There are a couple of things you need to know before I get to the point of this post. First, I love music. But I’m not a music snob. I don’t care if it’s manufactured by the music industry to sell a million albums, if I like it I’ll listen to it. Second, I love songs that give me a visceral response – taking me to a time or place or emotion. This power to make us feel really speaks to the power of music. The songs that I tend to gravitate to are songs that make me feel good.

Another thing I want you to know is that I often neglect to tell you how wonderful your mother is. Too often we get caught up in the day and the day turns into a few days and suddenly those few days have turned into weeks and in that time I haven’t truly expressed how much your mother loves you and how much I love your mother. You see, this blog that you someday will read as an adult is meant to chronicle your lives. I want you to know how much I love being your father but I also want you to know how much I love your mother.

And this is the reason for this post. You see, your mother and I have known each other for ten years. Before we had you we had plenty of time to get to know each other and know what kind of parents we wanted to be. Now that you’re along, I know that waiting to have you so that we could work on loving each other first was an important part of the process. Because we know how to love each other unconditionally, we can now share that love with you.

The great thing about being married to your mother is that I still love looking at her. I’ll watch her when she doesn’t know I’m watching and I am still awed by her beauty. And the great thing about your mother is that her beauty is more than skin deep. She is such a good person – always wanting what is right, always worried about the stray cat or the injustices of the world. She has a good heart and it makes me happy that you will someday embody that kindness in your own heart.

What does this all have to do about music? Well, recently a new artist named Colbie Caillat released a song called Bubbly. It’s a soft, easygoing song that instantly relaxes me. But it’s the lyrics that draw me to this song. You see, it’s all about the feelings one gets when you’re in love with someone – the way I’m in love with your mother.

And since music is timeless, I want to give you this song so that you can listen to it when your mother and I are long gone and know that your father felt this way about your mother. And I pray that you too, someday, will feel this way about someone you can call a soul mate.

Love Daddy.

To listen to a great unplugged version, go to VH1′s website here and scroll down to play the unplugged Bubbly video.

Last month, I arrived at daycare to find that my daycare provider had closed shop to celebrate a man who is only important to us because he got lost.

Anyway, rather than just go home, I headed to the local Panera Bread with my two little munchkins in tow. I ordered a mocha and a cinnamon roll while TheMonk and Swee’Pea snacked on muffin tops and apple juice.

We sat at a table in the middle of the dining area and together we ate. TheMonk kept waving to all those around us while Swee’Pea seemed very interested in all of the bread-themed artwork on the walls. It was a low-key moment that helped affirm my grasp on this parenting thing that was only reinforced when more than one person remarked upon leaving that Swee’Pea and TheMonk were amazingly well-behaved.

When it was time to leave, I wiped chocolate smeared faces and fingers with a wet napkin and we headed out the door. Panera is located in an outdoor mall that plays piped music throughout. Outside the door is one such speaker that was playing an upbeat song for all to hear.

As we head to the car, Swee’Pea hears the music and announces out loud, “I’m dancing Daddy!”

Sure enough, I look over to see little Swee’Pea doing a little jig in time to the music. TheMonk, seeing his sister getting down, and never one to let an opportunity to wiggle his hips pass him by, starts to boogie too. And as I watch two little ones dancing on a mall sidewalk at 9:00 a.m. on a Monday morning, I can’t help but shake what my mama gave me either.

Soon, we are all getting our groove on to the music and I can tell by the look on TheMonk’s and Swee’Pea’s face that they are loving this. No one is holding back. TheMonk looks like he’s doing his version of the Funky Chicken. Swee’Pea is twirling around and ending each twirl with a modified electric slide. Me? I’m leading the parade with a toned down version of the running man with a twirl thrown in to match Swee’Pea’s.

Finally, the song ends and the spell is momentarily broken. We all look at each other, each of us with big smiles on our faces. It has been a good day. Apple Juice, Mocha, Chocolate Chip Muffin Tops, a Cinnamon roll and each other. “Shall we go home, guys?” I ask.

Both Swee’Pea and TheMonk smile and nod affirmatively. I tousle their hair as I lead them to the car a few feet from where we finished dancing. I lift each one into their car seats, stealing a kiss in the process. As I do, I glance back at Panera and notice a number of people inside eating their breakfast and who had obviously just watched our improvisational dance. They are smiling and nodding. I smile and nod back.

I get into the car and start the engine. As we drive away, I reach down and turn up the radio. Who says you can’t dance and drive at the same time?

Today.

Today was one of those days.

Today was a day that no mere mortal should have to endure. No, if a living being is going to be left with two-year-old twins for more than a few hours, then they surely need some sort of super power, like a magic mute button or an instant time-out machine.

I’m not sure that I have the ability to accurately describe the never-ending brain drain we faced today. Instead, I will pull snippets of conversation that actually occurred today in an attempt to convey the chaos that two-year-old twins can create.

