More Ramblin'

Okay, so I've been telling people for the last few weeks that having twins isn't necessarily harder than one...it's just that there are two of them.

I hereby retract that statement.

Having two babies is harder than one. Much harder. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and wouldn't trade them for the world...but it ain't easy.

Some of the difficulty is just the impact it makes upon your time. Throughout the day, the babies need to eat about every three hours or so. After the feeding, some play time and getting them back to sleep it's only about an hour or so with the kids asleep. If, that is, they sleep. These children seem to have it in their heads that they don't need to sleep, so since they're awake they might as well eat. Then they eat too much and puke.

Overnights are hard too. Any time a person sleeps in shifts it's difficult. On a good night, and there have been some, the twins go to sleep around 11:00, wake up about 1:30 and feed for an hour, then are back up at 5:30/6:00 for the day. On a bad night, and there have been some, the schedule goes right out of the window. Just a few days ago they woke up at 2:30. Patterson was asleep by 3:00. Melody cried and screamed and stayed awake until 5:30. That's all A.M., people.

If we're lucky only one is awake at a time. Often, though, both babies are awake at the same time. And they both want to be held. They want to eat. They need to be changed. All at the same time. And they will tell you this, oh yes. At the top of their lungs they will tell you, and for such little people they have huge voices (especially Patterson...he's got a future in hardcore metal/punk once his voice changes).

And that's when it happens. Sleep deprivation has set in, two babies are screaming in your ears and you're trying to satisfy them both, they've conveniently waited until you're on your own, the phone is ringing and the dog needs to go out. You've tried the binkies, the swing, the pack-n-play, the vibrating chair, singing, nothing works. Then you snap a little. Just a little, but enough.

I was literally holding my babies, saying comforting things, while screaming back at them. "YOU'RE FINE!!! THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU! YOU'RE NOT STARVING! NOW TAKE THE BINKY AND STOP CRYING!!! Daddy loves you."

Which, of course, works about as well as putting a band-aid over the gushing oil in the Gulf.

Speaking of, I guess this disaster closes the book on the whole offshore drilling debate, right?

Oh, and by the way, anybody out there who is boycotting BP has got the wrong idea. Well, the idea is okay but it's a flawed one. First of all, most BP stations are franchised and not actually owned by BP. This is especially true in Missouri where none of the BP stations are owned by BP, and their product doesn't come from BP wells. However, such is the convoluted nature of the oil business, other filling stations do use BP oil, so you could go to a Shell or QT or whatever, and still give BP your money.

Also, BP has accepted responsibility and set up a fund to help pay claims of affected families and businesses. If we stop giving them money they will run out of money (they're going to be hemorrhaging it soon with all this). So if they don't pay for it we will. So buy your gas wherever and just pray that this comes to an end quickly.

One more thing, I like that Obama said on national T.V. that he was going to kick somone's ass over this. I'd like to think John Wayne would have said the same thing. That's just a neat thought.

Alright, it's time to feed the kids and practice my vuvuzela. Bye.