As evidenced by the posts in the past six months or so, Dane and Logan have taken the "monkey factor" to new, unheard of levels of monkeyness. Are they purposely trying to provide fodder for my blog? Are they simply uber-mischievous? Is it just "the terrible two's?" Or is it that other wonderful excuse, "it's a twin thing?" I've been trying this excuse on for size recently and I think I like it. The boys don't have some genetic disposition for trouble! Blame their crazy behavior solely on their twin-ness!
The latest vexing behavior is Dane's unlatching his car seat and getting out while I'm driving. I've talked before about how Dane is STRONG! This is not bragging. It is a fact. We can blame his paternal grandfather, Peter, the triple medal Olympic champion in weightlifting. Most kids his age cannot undo the car seat latches because they are purposely made to foil children! But, Dane is all about foiling. Give him a situation that is seemingly impossible to mess with and he will mess with it. This is why Barton has to "fix the boys wagons" almost every weekend. "Fixing their wagons" is Barton's catch-phrase for trying to foil the boys' antics. Examples of "fixing their wagons:" Putting latches on each and every door in the house and also the shutters and drawers. Removing any object in their room on which they could climb to undo said latches. Taking their drawers out of their armoire when they figured out the latches. Bolting their beds to the walls, etc. You get the idea. If you've been following this blog, you've seen numerous examples of mommy and daddy trying to stay one step ahead of the monkeys. Or maybe we're just trailing in their dust ... who knows.
Anyway, this car seat problem has got me seeing red. Not only does Dane remove himself from his seat, he then goes on to undo Logan's seat belt. Thankfully, this has not happened while driving yet. I've only had to contend with one monkey loose in the car while driving, but one is enough ... especially on the freeway! I flew into a rage yesterday because it is just so frustrating to feel like their is no "safety net" when it comes to the boys being in the car. By safety net, I'm not just talking about the literal sense of Dane being safe while driving. I'm talking about the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your little one is ensconced in their seat so you can then go about loading the car, go back into the house countless times for the items that you either forgot or are in demand by the little people, change one of the boys' diapers, etc. It was the same feeling I got when we took down the gates. If their slogan then was "Don't Fence Me It," it's now "Don't Latch Me In." Just when I think things can't get worse, there they go to prove me wrong.
So can I blame this all on the twin thing? I don't know. I do know that siblings will egg each other on regardless of whether they're twins. But the difference is that non-twin siblings are different ages so they will be in different phases of development. Also, with twins, it's somehow a given that they spend the majority of their early years attached at the hip, whereas different-age siblings are more often split up. Another factor could be the spacing of our children and when I talk about spacing, we have virtually none. So when one adult is trying to contend with three little monkeys, discipline such as "time-out" gets fairly hard to enforce. This just sets the stage for mischief, mischief, mischief.
Regardless of the cause of this new development, I'm going to have to solve the problem soon. Legend has it that one mom purposely slammed on the brakes when her daughter had removed herself from her car seat, sending the little one careening forward just enough to send the message: Stay put or you could get seriously hurt! I'm not sure that's the solution for me, but hey, if things get really desperate ...
Double Trouble: Cliche, but true
... Candygram ...
Dane practices his post-reprimand pout
And then of course, you'll run into the parents who proudly proclaim to have "never baby proofed the house" because they "don't believe in it" or whatever. Phooey!
The silver lining is that your boys have shown they are excellent at working together. Got to love that teamwork. They are also building up skills that might come in handy one day, like the time I locked myself out and the boys were able to sneak into the house and unlatch the front door for me. Ok, so that's only one example I can come up with but still!
Posted by: akemi/svtwinmom | December 12, 2008 at 04:57 PM
And then of course, you'll run into the parents who proudly proclaim to have "never baby proofed the house" because they "don't believe in it" or whatever. Phooey!
The silver lining is that your boys have shown they are excellent at working together. Got to love that teamwork. They are also building up skills that might come in handy one day, like the time I locked myself out and the boys were able to sneak into the house and unlatch the front door for me. Ok, so that's only one example I can come up with but still!
Posted by: akemi/svtwinmom | December 12, 2008 at 05:02 PM
I’m pleased to see that you are “blaming” me for Dane being able to undo “childproof” latches. Like every grandfather I’d like to think that all his many very desirable attributes come from me and that the lesser ones from some distant relative. I also was known to have been a pouter, but I’m sure that Dane, as did I, will learn that it’s an unrewarding behavior and will find more cost effective means to achieve his desires.
After our recent Thanksgiving visit, I’d be proud to be “blamed” as the sole donor of all your children’s genes, but am well aware that they have drawn on an excellent pool – the one that created their parents.
Dedo
Posted by: Peter T George | December 18, 2008 at 12:35 PM