Yes. My Hands Are Full.

Strangers say oh so many things when I'm out in public with all of my children. "Are they all yours?" Yes. "Are they identical twins?" No. There is a key part of their anatomy that makes boy/girl twins not identical. I've been asked if I needed a nanny. Or a television. But without a second thought the #1 most commonly spoken stranger comment is (drumroll please...) "Your hands sure all full."

I'm asked this almost every time we go out in the world. Sometimes several times in one outing. I can't even imagine how the Duggers ever even make it through anywhere. I know people mean well but it is a somewhat exhausting comment. Exhausting really because I could never come up with a witty or even semi-witty response. When the twins were babies and I was schlepping them around in a double stroller, two grocery carts or sometimes some variation of one in a baby bjorn and the other in a sling with my older two by my sides, I typically gave a sleep-deprived "yes." Or an unspoken forced smile with desperation in my eyes.

Where does my latte go?

As time marched on and more sleep was had by all, the well-meaning strangers would still say it again and again "You sure have your hands full" and I would try my best lines on them like a comedian, trying to gage their reactions of whether my response worked or not. I tried "You should see my laundry room" or a simple truth "I drink a lot of wine". Sometimes a dramatic "help me" seemed to go over well. 

After almost nine years of parenting and four years of surviving these twins, I think I've finally found the right response. It's not witty, maybe borderline cheesy but it is the truth. And I love honesty. Here goes:

I'll let you know if I come up with something else but for right now where we are in life, it absolutely works. I'll take a full soul any day.

xoxo