LaLaGirl – Twinfinite Chaos! Parenting Multiples and Dealing with Autism

Guess what? Paul’s family is coming to visit us next week from California. We’re so excited to see them, and guess what I just realized? They were out here at this same time last year, too. As a matter of fact, let’s take a look back in time at the entry I made exactly one year ago. On March 2nd of last year, I said…

Paul’s aunt and cousin are coming out from Cali in about a week, and we want the house to look really nice. I love these “Oh shit! People are coming! Hurry!” moments we seem to have, because they really kick Paul in the ass when it comes to stuff around the house. I guarantee we’ll get stuff done this week that I’ve been nagging him about since day one. What do you want to bet by the end of the week, there will be hooks for backpacks and lunchboxes and kids’ coats, and curtain rods in place, and all the stuff on the walls that require a drill and a level for hanging.

Huh! An entire year has passed, and my house is still in a state of disarray! We do have hooks for backpacks and lunchboxes and kids’ coats, and we do have curtain rods and stuff on the walls that required a drill and a level to hang. But…we also have ten times more toys than the kids really need, which is reflected in the chaos you have to wade through in the study. Which is where our houseguests will be SLEEPING. Here’s a nice little view of the study, taken from the hallway…

Nice and neat, huh? What you can’t see in this picture is the whole wall on the left side of the room, which is completely covered with toy bins, baskets of dress-up clothes, and a dollhouse. That’s in addition to the huge bin ‘o shoes and the rack containing all the kids’ coats and backpacks. And much of that stuff gets dragged out into the middle of the room, so that you have to step super carefully wherever you can find floor space. Many days, it looks like it’s straight out of Hoarders. How, praytell, am I going to fit a queen sized AeroBed in there? This is going to be tricky.

And why is it that a year, a full YEAR after we moved into this house, we’re still bursting at the seams with…STUFF? I’m blaming my husband. We’re probably going to BE one of those families on Hoarders in years to come! Don’t tell him, but I take bags and bags of stuff to Goodwill every month, and he never even notices.

Wish me luck over the next week – like I said last year, I love having a deadline looming over us. It really gets our asses in gear! Bring it on, man!

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I always think I’m on the ball and ready for whatever’s on the agenda, and then I realize I forgot to buy envelopes for our Christmas cards, I’m out of tissue paper to go in the teacher’s gift bags, and I was supposed to cut up a big square of fleece so Mallory can turn it into a tie blanket at Girl Scouts. Gah! Santa, for Christmas this year I want a special day-timer that slaps me upside the head every 46 minutes and says, “Get off your ass! You need to brown the meat for dinner and put the clothes in the dryer!” That would be very helpful. Please and thank you.

In other news, my nephew Casey spent several months in South America, bumming around with a friend of his and taking amazing pictures of the scenery (and women.) He just got back into town a couple of nights ago and the kids and I went to see him last night. Gosh, we’ve missed that kid! Not that we would have seen him more often than we did if he hadn’t left town, but he just seemed so inaccessible and FAR away when I knew he was in Argentina! I’m so glad he’s going to be home for Christmas and get to spend time with his family.

And all of a sudden, it’s noon. Guess I’d better do some of that stuff I mentioned!

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