Saturday night, JT, mom and I ordered out for Chinese food. We decided to feed the children first, because one: William and Keisha were already hungry and we had not ordered yet. I gave them catfish nuggets, salad and pudding for dessert. And two: we knew that they would not let us eat in peace (as usual). So I fed them as planned, then about 30-45 minutes later they went up to their room to play.

Downstairs, we watched a movie while we ate the Chinese food. My order was simple this time, half order of chicken fried rice and crab rangoon *drool*. About 45 minutes into the movie, I heard Keisha crying on the baby monitor. She seemed to be in distress, so I dashed upstairs. I walked into the room, waiting to see why my daughter was so troubled. I looked at her and she has a toothbrush in her hand and toothpaste all over her hands, face and everywhere in the room.

I started feeling like my temperature is rising, but it is only me getting pissed off. I held most of the anger inside and instead of giving a nice little whooping, I decided to stay calm and collect. Keisha continued to look at me, wondering what the hell I was going to do to her. I began looking around the room for the tube of toothpaste but I could not find it. I asked Keisha where the toothpaste was, but she shrugged her shoulders like she did not know what I was saying.

I grabbed some wet wipes and cleaned her hands and face. All throughout this time, William was hovering in the background. I would love to know what he was thinking. I asked Keisha, why she opened the toothpaste and squirted it all over the floor, bed, toys, stuffed animals and herself. She looked down and did not say anything. I lifted her chin up and directed her toward me. I told her that the toothpaste is not a toy and she should not have squirted it everywhere. She started to cry and I asked her why she was crying… “You did it!” She looked at me crazy but stopped crying.

I think the looks that I gave her were more powerful than a whooping on this particular occasion. She was scared to death that I was going to tear her butt up. I had every instinct in the world to fulfill that fear, but I chose not to.

And we can not forget about William… after I cleaned up Keisha and her mess, I looked over to William. Of course, he had toothpaste all over him as well. I scrubbed him down with wet wipes Afterwards, I started looking for the tube of toothpaste. I found it under a blanket on the floor. There was paste all over the carpet and one of their pillows someone made them, that they have had since birth. I looked over to William’s stuffed elephant and there is paste all over the mouth. I asked William if he was trying to brush the elephants teeth. He looked at me silently. I asked the question again, this time more sternly. William apologized. When William says “I’m sorry,” this is his way of admitting to the crime. I told him that the elephant is a toy and he does not need his teeth brushed.

By this time, my mom crept upstairs and saw the mess in the twins’ room. I think she thought I was going to explode, so she was going to be the backup to protect her grandchildren. On the other hand, it did not help much when she said a huge, “aaaaaw” as she looked into the room. Keisha then started crying and again I said, “Why are you crying? You did it!” I have no clue why I say such crazy things, but it works.

Without any second thought, I decided to send William and Keisha straight to bed. At 9:00 p.m., it was their bed time anyway but they felt that going to bed was punishment for their behavior. How in the hell did the tube of toothpaste get in their room. The kids received a new children’s toothbrush and paste set for their birthday and I think that they brought that into their room. Goodness gracious, I was so tense but it all worked out fairly well.

I did have to take two puffs from my inhaler *sigh*. This was not from the twins though… the heavy breathing started before I went upstairs. This reminds me that I need to do some research on what foods can cause asthma attacks, because I was fine before I started eating. After that, I returned to the living room and watched the rest of the movie.

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