Sticky Kids

Last week we went to a weeknight festival on the square - food trucks, live music, vendors, balloons, etc. The girls are always pretty worn out after school, but we braved the crowds and potential tantrums and headed up there anyway. The girls loved it of course. But as often tends to happen, I think Roger and I enjoy the idea of the event more than the actual event.

Part of why you move to a town like Roswell is for the family-friendly festivals and nightlife, but in reality, taking two two-year-olds anywhere is a bit of a nightmare. They have absolutely no regard for directions like "Stay close to Mommy and Daddy," or "Don't wander off too far," so we basically end up following our assigned child around until the inevitable meltdown occurs when we scoop them up to return to the spot where the friends we haven't spoken to all evening are hanging out. Good times. Still, I think a little change of pace is good for all of us, and even though it often seems like more trouble than it's worth, it usually doesn't seem nearly as bad in retrospect. Which is why I was kind of surprised when the morning after, Roger says to me, "I was a little unimpressed with our girls last night."

I laughed, "You think? When are they going to stop doing the exact opposite of whatever we tell them?"

Roger nodded in agreement but added, "It's not just that though. I kept seeing all these other little girls in their dresses and their hairbows and then I looked over at ours - Anna digging in the flowerbed and Julie wiping her nose with her shirt. I mean, what's that about?"

I laughed out loud again. "That, my darling husband, is what you signed up for when you married me, I'm afraid. I was most certainly a sticky kid."

"But I wasn't a sticky kid!" he protests. And he's right. His mom still talks about how he never liked to get his hands dirty. (I try not to read too much into that.)

"I guess they had a 50-50 chance either way," I say, trying to be sympathetic. "Is it at all comforting to know that I rarely dig in the dirt or wipe my nose on my shirt anymore? I mean, they'll probably never be all that prim and proper, but I'm pretty sure they will outgrow the 'stickiness' eventually."

"I guess," he sighs.

Better a sticky kid than a princess, if you ask me. But I am, after all, still a sticky kid at heart.

Single Mom

Recently, Roger went on a nine-day business trip to India, putting me through a nine-day test of mommy endurance. The good news - I passed! The bad news - my hair has gone grey. Just kidding. But I definitely spot a new wrinkle that I will forever refer to as the Indian crevice. Still, I learned a lot, and before I forget those lessons, I wanted to document them here.

1. There's no shame in asking for help - well, maybe a little bit, but there's more shame in checking yourself into the looney bin, so you do what you have to. It takes a village after all. (And my wonderful girlfriends make for the best village of all.)

2. Just as raising twins probably isn't twice as hard as raising a singleton, taking care of those twins on your own is not actually twice as hard as taking care of them with a partner. It's hard either way. Even when that partner is extremely helpful.

3. If I lived without Roger, I would rarely watch TV. I would, however, spend far more time staring blankly at a computer screen accomplishing nothing.

4. Children can eat peanut butter sandwiches for dinner several nights in a single week without showing signs of malnourishment. (Same is true for a 32 year-old woman.)

5. I can change a tire! (With a little help from one of those amazing girlfriends.)

6. When I finally got around to turning on the TV, I realized that I can in fact figure out how to work the remote control if yelling for Roger to fix it is not an option.

7. A large glass of wine at the end of a long day is wonderful in theory, but you have to be able to stay awake to drink it.

8. Not much escapes children. Overheard numerous times in the back seat: "Daddy go on trip. Mommy sad." Very cute, but a little embarrassing when one of the teachers at the daycare called mid-week to check on me.

9. "Mommy miss Daddy? Anna miss Daddy too" are quite possibly the sweetest words ever spoken.

10. I have the most helpful, supportive, and loving husband a woman could ask for. He makes my life better in a gazillion ways and the fact that he occasionally tells me to have a glass of wine while he bathes our children is just one of them. And you know what? After nine days on my own - I think I'll take him up on that offer more often.