Hands Full

I had to run some errands with the twins after we dropped Daniel off at school. First we stopped by the bank to deposit a check. Then we drove to the post office to mail a package to my mother in Maine. Walking out of the post office, I saw a postal employee pushing a fully-loaded cart. I held the door open for him, and he thanked me. "Twins, huh?" he asked, gazing at Matthew and Stephen.

"Yeah, twins," I answered.

"Double trouble." He laughed.

"What's 'double trouble,' Mama?" Matthew asked.

"Oh, it's just an expression, something people say when they see twins sometimes, honey," I answered.

When the twins were infants, I used to get stopped by people all the time. Many folks are unable to resist the sight of baby twins in a twin stroller.

"Are they boys or girls? Are they identical? How old?" were the questions I heard over and over. It didn't bother me, however. I'm a shy person, but I never minded talking about my kids, unless I was in a hurry. Sometimes the questioner turned out to be a twin or a mother of twins herself, and then I turned the tables and asked her questions about raising twins or being a twin.

And then there were those who tried to be witty. I must have heard the phrases "Double trouble!" and "You really have your hands full!" hundreds of times. I would just smile and nod.

After the post office we drove to the pharmacy and picked up the prescription for Matthew's antibiotic. He has been on a maintenance dose of amoxicillin twice a day for the past few months to prevent ear infections; so far, it seems to be working. He hasn't had an ear infection since late November.

Returning to our minivan, I opened the sliding door to let the boys in. An elderly woman who was getting out of the car next to ours stopped and stared at the boys. Then she smiled and turned to me.

"You certainly have your hands full," she said.

"Yes, I do," I said, smiling at her. I helped Stephen into the van.

"What's 'hand's full' mean, Mama?" he asked.

"This is what it means," I said, enveloping him and Matthew in a big hug.

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