Duck and Crawl

One of my strengths is being able to improvise. Not in a theatrical kind of way, but in a I'm-in-a-pickle-what-do-I-do kinda of way. I think working with teens and adults with disabilities for a few years taught me this skill. I knew how to redirect a not so good conversation or situation when it came up, I knew what to do in mild (or not so mild) moments of crisis, I learned to plan ahead and foresee potential problems and I learned when to act like a complete idiot if it meant making a situation better or less painful.

This skill has come in handy since I had the girls. For example, one trick that works almost every single time is something I call "The duck and crawl". The girls are in separate cribs that are along opposite walls of the nursery, with their dresser in between. When I lay the girls down for naps and bed time, the first girl watches me put the second baby down. They are usually pretty calm and happily sucking on a binkie. That is, until I leave. Then the screams begin. Seeing that their 10 months old, I've been a little desensitized by their cries. I really do believe that babies should learn to sooth themselves. Do I want to spend the rest of my life rocking my twins? Absolutely not. I'm not against a little crying. But, when I leave there is usually more than a little crying. So I've learned to master the duck and crawl. I put one baby down, put the next baby down and squat. Literally, I squat down on the ground and crawl out of the room. Ridiculous, right? I have no idea how I figured that one out, but it works almost every single time. For some reason, when the girls physically see me walk out the door, they loose it. If they see me duck, I don't know, they think I'm hanging out on the floor? I don't get it because they are fully capable of standing in their crib (and they do every single night for a few minutes before giving up and going to sleep) so you'd think they'd catch on to my little trick. I can't say that they go down without any problems, because they do. They fuss every night, but they usually don't scream.

Now if only this worked in the middle of the night when Lillian thinks it's time to play. She's not hungry, she's not too cold or too hot, she's just awake. I have an insomniac and I've given up hope that she will ever change. We really need to move and get them in separate rooms so she'll stop waking up Sophie. Luckily, the house is finished (minus the yard that we have to put in. Yep, terrified for that one) and we're going to be signing the papers any day now. Hallelujah! 

Who knows how long I'll have to do the duck and crawl. I just hope I'm not the crazy mom crawling out of their classroom when I drop them off at Kindergarten. However, I'm not entirely convinced that won't be me... 

How's that for a Wordless Wednesday? ;)