Today’s most memorable temper tantrum (so far) was the result of me not allowing Jackson to use “Daddy’s underpants” as a blanket. I’m pretty sure he grabbed them from the basket of dirty clothes, but either way, that was not happening. The 495 clean, actual blankets we have were not suitable to his needs. Cry on, my friend.

Summer sicknesses are the worst. In the winter, we kind of expect to get sick sometimes because of the cold weather and nasty germs. In the summer, we just want to do our thing and enjoy being outdoors. We did not want to get held up by illness, but that’s exactly what happened. All three kids had low grade fevers on Sunday, but seemed to be comfortable with Tylenol, and fine by Monday morning. By Monday evening, when we were getting kids in pajamas, Jackson had a full, raised rash all over his back and belly. We spoke to his on-call pediatrician who was not comfortable with him waiting to be seen in the morning based on the rash and some other symptoms. Off to the after hours urgent care center we went. Jackson was so excited to go to the doctor with just me. It’s very rare that I do anything with just one child, and even more rare when it is one of the twins. They usually hate being separated. This time, Jackson ran over to Joseph, gently grabbed his face in between his little hands, gave him a kiss and said “I going to the doctor to check my belly with Mama. Okay? I be back soon. Okay? Love you. Have fun!” Their little conversation was completely adorable and was much better than two separate temper tantrums.

Since we all know “Immediate Care” isn’t exactly immediate, we spent a few hours there. I had to fill out ten pages of paperwork because even though I had been there with the other two children before, Jackson had never been seen there as a patient. People ask me this a lot too, so let me just answer here: Yes, even since the boys are twins, I have to fill own their own, individual set of forms wherever we go. Jackson happily played on the waiting room floor (gag) and zoomed around the office on the doctor’s rolling stool. Don’t worry, he got washed up and changed as soon as we got home. He made friends with people at the front desk, told a lot of stories, gave high-fives, and even gave his male nurse a big hug! When he was getting tired and had had enough, he told the doctor “Let’s go. I want to go home and see Joseph and Tay Tay now, okay? See you later!” It was cute, but it didn’t make his strep test or exam go any quicker.

We left the office and actually had to go to two different pharmacies. We went to the drive thru at the first one. There were two female pharmacists mixing the medication and getting everything ready. Jackson was getting crabby in the car seat, so I was talking to him and telling him that we’d be done soon / he could have milk when we get home / just a few more minutes. I could see the two women looking at each other. They came closer to the window and said “Um, m’am. We don’t see anyone back there…” They were looking in the middle row at Taylor’s empty car seat and were confused. I assured them that Jackson was in the third row, rear facing, and since my car is so large, it would be difficult for them to see him from where they were. I promised he was back there, and Jackson loudly yelled “hi guys” for reassurance. We laughed about it and they said they were initially a little concerned because they thought I was going crazy. I told them about how Jackson is one of a set of twins and they have an older sister who is only 22 months older than they are. I told them how everyone’s been under the weather and they’ve been up super early, so it’s not beyond me to be going crazy and talking to myself, but I always know where my kids are and that they are safe. I loved that these women were innocently joking with me, but I also knew that they would have called the police on me for negligence or something had they not heard his little voice responding to him, from the way back. When I went to leave, I pulled up just a little bit so they could see him and wave to him from the safety of his seat, in the third row, and they were like “We see him now!” You know what? I could have easily gotten angry that they were judging me or poking their heads where they don’t belong, but I honestly don’t blame them one bit. With all of the news stories about negligent parents these days, I feel it’s better to say something than not. It easily turned into a funny story once they realized I wasn’t actually crazy, but they could have saved a life if there was actually a negligent parent behind the wheel.

Next, we went to CVS, which Jackson affectionately and hilariously refers to as the “ABC Store.” He told everyone we saw that he was in the ABC store with Mama and that brother and sister were home. He missed them, but he was loving this alone time with me. When I went to sign my name for the purchase, Jacks reached out for the pen and said “No no no. Let me do this. I write my name!” He had everyone in there laughing.

Taylor has been so extra sweet and considerate of both boys, but especially Jacks since he doesn’t feel well. She made sure he has his glasses on first thing in the morning, gets them their milk cups, brings them toys and blankets, etc. It’s awesome to watch. The other day, all of them cuddled on the sofa to watch Aladdin for the first time. When the movie was over, T hugged her brothers and said “I just love a happy ending. Don’t you, fellas?” She can not wait for them to wake up from nap time each day and immediately needs to give them hugs. It’s heart melting material.

In case anybody reading this is new to the blog, I can assure you that my kids are not all kittens and rainbows all the time. As I was writing these lovely things, I noticed it was time for lunch, so I asked everyone to go upstairs. Jackson went upstairs, closing the baby gate behind him so Joseph couldn’t possibly follow. Joseph freaked out, and as I was walking over and telling Jackson how that wasn’t nice, Joseph spit right in Jackson’s face (through the slats of the gate) and said “Open the door.” I didn’t even know he knew how to spit like that. They followed this up by actually wrestling and fighting over the exact same yogurt pouch. Somehow, they thought it would be a good idea to do this on the living room sofa, so I’ve been cleaning yogurt up from everywhere. Joseph is also now sporting a beautiful new scratch on his face now. Cheers to nap time!