Sunday, May 1, 2011

Bottoms Up!

I was having wine time last night with one of my best girlfriends, Cindy. I met Cindy in 2006 shortly after the twins were born and just after her family had relocated from the Bay Area. We met playing Bunko (aka: Drunko) with some of the other neighbor ladies. Cindy and I hit it off right away. We are a lot alike in many ways, but mostly we are the anti-mom moms. We love being mothers and we love our children fiercely, but it does not define us nor do we want it to.

It didn't take long for Cindy to become my one and only trusted confidante who I shared the details of the miserable life I was living. She never judged me and was always there to apply "gentle pressure" for me to do what needed to be done in my life. She was one of the three people who instilled the confidence in me to file for divorce and think that I could actually survive...and maybe, just maybe...thrive.

Cindy and I were the suburban housewives that would sit on the back patio drinking wine at 2pm while the babies napped. This was a frequent habit of ours during nice weather. Last night as we were sipping on our bottle of Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc at Russell's we were reminiscing about old times. Naturally, we came back to our sunny afternoons on my back patio while the twins napped and we wined. I'm pretty sure every mother has her (if you're like me you have multiple) "World's Worst Mommy" moment. This one I am about to share with you had us in stitches last night (keeping in mind we were drinking) but at the time it was mortifying!

It was sometime during the summer of 2007 and the twins were right around 12 months old. Getting these two kids to sleep...EVER...was one of the biggest parenting challenges of my career thus far. So, needless to say, some days nap time was one big long cry fest but hey, I needed a break and I also figured sooner or later they would learn and start sleeping. So the girls are in their cribs crying and Cindy and I are out back drinkin' wine. The crying goes on and on and on and I just decided they would have to deal. Naptime is naptime. Period. Finally it goes quiet and then I can hear Hannah scream. A blood curdling scream. I knew something was wrong. Cindy and I both ran upstairs as fast as we could. I walked in the room and Hannah was standing in her crib screaming and I look over to Heather and her crib is...EMPTY!

I freaked! I was sure someone had come in the house through the front door while we were out back and stole Heather. I would have to say, in this moment, thinking my child had been kidnapped was the scariest moment of my life. I swear my heart stopped. I have to admit, I kind of wondered why the kidnapper only took one baby. As I went to grab Hannah from her crib I noticed two little feet sticking up out of the laundry hamper at the end of Heather's crib. I pass Hannah off to Cindy (who is still screaming bloody murder) and grab my pantless, diaperless child from the laundry hamper. Again, my heart stopped. I wondered...oh my God, is she dead? Not dead, but frightened and soaking wet! While Heather was crying and a bit shaken, Hannah was the one who was traumatized. After I got Heather diapered and settled down I handed her off to Cindy so I could hold Hannah who was still a basketcase.

It took awhile to calm my own self down. It also took my awhile to stop beating myself up about letting my girls cry. And do you think it changed the way I did naptime with my twinnies? Nope. I lowered the crib mattresses as low as they could go and solved the "laundry hamper diving" problem once and for all. Unfortunately, as my babies turned into little monkeys as they grew, our naptime problems continued and my duo gave me more "worst mommy moments" from their naptime shenanigans. Parenting twins is by far, the most challenging job I've ever had in my life but I have to admit, I feel so blessed to be able to be their mom and be witness to all of the amazing things they do.

While I felt like the worst mother in the world at that moment, I can look back and laugh and not feel bad at all. In fact, the girls love it when I tell them the story of Heather's Hamper Diving experience. I'm lucky...my life is anything but boring! Never a dull moment!

1 comment: