I don’t know what it’s like to have just one child, but I can tell you that when you have twins they always have someone to play with.
Imagine being 2 1/2 years old and every night you get to have a sleep over date with your best friend and stay up for hours just messing around and laughing together.
That is what it’s like in our house these nights.
Alice and I were both under the impression that raising toddlers was going to mean we still had little bundles of screaming half formed emotional blobs, but our kids appear to have seemingly well-formed and clearly distinct personalities: it comes out in how they relate to each of us, how they relate to their wild pantheon of stuffed rabbits and bears and birds, it comes out in the clothes they like to wear. They both want to help me cook and help Alice bake. They both can be convinced to do things like clean out the refrigerator and scrub the bathroom floor, though Lilah gets more excited about it. Silas loves playing with his basketball and soccer ball. They both love watering the strawberries and tomatoes in the garden. They both love reading books and listening to music. Sometimes they get overwhelmed and scream and cry and bite each other, or us, but it’s not nearly as crazy as everyone warned us about the “terrible twos!” It’s exhausting but it’s definitely not terrible!
What inspired me to mark this time is that tonight as I was putting them to bed they started playing this new game, at least a game I’d never seen before. I have no idea where they learned it. Maybe in daycare? Maybe from one of their grandmas? Maybe they just made it up themselves? The game goes like this:
They yell out “HUG!” and then they jump on each other and hug really tight.
It’s literally the cutest thing you’ve ever seen in your life.
The object of the game seems to be to get the other twin to fall over, and then when the fall happens they both come tumbling down together and burst out in a cascade of giggles.
And once the giggles stop then they do it again.
And again.
That’s what’s going on around here, y’all. I don’t know how many people are out there reading these words but I just want you to know that even though the world is fucked up in so many ways out there, our twins are playing a hugging game where the object is to hug each other really tight, and then fall down laughing, and then do it again.
I just figured you might want to know. I hope it makes your day a little better.
(images from My Friends by Taro Gomi)
Super sweet to read. I find the “terrible twos” to be full of wonder. And these little ones having big emotions and feelings. It’s wonderful I love this age !
Hug!!!