Forget terrible 2’s…let’s talk about the terrible 3’s. True, it’s only been 2 days since Paige and Taylor turned 3, but let me tell you, it appears that overnight my sweet, angelic little girls have suddenly been replaced with....well...naughty, trouble making, sass-backing, not listening to me, up to no good 3 year olds. I admit that I saw this coming however because in recent weeks, the twins have really been giving each other (and me and their daddy) some real fits. And, although Paige and Taylor are each other’s best friends, they are also each other’s worst enemies. They have fun together. They crack each other up. They love to play together and are often sweet, happy and lovable to each other. But…they are one another’s tormenter too. They bite each other. They take toys from each other and then scurry away. They tease each other. They push each other.
Lately, I find that I spend half my time practically tearing my hair out of my head and the other half just laughing at their antics. I also find that they can really drive me C-R-A-Z-Y. They definitely have minds of their own now and the vocabulary to along with it to tell me just what they think they are or aren’t going to do. They don’t want to sit at the table when eating, they don’t want to sit in their car seats (this one really irks my husband), they don’t want to take turns sharing their toys. And, my absolute favorite newfound skill of theirs – they do not listen even though they know exactly what I’m telling them. They are also quite apt at drawing upon this skill when they’re in trouble, particularly when they’re in a time-out, after either stealing a toy from the other or from pushing or biting each other. My husband and I can no longer stroll leisurely through the store with them – if they’re in their strollers, they’re pinching each other or pushing each other as we cruise along or trying to throw themselves out of the stroller and if they’re not in their strollers, they’re darting off, usually in opposite directions, grabbing at clothes, shoes, toys, whatever is within arms reach. And, well, taking them out to eat…well, I can’t even begin to talk about that…sometimes they’re so well-behaved at a restaurant, my husband and I are like, “who are these kids?” and then other times, they’re so ill-behaved at a restaurant, my husband and I usually end up apologizing to the other customers around us as we’re exiting the restaurant. Argh.
But, these kids are still totally awesome though. They’re becoming these little people with their own personalities. Paige is still a little shy around new people and takes a little while to warm up and often likes to have me nearby; Taylor, on the other hand, is scared of no one and nothing and loves to be the center of attention.
These days life with twin toddlers is:
entertaining, crazy, all-consuming, challenging, wonderful, nutty, exhausting, fun, embarrassing, comical, lively…and, did I already mention crazy?!
ALL OF THE ABOVE and then some!