“Why are you crying?”
“Stop screaming. You’re being too loud.”
“I’m just going upstairs.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Wait here.”
“No, stay here.”
“Okay, come up.”
“Give that back to your sister.”
“Say you’re sorry.”
“Don’t hit your sister!”
“Time Out!”
“Why are you crying?”
“Listen to Daddy.”
“Stop that!”
“I’m sorry but the kitty is frightened by your screaming.”
“Don’t eat that! That’s yucky.”
“Where’s your owie?”
“Listen to Daddy.”
“Time Out!”
“No, you’re not done with Time Out.”
“Don’t hit your sister.”
“Okay, I’ll kiss your owie.”
“Time for nap!”
“Yes, it IS time for nap.”
“Oh. My. Lord. What are we feeding you?”
“You want more oranges too, Swee’Pea?”
“Swee’Pea, you just said you didn’t want more oranges.”
“Stop screaming.”
“Monk, that’s not yours. Give it back.”
“Don’t hit Daddy’s computer.”
“Don’t hit Daddy!”
“Time Out!”
“Say you’re sorry!”
“Don’t touch that!”
“It’s time for sleep, Monk.”
“No, you can’t go downstairs. It’s nap time.”
“Stop your crying and go to sleep.”
“Monk… What are you doing?”
“Don’t make a mess with the beans.”
“You said you would make only a little mess!”
“That’s a big mess.”
“I already gave you ice water.”
“You spilled the last water so this one is in a sippy cup.”
“I’m sorry you’re upset but you have to use the sippy cup right now.”
“Listen to Daddy.”
“Time Out!”
“Swee’Pea, Daddy will tell Monk when it’s time for a time out.”
“Can you please share your train?”
“And he dumps out all the balls!”
“No, you can’t come up. Daddy’s eating.”
“I’m sorry you’re upset but you already ate lunch.”
“I’d like for you to stop your whining, please.”
“Oh, that screaming is loud.”
“Yes, I guess it helps when you put your fingers in your ears and scream.”
“Look up when we rinse your hair!”
“Look up! Look up! LOOK UP!”
“Okay, Almost Done!”
“Okay, Monk. Look UP when we rinse your hair!”
“Look up! Look up! LOOK UP!”
“Okay, We’re all done washing our hair!”
“You already had water. It’s time for bed.”
“Yes, it’s time to go to sleep.”
“Okay, you can take your ball to bed.”
“Don’t tell your mother.”
“You want to pet Kitty?”
“Okay, I’ll go get Kitty for a goodnight kiss.”
“Okay, now good night my little angels.”
“Daddy loves you.”
“Whew!”

Today I’m going back to an old favorite. I post a photo and you tell me what the caption should be.

It’s Halloween night and we are back from Trick or Treating. TheMonk and Swee’Pea have been going through their tote-pumpkins to see what sugary goodness they procured and begging to eat them. Luckily, they are distracted because our doorbell keeps ringing with little devils, princesses and ladybugs.

For a while, I let TheMonk and Swee’Pea hand out the candy to their peers as they come to the door. I stop doing this, however, when I notice that for every piece of candy TheMonk gives out, he takes two from our bowl and quietly drops them into his own bucket nearby. “I’m gonna have to watch that guy.” I think to myself.

And it’s lucky I was watching because soon enough TheMonk starts transferring some of his loot into the seat compartment of the Tigger riding toy. It is clear that he’s stashing the candy for future use. This becomes even clearer when he takes a handful of Swee’Pea’s candy and moves quickly to a storage container in our playroom, opens the door, and quickly shoves the loot inside while closing the door behind him. The only reason he doesn’t get away with this is because Swee’Pea thinks he’s stealing her loot and cries out at the injustice. She doesn’t realize TheMonk was trying to help her out. Oh well. Her loss. He still has his stash in the Tigger Car.

After we put the kids to bed, I go back downstairs and recover all the candy. I pull out all the candy in the Tigger Car as well as Swee’Pea’s stash and put them away for parental control.

The next morning, we head downstairs for breakfast. TheMonk, in a very unusual move, announces he’s done with breakfast before he eats all his food. After I clean him up and release him from his chair, he runs straight over to the Tigger Car and pulls up the seat in anticipation of seeing all that wonderful candy.

The look on his face, when he realized his dream had been dashed, was priceless. He looked like someone had shot his dog. He looked up at me with his big brown eyes, lips quivering and said to me…

“Candy? Candy’s all gone?”

“Yep.” I reply, while trying to refrain from smiling. “Candy’s all gone.”

And with that, his shoulders dropped, his head drooped and he shuffled away to contemplate life without so much candy.

You can join in the madness too here.

Halloween has come and gone and we managed to make it through unscathed. We managed to keep the monsters at bay and even got out to do a little trick or treating. Swee’Pea was a “pink kitty” because, as she’ll tell you, pink is her favorite color. TheMonk was a puppy because – well, puppies just go so well with kitties, don’t they?

The evening got off to a rough start when we put TheMonk in his puppy costume to find it didn’t fit. In fact it was cutting off the circulation in his legs and restricting his oxygen intake up top. A few seams were ripped out to alleviate the pressure and he was good to go.

We hit a few houses on the street (note to neighbors, if you’re going to put out decorations, you should probably be home for trick or treaters) and then headed back to casa childsplay and doled out candy to all the Spidermen and Cinderellas in the neighborhood.

At the end of the evening, Swee’Pea and TheMonk even got to taste their very first Tootsie Roll. After seeing what it did to their teeth, we’ll probably just stick with Kit Kat from now on.

Oh, and to add to the spookiness of the evening, TheMonk kept telling me that we needed to give candy to “the boy upstairs.” He was very convincing. And while I just nodded to the Monk, I made sure I left a Hershey’s bar on the landing upstairs before we went to bed. Far be it from me to keep a little boy (ghost or no ghost) from some candy on Halloween.

Below are some photos of the kids (and one of me in my “cereal killer” costume). I hope your Halloween was free of real ghosts and the treats outweighed the tricks! What did your kids dress up as? What was your favorite costume you saw last night – both for adults and kids? (I need ideas for next year!)