Stay home Dad- Mama knows best?

It can be challenging to entertain 19 month-old twins all day long. For anyone. I was at home with Lucas and Thomas for exactly the first 19 months of their lives. We have done pretty much everything together and I became three from the day we all came home. They had a short-termed experience at daycare (3 half-days a week), which was refreshing, but that came to an end when we moved south to a slightly pricier home. It includes a fabulous backyard and is a single floor, which gave them a lot of freedom and me a lot less to worry about. However, most children don’t really entertain themselves. I was hoping, in part from hearing stories from my in-laws, that my kids would be able to entertain each other at this point. But, either Nick and Dave (yes, dad is also a twin) were more co-dependent, or my kids are just too different, because it does happen, but very rarely and certainly not for very long. So I quickly had to find strategies to keep them busy, excited and active: you just can’t read stories all day. Not even to T.
So when our tumbling lives took this last turn (mama leaves, papa stays), I thought I had to spend some time cushioning my imminent absence, so I spent a few hours organizing a little schedule for Dad, very flexible in most things, except meal and nap times, and everything else is filled with alternating stimulating and calming activities. They don’t get to watch TV any more than 30 min a day (right Dad???), so we picked either Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street or Pooh and Friends, depending on when any of the three boys is in dire need of a break (mostly Dad). If the morning goes by uneventfully and without TV, they can watch their favorite video in the afternoon, which are just cartoon-animated videos of Portuguese children’s songs. T can go into a trance in front of the screen, but L, as in most things, moves on in a few minutes, or gets so excited about it that he desperately needs to share it with you. If you think that their TV time is your little coffee break, think again. Not on L’s watch!
So they have been building stuff with their giant Lego-like blocs (Nick’s favorite activity), playing basketball outside… well, to the extent of their still limited ability. Of course the basket is about their height, they barely need to reach overhead. They can also weed the flower beds, but we need to pay attention because L likes to eat the soil, and occasionally we have pretty fast and scary swarms of ants coming out of hiding. Fortunately no black-widows have been spotted recently… we exterminated a handful last Fall. I asked Nick to start taking pictures or make little videos so I can illustrate these posts appropriately.

They had a good day today, so I was told. Lots of belly laughs and peaceful playtime. Papa decided on a different treat this afternoon and prepared, to L’s watchful eye and poorly contained anticipation, nothing less than… a smoothie! I heard it was a hit.
Just before I started working, in response to my concerns about leaving the three boys all by themselves, I was told that Nick would be "just fine", because he's a great dad, and he would "figure it out", however, there are things that mom's just do best. I learned today that smoothies could well be an exception.