An acquaintance told me recently that she's having twins and did I have any advice. "Buckle your seatbelt?" I offered. I said other, more encouraging things, of course. But, yeh, my boys are 10 now, and it really has been quite a ride. Not easy. More than hard, sometimes. Even so, as I once said to baby James on a very late, very dark, very long-ago night as I held him in my arms, rocking him to sleep: "There is nothing in the world I would rather be doing right now than this." I had never felt that way before. About anything. Despite my best efforts, I've always been a chronic malcontent. If you've ever read the Phantom Tollbooth, you remember the protagonist, Milo: "Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he'd bothered." Similarly, back in the day, when the boys were still just a sparkle in their daddy's eye, I remember telling my then girlfriend that I didn't feel like doing whatev...
Boldly and True
Every morning as we leave the house, I give my twin boys a St Crispin's Day style speech: "Into the breach, boys. Ever forward, boldly and true! Do we know what awaits us? NO! Is victory pre-assured prior to spilling even a single drop of blood in the battle for this day? OF COURSE NOT! But will we nonetheless prevail? YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR (I below that final line while they roll their eyes and moan "Not Likely!").