A day at the DMV

It's official! I'm a Nevada resident - I spent a very long trying time at the DMV this afternoon and now I have a Nevada license with a picture of me, with the same forced, freaky smile that is every picture I pose for... the boys were pretty good considering they had to stay strapped in their stroller for well over 2 hours.

Going public places like the DMV is not easy for a twin mom - not only are there the obvious struggles of keeping young active children happy and somewhat behaved, but you must deal with THE COMMENTS that come with twin parentdom.

Here's a sampling of what I heard today (a good representation of what I hear EVERY time I go out with my boys)
1) You've got your hands full
2) Oh, Double Trouble!
3) God Bless you (accompanied by exasperated, pitying look)
4) I'm saying a prayer for you today for when they both start driving
5) He's the (fill in the blank) one Today Xander was "active" and "verbal" Noah was "strong" and "mellow"
6) My husband's aunt's neighbor's daughter-in-law just had twins.
7) Oh, I could never handle twins.

Here are some rants on each of these comments, that I must pour out through my fingers, or I might burst.

1) What a ridiculous thing to say, it has no meaning and I've heard it SO many times and people seem to say it even when the boys are on their best behavior. I've heard some moms say that I respond "better hands full than hearts empty" but just can't risk saying that to the wrong person - but I definitely think it.
2) Oh you are so clever! No one has ever thought of that rhyme before, much less said it to me - you should really try out to be Leno's replacement! Additionally, I do not appreciate you calling my children 'trouble' - they are no trouble at all, thank you very much!
3) Now I am a Christian, and I hate to complain about 'fellowship' but I just don't think that is really the true motivation behind this comment. It's like saying "wow I don't know why God would burden you so badly, and I hope he hasn't forgotten about you" Puh-lease! OBVIOUSLY my blessing is already here!
4)This was a first, but I've definitely had a lot of 'wait until they start _____' When they were crawling, it was walking - and guess what - life is much better now that they can walk!! And don't I want my children to grow and develop and obtain new skills? Wouldn't it be much worse if they didn't reach new stages?
5) Why do people who I have never met and have observed my children for less than 5 seconds feel they can pass judgement and determine what qualities they have? Both of my boys are smart, active, strong, verbal and mellow at some point in the day - and at no time is either of them 'evil'.
6) I realize that sometimes this is simply a conversation piece, but most of the time it's completely random and irrelevant - especially if we are not about to have a conversation. If you have twins yourself, are a twin, or are a very active grandparent of twins, you are more than welcome to mention that to me.
7) Like I thought to myself, "I am so the kind of person who could handle twins, that's definitely what I am going to do". Even if we'd had more help than we did (which is complicated and also NONE of your beeswax unless I offer it up) it's still not an active choice and so what would these people have done - left a baby at the hospital?

Whew - I feel better. I'm not trying to be nasty, I swear, it's just hard to hear the same stupid stuff all the time and try to have a response or at the very least manage a smile. On a nicer note, I enjoy it when people simply smile and move on or say quickly and without expecting me to stop something like, "you're so lucky" or "so cute" etc.

To end I had to share this, a mom selling some pokemon cards that her kids snuck into the grocery cart - a very, very funny narrative

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675