Adventures in really bad parenting.

So

here are my thoughts on our beloved child #1 and #2

they are our...though treasured and incredibly loved....

dry run children.

Yep.

I'm just gonna throw that out there.

At only 12 months apart they are jointly, to us, kind of like our first child though they are two.

So as with any dry run, there are things you learn that you did that you loved and that were effective...

Case in point, I recently drove with Jason and Jordan to visit a good friend and help her move. While there we were sitting outside and Jason seeing that there is only one seat left and he and her daughter still standing, completely of his own accord, cleans off the dirty patio chair and pulls it out for her daughter giving her the last available seat.

Yeah.

Love that.

Great manners? Check.

And then with your dry run there are things you wish you could completely rewind and do totally differently.

Case in point.

These two are slobs.

Very loved, funny, happy, healthy, Jesus lovin slobs...

but slobs nonetheless.

And here's the really bad part...

I made them that way.

Yeah.

You know when you have your first child(ren) you completely underestimate them and their abilities.

Surely this little 4 & 5 year old can't clean up their room! I'm the mom! I clean the room!

Surely this little 5 & 6 year old can't hang up their own clothes! I'm the mom! I hang up the clothes!

Surely this little 6 & 7 year old can't take out the trash! He's the dad! He takes out the trash.

Yeah. See where I'm going here?

And then we had the twins.

And those two little fellas didn't stand a chance.

Surely these two little one year old's can help clean up their room! I'm the mom! And look! They can help clean up their room!

Surely these two little two year old's can start to make their own beds! I'm the mom! And look! They in fact can help make their own beds!

Yeah. We learned ever so quickly the second time around.

So just to illustrate my point I thought I'd share with you today's task. It was laundry day....

ack...who am I kidding, everyday is laundry day.

The twins had an enormous pile of shirts to hang up in their closet...because I may or may not have skipped a laundry day..or 12.

Here is the result:
The big boys have been out of town with me thus they only had one stray shirt to hang up.

Here is the result:

Ummmm.

Yeah.

Dry run.