Twins
Sunday July 20th 2008, 10:38 am
Filed under: Life,Non-Knitting

First, thank you to all who have written about Ruth. My hope is that her husband aka The Roketman will follow the link back here and read your words and mine and find comfort in them.  I am told there was a spinners’ guild meeting yesterday with him present, with tears and funny stories told on his wife.

What I wanted to mention for this morning.  Yesterday, my husband and I went off to Costco a little before they closed, and ended up in a slow line well away from the busy central aisle.

Very shortly a young couple with two little girls pulled their cart up behind us: three and a half year old twins, identical as far as I could tell, and absolutely adorable.

The mom looked really frazzled, the dad less so, but clearly it had been a long day; it showed in all of them.  As the wife went off to grab one last thing somewhere, my husband looked at the dad, smiled, and said, “I remember the days.”

When your children are little, there’s nothing in the world so comforting as a middle-aged stranger who thinks they’re adorable rather than a pain for being fussy.  And when you’re a parent, that is one of the perks of getting to that age. One twin grabbed her sister’s head and pulled it into her lap and rocked  back and forth a moment.  The other enjoyed the closeness at first, laughing, then decided to assert her individuality and pushed away hard. Normal sibling stuff.  She got her daddy to let her out of the cart, and then promptly laid down on the floor, swishing her arms and legs full circle.

“Wrong climate for snow angels,” I laughed, and the dad’s face lit up and he laughed.  He mentioned a trip to Tahoe they were looking forward to.  The other twin experimented for a few moments with the fact that she now got to take over the leg holes in the upper cart for both sides–it was designed to seat two–and then, when it wasn’t fun to take over her sister’s territory if her sister didn’t notice nor care, asked to be let out too.  Whereupon she flopped down on the floor a moment herself, looking the very picture of exhaustion, then leaped up and ran around her twin like a sheepdog herding her.  Never letting herself get too far away from her sister.  Stay close where it feels safe from the big world.

“I wish I had that much energy when I’m tired.”  Again, the dad laughed in response.

Next time Costco exhausts me, I will picture myself on the floor making snow angels.  Maybe one of their 25-lb bags of powdered sugar would help.


6 Comments so far
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Great attitude! I get more irritated with a loud, impatient parent who just doesn’t realize that their child may be fussy because they haven’t eaten yet, are tired, etc. A friend once wanted to leave a holiday party because a child was crying. I chose not to do anything fun with her anymore. Kids are kids!!!

Comment by Joansie 07.20.08 @ 2:06 pm

I can handle the crying kids. It’s when the parents start crying that I know things are desperate. The kid just needs a snack and a nap. The parents need so much more. It takes a village to raise a child, but keeping a parent going often requires the combined efforts of a major metropolitan area.

Comment by Laura 07.20.08 @ 7:05 pm

The 25lb bag of Powdered Sugar would be perfect for the snow angels!
I agree with the saying it takes a village to raise a child and lauras addition of “but keeping a parent going ofton requires the combined efforts of a major metropolitan area” 🙂 This has to be especially true for parents of 2-4yr old twins!!!

Comment by Danielle from SW MO 07.21.08 @ 5:51 am

Oh, snow angels will cure a lot of things, even if it’s just remembering ones from the past, or dreaming of future efforts…

Comment by Channon 07.21.08 @ 7:40 am

yep snow angles in sugar. That would be loads of fun. 🙂

Comment by Tiny Tyrant 07.21.08 @ 9:58 am

My Mom still makes snow angels at 81.

Comment by Wunx~ 07.23.08 @ 8:50 pm



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