Tuesdays in Twinland: Spring Fever

Spring is in the air!!! The only winter longer than this one was last winter, when the twins were newborns and we never left the house. This winter we just rarely left the house, and then only for indoor shopping trips to Walmart or whatever.

Needless to say, I’m glad spring is here. Can I get three cheers for spring? Because this winter has given the twins and I have a serious case of cabin fever.

Last Friday it was a beautiful day, and so the twins and I decided to go to the outlet mall with my parents. The day before they got their 18 month shots, and so they were pretty cranky and I was dying to get out of the house. I thought maybe if we went somewhere new and exciting, they’d be distracted from their crankiness until nap time.

The outlets were a huge success, in more ways than one. First, I bought the twins 8 long sleeved shirts for next year for only $20. Bargain shopping always puts me in a good mood. Additionally my mom bought then two shirts and a jacket for Christmas for like $15.

Then we ran into an unexpected acquaintance. When my twins were in the NICU, there was another set of twins–these ones boy/girl–right across from us. These twins were born three days before mine at almost the exact same gestation. We got to know the parents a little bit, and were rooting for each other to get out of the hospital and cheering each little success. Those twins went home a few days before ours, and I’ve often wondered how they are doing.

Well, we ran into the mom, big brother, and twins at the outlet mall! It was so nice to chat and bring each other up to speed on how our kids are doing now. There’s a special kind of bond that NICU moms have with each other, and add the twin mom bond on top of that and you feel like you could sit and talk forever, even though you really don’t know each other.

So that was pretty sweet. But what Thing 1 and Thing 2 liked most about the outlet malls were they could run and run and run. There is a giant brick walkway between the stores at this particular mall, and on a weekday morning it was pretty dead. So the twins ran around squealing and having a grand old time.

Thing 2 took off in one direction and while my mom chased him around, I stuck with Thing 1. Thing 1 became particularly interested in the window display at Gap and started running towards it. I followed a little behind, content to just watch him run around and play.

He headed straight for the big glass display window at the front of the store. A very bright and colorful sign announcing the spring sale hung just inside the window, and was apparently fascinating. Thing 1 kept running towards it. I assumed he would realize that there was a window between him and the sign and stop.

He didn’t. He ran smack into the glass and bounced back a little before landing on his behind. He looked up in surprise at the window and promptly started crying.

I laughed so hard there were tears. I ran over to him, picked him up, and tried to comfort him. But I just couldn’t stop laughing. I know people sometimes put stickers on glass so birds won’t run into it. But who knew you needed to do the same thing for toddlers?

The laughter continued. My dad witnessed the whole event and he was doubled up with laughter too. When my mom came back with Thing 2 and I explained, she started laughing.

I laughed at my child’s pain. Am I Mom of the Year or what? But it was so darn funny I couldn’t help it.

I figure it’s nearly summer. This will be the first summer the twins are really mobile. They were just starting to crawl the beginning of last summer and barely taking steps by the end. This year, they are going to want to run around outside and play. And they will fall. And they will get hurt. And they may run into more windows. I can’t protect them from all injuries, and even if I could I wouldn’t. That’s how they’ll learn. So my goal this summer is to avoid anything but minor scrapes and bruises. With two of them and one of me, I’m not sure how great the odds are. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, we’re just really glad for spring.

TWIN MOM TIP: Don’t take things too seriously. Laugh. Enjoy life. Find the humor in bad situations. If you don’t allow yourself to loosen up sometimes, life with twins will be pretty darn miserable.