Panelaky

It had never occurred to me. I had walked past the building every day on my way to work and yet it had never occurred to me.

It was an old apartment building, probably ten or twelve stories tall. It sat in the midst of a dozen identical communist-era apartment buildings, panelaky the Czechs call them, in a neighborhood on the northern terrace of Usti nad Labem, a town once called the "ashtray of the Czech Republic" by a remarkably accurate guidebook series.

The neighborhood was going through a clean-up, workers on scaffolds scrubbing the sides of the panelaky, ridding them of decades of coal soot and industrial pollutants, restoring the dingy black buildings back to their original dingy gray.

David, a close friend who has become almost like a brother in the fact that I never call him or write him anymore (and whose name I have Anglicized from its original Czech, David), had also walked past the building daily. It had never occurred to him, either.

Yet there we both were, in the middle of the night, racing each other up the exterior scaffolding of that building all the way to the top.

My point is this: In a matter of seconds, two people together can come up with ideas that neither of them would have ever considered separately.

When I stayed home with Kathryn, I suspect I went to the bathroom everyday, maybe even multiple times a day. I have no proof of this, but I'm just a going-to-the-bathroom kind of guy, so I'm pretty confident. Never once did I emerge from the bathroom, drying my hands on a towel, to find Kathryn standing on top of the dining room table, hopping up and down on her little chubby toddler legs.

Guess how many times I've found the twins doing just that. Together, of course.

Comments

[Swimming In Laundry]

You mean you actually get to take bathroom breaks while the twins are awake- I don't dare!

[The Mom]

Have the twins been to the pub immediately before deciding to scale the table? 'Cause something tells me that Czech beer also played a large part in your decision to climb 12 stories on the outside of a building.

[Amy]

My partner and I have discussions about this on a daily basis. Not about running up a building but about what our twins do/ get into that our oldest daughter never did. It is to the point where our oldest will say "Mama needs to put a lock on that cabinet" It will only be a matter of time before we find them swinging from the light over the kitchen table.

Oh, my guess would be 2 times per day-- at least:(

[Jennifer]

You have just illustrated why I don't eat or drink all day.

[Dirk]

Oh yeah... leaving the twins alone in a room is always scary. Child proof? Ha!

The scariest thing is when they get quiet. That's when you realize that the Kleanex container was within reach and now there are 242 Kleanex distributed all over the room.

Or that the two of them together can actually move furniture. And of course they climb on stuff. Or...

I'm with you, these two little brains come up with amazing stuff.

[Diane]

One suggestion: In case you keep your garbage bin beneath the kitchen sink and the twins can pop the childproof lock, make sure there's something yucky (and clearly nontoxic) like coffee grounds right on top. They'll avoid THAT again like the plague. (Yep, that memory is still as strong as ever...)

[Emmie (Better Make It A Double)]

Aah, twinergy.... 1+1=643, yes it does.
Must go get toy cars out of toilet tank.

[Lisa]

Oh, HELL. I have the same kid combo you do (identical twin girls with a sister four years older). My twins turned one on Wednesday. Your post is going to give me nightmares for days.

[Karly]

I once came out of the bathroom to see my daughter riding her tricycle back and forth on the coffee table.

[django's mommy]

*I* thought the most astounding part of that post was that you are male AND you apparently wash your hands after using the bathroom. Wow.

[DebiD]

Hopping on the table? Is that all? Maybe girls really are easier ;)

[Sharon with J and N]

I think girls ARE easier. I remember some stories from twin boy moms at our local twins club had me SOOO dreading twin toddlerhood. Picture a tiny hole in the drywall being picked into a 2 foot hole by the end of nap time and the contents being thrown down the vent. Also picture swept up concrete in the basement from some recent renovations being placed into the dryer and one boy boosting the other up to turn it on. My girls are almost 4 now, and we never experienced anything like this. In fact, hearing the stories made what they did get into pale in comparison. (Compare, say jumping on the table to climbing up scaffolding on the side of a building for example).

