The Secret

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Twins Are Away Again":

How did you protect your computer ? My sister
lost the best part of a text book she was writing
to her 2/3 year old.

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They never saw me use the computer. Had no idea where it was .So the plan must be,  if you don't want them to know about it or touch it, keep it a dark and deadly secret.

Or as another  alternative, abandon all projects and personal ambitions for at least a year, until they understand  what the words "don't touch" mean. At two, they think it means they have to and  as much touching as possible before somebody comes along to stop them.

My technique for enjoying  summer  was to feed them breakfast in the morning and  take off immediately  for a beach someplace.Don't stay around to wash dishes or make beds or tidy up. Do not return until bedtime. When they dropped  into bed, exhausted from the days play and clean from the day's swimming, they would sleep soundly through the night and awaken fresh and eager to do it all again.
Which we did. 

When we lived in Toronto, Kew Beach was the favourite. We were  first there  in the morning  and last to leave at night. We moved with the  sun. . As one part of the beach fell into shade, we shifted  until the last of the the sun was shining on the lake.

When it finally left the sand,  we would too.Collect our gear and trudge up Waverly Rd with a packed bundle- buggy, baby on top ,to catch a street car, then a bus back to where we came from.

It cost less than a dollar a day for fares. Everything else we took with us.  Frozen lemonade costing  no more than ten cents a can. A jug. We took water from the fountain. Fresh rolls from the bakery. On  lean days, boiled eggs  and fresh fruit from a family market on Queen Street.On flush days, freshly baked pies  and Chelsea buns from Mascot Bakery at the corner of Wellesley  and Yonge Street.

We never had money for pop or ice cream from the  beach kiosk. But we might have enough for penny candy at the candy store on the corner of Queen and Waverley Rd.They could choose from the variety of boxes at eye level. 

One year, after we came to Aurora, we  camped the entire summer at Preston Lake. We knew Bruce's Mill before it became crowded, Sibbald's Point too. The ponds at Seneca and  Scanlon Creek became familiar hang-outs.

The kids  were brown as berries throughout the summer. The main challenge for the younger was to learn from the older to swim underwater.  Wet  smooth hair  and brown skins made them look like little beavers when their heads emerged on the surface.

I did not have twins. But I  had numbers. Raising a family leaves little time for anything else.

So it might as well be enjoyed