Front Porch: Almost-2-year-old twins double the fun

Things you forget when it’s been 20 years since you’ve had a toddler in the house: they like to climb into things.

Two weeks ago, we traveled to Ohio to visit our 23-month-old twin grandsons Adam and Nick. (Well, we visited their parents and big sister, too.)

As usual, we rented a small Airbnb home, so we could care for the twins each day and give their parents a break.

One afternoon, Adam was busily playing with a wooden dinosaur puzzle, but Nick was nowhere to be seen. I heard a sound in the kitchen and quietly sneaked into the room to see what he was up to–but I didn’t see him. Then I noticed the dryer door was ajar, and as I watched it slowly swung open.

“Nick!” I called.

Sure enough, he poked his head of the dryer and grinned. Thankfully, he was unable to secure the door.

I texted our son a photo and said, “We’re bringing him home freshly dried.”

With their second birthday looming next month, the World’s Most Beautiful Boys are busier and faster than ever. They’re nonstop perpetual motion machines, just like their father was at this age.

On the first full day of our visit, the temps in Newark, Ohio, soared to 85 degrees. Our rental featured a lovely fenced backyard, so Derek bought the boys a T-ball set, and we spent lots of time playing outside.

This brings me to something else I’d forgotten about toddlers: they put everything in their mouths–including handfuls of dirt. We found they’d drop the dirt when offered a more healthful option, like frozen fruit bars.

We enjoyed several firsts with the twins, including eating outdoors at the neighborhood Dairy Queen, and a visit to a park with baby swings and big kid slides. The boys enjoyed the swings and the smaller slides, but it didn’t take long until Adam was scampering up the ladder to the tallest slide.

Derek and I no longer scamper, so with their sister Farrah’s help, we rounded them up and headed for home before my hair turned any grayer.

They enjoyed their first visit to a pet store, pressing their noses against the fish tanks, and chattering back at the birds. Sadly, it was nap time for the kittens. It’s probably just as well that they were asleep, because I’m not allowed to have any more cats, and I don’t think unauthorized pet purchases would endear me to the twins’ parents.

Jumbo-size crayons and sketch pads proved a safer purchase, but one that still required vigilant supervision. (See toddlers put everything in their mouths note above.)

Despite their amazing energy and boundless curiosity, both boys still enjoy cuddling and being read to, which makes this Nana’s heart soar. It makes Papa Derek happy too because if one of the boys nods off while cuddling, Papa can nap right along.

We packed in all the adventure and affection we could because we won’t be able to visit again until spring. By then Adam and Nick will be well into the Terrific Twos (there is nothing terrible about my grandsons) and we can’t wait to see what excitement and escapades their second year will hold.

Because that’s one thing I haven’t forgotten about toddlers – they soak up love and return it effusively – provided you can catch them.

On memorable teachers

Caryn Allen recalled her dismay when her seventh-grade teacher, Miss Goodrich, marked her as “capable of doing better” on book reports. Allen attended Finch Elementary in north Spokane, which went to grade seven at the time.

“I was crushed!” said Allen. “But after she told me very sincerely that she truly thought I WAS capable of doing better, I realized that I had been a lazy, daydreaming reader and that I really was capable of doing better. To this day I am an avid reader – and she deserves a lot of credit for motivating me to read more and enjoy it.”

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Tom Sahlberg grew up in a troubled home and he wrote about how his Jefferson Elementary sixth-grade teacher, Mr. William Reuter, made a difference in his life.

“On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F Kennedy was murdered while we were in class,” Sahlberg recalled. “How were 11-year-olds to feel or act? Mr. Reuter cried, perhaps the first time I ever saw a man do so. He showed me/us that it was OK to express our feelings, not bottle them up.”

Reuter was also Sahlberg’s softball coach.

“He showed me how sports were a healthy outlet for my feelings, as well as how to be part of a team, who works together and go through ups and downs, helping each other. This became my lifetime model and helped me find mentors, friends, activities and goals that gave me a sense of purpose in life. Mr. Reuter and I kept in touch, and he always affirmed me and told me how proud he was of my becoming a police officer. Fifty-eight years after our time at Jefferson, Mr. Reuter and I still get together regularly, and I will always thank him for being my mentor and role model.”

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Cindy Hval can be reached at dchval@juno.com. Hval is the author of “War Bonds: Love Stories from the Greatest Generation” (Casemate Publishers, 2015) available locally at Auntie’s Bookstore, Barnes & Noble locations and on Amazon.