[DebiD]

Sharon with J and N,

Shhhhh... Don't tell me what's coming. I want to be surprised! I do have a tiny hole in the drywall in their room where the doorknob hit and, now that you mention it, it has been picked at. I'm going to find the spackle now...

[rik]

the day that happened (when we came out and found our little girl on top of the dining room table) motivated us to adopt a "post-closure at the diner" look for a while, with our chairs turned over on the table unless we were using them. only took a week or so to get it out of her mind and system. but with two...who knows how long that idea could bounce back and forth.

[Amy]

Coffee table?! That was the first thing to go as soon as I was pregnant. It barely had time to come out of hiding before I was pregnant with #2. And wouldn't you know it, just when we thought it was "safe" to have a coffee table, he tries to use the corner of it to lunge at and remove his eye. Classic.

[Stacie]

Y'all are scaring me. Mine are still at the "removing the things designed to child-proof cords" stage. They can do this in less time than it takes me to get the darn things off, and they don't even crawl yet!

Help!

[Kim]

Mine once used twin force to push up a window that was only open a crack. They then used that same twin force to push the screen out of said window and send it tumbling down from the second story. One twin was already out on the first story overhang while his brother was still on his way out with only his legs still dangling in the house before my hyper sensitive twin-mommy "somthing is amiss" senses kicked in. Where was I you ask? Just in the next room putting away laundry. What would they have hit if they'd fallen you ask? Just our brick patio. Eye-yie-yie I'm surprised we're all still living.

[Teri]

I made the mistake of brushing my teeth one morning just this week. When I finished, I heard 2 year old Elie laughing in her room with her twin Kate (who was just sleeping 5 minutes earlier). When I went in to say "good morning" to Kate, I found both girls IN Kate's crib RIDING on their toddler-size rocking horse!

Elie had dragged the thing down the hall and into their room and somehow lifted it high enough for it to land in the crib (sides were UP!). She's 2! I spent more time trying to figure out how Elie managed to avoid committing fratricide while swinging the thing over the crib rail than she (they?) spent executing this feat.

In fact, I imagined that Russian judge was too stunned to add or deduct points on that one.

[Sol]

Loved this post! Great imagery, really enjoyed it. Not to mention just how effective it is as birth control.

[Gdada]

PIVO. The Gmama and I came to the same conclusion as The Mom.

[The Dad]

Goodness. I knew that, in the realm of toddler antics, a little table hopping is a minor thing, but I had no idea you guys would have had such amazing comebacks. Tricycles on tables, rocking horses in cribs, prison breaks through drywall and out windows. Yikes!

[Michelle]

Yep, the comments were almost as good as the post! Thanks all for scaring me infertile this afternoon!!

[Cakes]

heh heh heh...wait til their teenagers.

*shudder*

[Liza]

Between the posts and the comments, you totally have me reconsidering permitting the use of Clomid when my partner starts her next round of IUI.

[Teri]

Today, I made the mistake of folding laundry in the next room--someone mentioned this in a previous comment, but apparently I didn't take the location of the adult in that episode seriously enough.

Anyway, I was really just behind a 1/2 wall in our family room folding laundry. I heard K and E dragging their chairs across the kitchen floor. I thought they wanted to get really close to Bob in Bob the Builder on the TV. They've done it so many times.

When I checked on them about five minutes later, here's what I saw: two girls, standing on their chairs in front of the toaster oven. Its on. As I get closer, I see stuff in there. PLASTIC STUFF! The toaster oven is set at 350 degrees, the timer is set to 'stay on' and various items, all plastic, have been carefully placed on the rack. Picture bottle parts (we don't use bottles anymore, but should we ever decide to have another child--who's kidding who here?--I didn't throw everything away) like nipples and the ring that holds the nipple on the bottle, medicine droppers, medicine cups, an old tube of Orajel, straws.... You get the picture.

Fortunately I got there before anything melted.