My mother’s house is like a death trap for twin toddlers boys. Since she does not have any children at home, there are all sorts of fun–and not kid friendly–things in her house.
One of these items happens to be a cabinet that holds all the equipment for the entertainment center–DVR, DVD player, surround sound system…you get the picture. It’s one of those cabinets that has a glass door that stays closed with a magnet at the top.
Well, the glass in this particular cabinet shattered a while back, and my parents replaced it with plexiglass. While the plexiglass has the bonus of not being able to shatter again, it is very flexible and a favorite no-no for the twins to play with. They love to open and shut the door. They love to bend the plexiglass until it pops out of it’s socket and falls off the cabinet. They love to play with the equipment inside.
A few weeks ago, I was having one of those mommy-is-losing-her-mind days. I didn’t feel well (darn allergies), the twins were crabby (darn teething), and I was just plain exhausted (darn life). After naptime, I decided to take the twins upstairs to visit my mom since my sister and her kids were there as well.
We hadn’t been upstairs very long when Thing 2 started playing with that darn entertainment equipment cabinet. The one that is off limits.
“Thing 2,” my mom said, using her best stern grandma voice. “Whoops.” (This is like our version of “no” at our house.) By this point, I was too tired to care what the twins did–just so long as they weren’t bawling–and just watched the whole exchange, content to let my mom be the disciplinarian for the moment.
Thing 2 continued playing with the cabinet. “Uh-oh,” my mom said. “Looks like we have to go to timeout.” She took Thing 2 and held him in the corner for a minute, then let him go.
He promptly ran back to the cabinet. Shocking, I know.
“Whoops,” my mom said again. She took him back to the corner. After a few seconds, she asked, “Okay, are you ready to make a good choice?”
“No,” he said emphatically.
It was hard to hold back the giggles. “Oooookkkaaayyy,” my mom said, drawing out the word. She held him there for ten seconds or so more. “Are you ready to make good choices now?” she asked.
“No,” Thing 2 insisted.
It was impossible to hold back the laughter now. Me, my mom, and my sister were all giggling.
“How about now?” my mom asked one last time.
“No,” Thing 2 said again. But “no” is sort of the twins’ favorite word lately. It is their go-to response for everything from “are you ready for bed?” to “would you like ice cream for dinner?” So my mom let him go.
And he promptly ran back to the cabinet and started playing with the plexiglass with an “I told you so” expression. I laughed so hard I cried.
So maybe the whole disciplining thing isn’t going as well as I’d like it to most days. Maybe my kids have to go in timeout for the exact same offense multiple times in an hour.
But at least we’ve got honesty down pat.
TWIN MOM TIP: Find the humor in situations. Otherwise you’ll just lose your mind.
Funny story and so true! Thanks for sharing!
So funny! Sometimes I feel like putting Caleb on time out does absolutely nothing. Especially, when he not only is perfectly happy sitting in the corner, but looks at me, folds his arms and waits for me to give up first. Ah man. Kids are great. 🙂