Twins

I was not sure if the two toddlers in park were twins. From the distance they looked to be the same height. One was running back and forth, heading to playground equipment, to middle of grassy area, close to where mother was dragging the other kid around. She was not literally dragging him, just a manner of speaking. Maybe he was hanging on her legs or something like that.

They both wore red t-shirts; one had on light tan shorts, the other just a diaper. I thought, if I had twins, I would never dress them in identical outfits; individuality, plus easier to tell them apart. One day kid one wears a red T, the other wears it the next ~ if it were already laundered, that is. The diapered kid did not wander too far from mom; neither of the boys chased after the other. Seemed odd, that most kids would be playing together.

Soon the mother got identical shorts on the diapered kid and made her way to the fence. One of the boys, had wandered over to the fence, looking over his shoulder as he did so. Mother was not following him, she was with the kid by the playground, perhaps coaxing him to come with her. Diaper boy, arrived at fence, stood behind a small palm tree as if hiding from whomever was following him. I wondered if he was seeing a spirit.

He finally looks in my direction, moves from the tree to stand at fence facing me. He gave me the cutest smile, I waved hello. He started twisting his neck from side to side, sort of swaying his arms, bending his knees, somber expression, then looking at me, another precious smile. Adorable. Dancing to music in his head, I think.

Shorts kid joins him at the fence, greets me with a smile, grunt and wave. I do not think they or the mother spoke English. When Shorts kid starts eating dirt, I admonish him, no, with a shake of my head. The mother rushes over, telling him, not to throw dirt, as Diaper boy was doing, I said, No, eating it, motioning with my burger. She quickly washed his mouth out with her finger.

I wanted to say, "They are a handful." Did not think she would understand, but I think we communicated with smiles. Diaper boy continued to pick up dirt to throw through holes in chain link fence. Once the wind carried a bit of it, just as I took a bite of burger. Was wishing he would stop. Shorts boy comes back, picks up a stick and proceeds to stick it in his ear. As he walks back to mom, he is sticking it in his neck, then on spots of his head. Ouch.

I have read that all kids stick things in their ears, yet do not remember my children doing it. I am sure I would have been quick to grab them if they started poking a stick into an ear. It is also normal for toddlers (and babies) to pick up stuff off the ground and into their mouths. I imagine mine did, but no recall of them trying to eat dirt. Yeck.

Diaper boy wanders away, tired of tossing dirt my way. He stops in middle of grass, mother saying something, then I realize there is a young lady by the fence along street sidewalk. The kid starts running, stops and does some more of his neck twisting, arm flapping, knee bending dance, before running to fence. He wants the girl to pick him up, but she does not see how she can manage it. As she leaves, Diaper boy starts howling.

He watches as she walks, soon turning corner, walking past me. It took Diaper boy a minute to realize the girl was headed for entrance on other side of fence. He was delighted when she started entering playground park, running to greet her. Shorts boy was happy to see her, also, but he did not stick around for long. He headed to a concrete circle near middle of park. A fountain, methinks. He stoops down and begins eating something that looked like pillow stuffing or some other type of foam.

I looked to catch mom or her younger sister's eye. I am guessing she was either the mom's sister or maybe her daughter. Diaper boy was keeping them busy and I could not get their attention. Oh well. Then I hear the girl shouting, look up to see her running over to Shorts boy, pulling the stuff out of his mouth, grabbing his hand to drag him back to where momma was.

Soon mother strapped Diaper boy into a stroller. Sis puts Shorts boy in front. It took me a while to figure out what the light green string was ~ too thin to be a child leash. Oh, headphones. Shorts boy gets out of stroller, the ear plug had fallen out as he twisted impatiently in his seat. When mother grabbed him, putting him back in stroller he made a big howling fuss. She got him strapped inside, sis or whoever she was, got the earbud back in Shorts boy's ear, and off they went.

As mom turned the stroller, I saw Diaper boy bopping, big smile on his face enjoying the music. Shorts boy let out another howl, sis replaced earbud and he seemed to settle down for a second.

Despite being entertained by the twins, my legs still ached. Burger finished, I considered reading for a while. Opted to just go home. Walked, rather than taking a bus. Seemed so far away, so often longed to just sit on a bus bench for a few minutes, but forced self to keep on walking. Now if only I could remember where I walked on Monday...

...just feel so awful being on my last legs.