way home and the easiest bedtime I've had to date. Straight to bed without a peep, no lingering fake crying to drag me back in for another final hug and kiss good night. I adore these moments...it makes all the other trying times of mommyhood melt away.
