Four for Four

Today marks the first day that Peter will be leaving on a business trip since the girls were born. He'll be gone for four whole days, to sunny New Orleans. While I cheer him on and am proud of his job, I have little devil Sabrina sitting on my shoulder saying, "Put too much sugar in his coffee as you wave him off. Change out his clean ones for his dirty boxers." I'll be stuck here cleaning pee off the wall and toilet from our newly potty-trained Ethan, scrubbing spit-up out of the carpet from our girls introduction to solid foods, and playing referee to the ongoing battles called sibling rivalry between our eldest angels. "Shut up little devil Sabrina," I say. Is that a blizzard I see in the forecast? Can I survive four kids for four days? Alone?

If I Hear it Again...

Being parents to multiples, you suddenly graduate to this special club. We haven't determined if the special club is unique or freak as things that used to be routine have become exotic. Take buying a gallon of milk. Considering that Samuel and Ethan drink about a gallon every day or two, our milk purchases (2-4 gallons at a time) are frequent.

So I go to the store to purchase said milk, and what should take fifteen minutes turns into a forty-five minute process because of the twins. Notice how stores always have the milk at the very BACK of the store? As I walk past the first few aisles I am stopped by every grandmother, aunt and uncle who inevitably asks, "Are they twins?" Peter and I haven't decided if we should answer with something sarcastic like, "No, they are actually a year apart but one is a midget," or "They aren't twins, but they were born on the same day." Being the nice folks that we are, we always say, "Yes they are identical girls."

This part of the discussion is then they followed by something along the lines of "My second cousin's daughter had twins and they are six now." Of course, being the smiling type I am, my mouth says,"Oh really!" and my brain says, "Oh god, here we go again" as I listen to the accomplishments of their darling twins. When the glamour of the twins wears off briefly we then get, "Wow - two sets of twins!" as they notice our other impatient boys standing by. Being obsessive, I must set the record straight and provide that while Samuel and Ethan look much alike, they are actually a year apart. In many cases we must then have the discussion of "Do twins run in your family?" I then weigh the desire for my gallon(s) of milk against whether or not I really want to describe the genetic predisposition between identical and fraternal twins to every person in the store. And lastly, these conversations are nearly always followed by "My goodness you have your hands full." My husband is Italian, and if he has to hear it again, someone is going to become one with the concrete.

After much repitition we finally reach the back of the store, grab our milk and do it all over again on the way to the checkout. Ahhh...we do love our milk.