The strangest thing happened last week. Someone must have kidnapped the boys and replaced them with cranky imposters. Over the weekend we unknowingly got the originals back and normal service was resumed.
I have a couple of theories over what might have happened last week. It might have been the knock on effect from the birthday, they quickly got used to people coming in and handing them colourful parcels for them to tear the paper off and might have missed it when their mean parents didn’t hand them a bunch of presents this week. It might have been a sugar hangover, they ate their own bodyweight in chocolate and crisps and it’s possible that they were suffering withdrawals. They had a bit of a cold for a few days last week so maybe that’s the cause of the grumpiness. The old reliable excuse is teething, we like to trot that out whenever we run out of excuses for them because no-one likes to face up to the fact that they might just have cantankerous children. Maybe it was a combination of all of these things. All I know is that every evening last week I looked at my watch about a hundred times from 6.00 to 8.30 and wondered why it was taking such a long time to reach bedtime.
Everything we offered them for dinner was refused. Vociferously refused. Any attempt at interaction was rebuffed. Even when we gave up trying and just put on the TV they complained about our choice of programme.
It was a long week and after going out for a few drinks on Saturday night we were in no mood to face twins in the throes of the terrible twos. We went to my mother’s house so that she would cook us lunch and so someone would amuse the twins. We got there and the boys picked up where they left off and screamed abuse at us for the terrible crime of trying to feed them lunch. Our plan for a restful day was slowly evaporating so we settled for putting them down for a nap and getting lunch in peace. This is the point where they were switched back. When they woke up, they were back to their chirpy selves. They worked the room, sang songs, blew kisses and gave the full charm offensive. It was such a relief!
Their good humour continued on Monday night. The Huge Tumbler was over for a visit and they decided to acknowledge his existence for the first time. I think it was the juggling that won them over in the end. He did his best to ruin his good work by kicking over all the cones the boys had set up on the floor just to see what they’d do [he wasn’t at all encouraged by Hannah [!], and MB took offence and charged at the Huge Tumbler with his head]. Monkey Boy was certainly impressed with the juggling balls. I don’t know what he was thinking but after The Huge Tumbler finished and the boys cast the balls aside, MB took it upon himself to go and fetch them. Fetch is the only word for it too. He crawled around on his hands and knees and picked them up with his teeth. He seemed to be enjoying his little game so I threw the balls out again to see if he would continue. I was kind of glad when he gave me a “that game is SOOO five minutes ago” look and walked away.
After The Tumbler left, Hannah turned the stereo on so the boys could practise their dancing. On Saturday she had brought them down to a toddlers disco in the local scout hall. It didn’t start well, they refused to let go of their Nana’s legs when they first came in. By the end of the session they were swaggering around the dance floor like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Their cousin Dusty went as well but his unique dancing style consisted of lying on the floor with little or no concern for his own safety. To each their own, I guess!
Hannah had selected Stevie Wonder’s greatest hits. The boys loved Sir Duke and Superstition but weren’t too keen on Isn’t She Lovely. I love the ways toddlers dance. They have a huge range of wiggle in them at that age. Their nappy clad bums swing from impossible angle to impossible angle with their little fists clenched and pumping the air. Best of all is the little pout, no point shaking your booty unless you are going to give it some attitude.
[Update: Thursday night was spent with their Nana. She has a video of Barney on the farm that finishes with a barn dance. It is some sight to see them gleefully kick their legs and shout “Yee-haw!”. My mother is a keen line dancer and is immensely proud without ever having seen it.]
So, who knows what version we get next week. Last week, I couldn’t wait to get out of the house to go training. This week, they put on a charm offensive and I don't want to put them to bed because they are so loveable. Fingers crossed for the latter!
No comments:
Post a Comment