Handful

Life with 4 is a lot of fun.  As we go out with all the kids, we hear a lot of the same phrases over and over:

"Are they all yours?"

"Are they twins?"

"Wow!  You have your hands full!"

"Those are all yours?"

"Are they twins too?" (referring to Max and Kate)

Max and Kate have heard these phrases so many times that now when people ask, "Are they all yours?" Max will reply, "Yep! We have our hands full!"  It makes me laugh to hear him say that.

Now for some unsolicited advice: Everyone has a twin story.  When I am out navigating the store with my brood of kids, everyone wants to tell me about their friend/sister/mother/aunt/cousin twice removed/acquaintance/stranger they know that has twins.  The harsh reality is, I simply do not care!  I am doing my best to get in and out of store without any meltdowns!  If you see a mother/father with twins, just smile at them but do not stop them to tell them about how you have a sister with twins (they won't care either!).  I have also been asked repeatedly if it has sunk in that I have twins.  My answer: YES!  It is a daily reality.  It is a ton of fun and I feel extremely blessed to have them.  It is a lot of work, but it is so rewarding as well.  They grow so quickly and it is fun to see their little personalities develop.

My friend sent me this link to an article entitled "25 Practical Tips about the Horrors of Raising Twins that You will Never Learn from Movies or TV."  I think numbers 4 and 6 are applicable to my post:

4. No matter what kind of twins you have, the first thing everyone you encounter will say is "Are those twins?" People will cross the street to say this to you. They will come out from behind store displays, roll car windows down, leave their vehicles at the gas pump. No matter how many advanced degrees they posses, how many children they have of their own, or how intuitive and erudite they may be normally, they will still ask, "Are those twins?"

Just say "Yes," and try not to sound like you're Cher from Clueless. "Um....yeah!"

6. "I knew a twin!" Everyone has a twin story. None of them are interesting. Your cousins are twins?! Wow! Okay! Your mailman's brother had twins and one died. Jeez! Wow! Okay! Your grade-school had seven sets of twins and your mom always said there was something in the water! My goodness. Listen: the only people who have interesting twin stories are parents of twins, and they know you're far too exhausted to hear and/or remember any of them. Older twin parents will smile shyly at you and say "I have twins, too. It gets better. You're doing great." They are like unicorns. Take photos with these people and keep them in your wallet.

(I need to take a picture of all the kids and upload it, but as I am typing this on Sunday night and all the kids are asleep, I will do it at some point tomorrow.)  Have a great week!