Boyxboy Holiday Specials

Parenting 101- Theo & Thalia

"Theodore! Thalia!" Amelia called, looking around.

"Why did we have to have twins?" Jared Light said miserably, peeking behind the couch for any sign of their currently missing children.

"I blame you," Amelia said. "Dammit, where did they go?"

"AH!"

They both jumped at the sound of a yell. They glanced at each other before hurrying to the twins' room.

Theo and Thalia were sitting on the floor together. They were pulling on each other's hair, letting out more yells as they continued.

"I can't believe I ever said I was excited to have twins," Jared groaned, going over and separating the two. "Hey! That's naughty! Don't do that!"

"Bad! Mean!" Theo said, pointing at Thalia.

"Mean!" Thalia said, pointing back at her brother.

Amelia knelt down in front of them. "You snuck out of your play home again," she said. Their play home was actually just a gated off section of the kitchen that Jared and Amelia would toss toys into so the kids wouldn't get themselves hurt while dinner was being made. Unfortunately, the two had learned how to slip past the gate not long after they learned to walk on their own.

Theo sat down on the ground. "Hungry," he said.

Thalia sat next to them, their fight apparently forgotten. "Hungry," she said.

"Go finish dinner. I'll entertain them," Jared said with a sigh, sitting down with the two of them.

Amelia nodded and left the room. Jared turned to the toddlers as they began to play with their blocks.

"Why were you fighting?" he asked them.

"Teo is mean," Thalia said.

"Talia is mean, daddy," Theo said.

Jared laughed a little, because the poor kids couldn't even pronounce their own names right. He shook his head at them.

"Listen, you two love each other, right? Thalia, you love your brother?" he said.

"I love Teo!" Thalia said, hugging him.

"I love you Talia," Theo said, hugging her back.

Jared smiled at them. "Don't be mean to each other, okay?"

They nodded and giggled, picking up their blocks. Jared helped them build up a block tower, neither of them fighting.

He knew they were doomed to fight, as siblings always were. But he hoped that it would get better as they got older.

***

The front door opened and slammed. Amelia and Jared both sighed out loud, because a slamming door when the kids got home was never a good thing.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked as the kids came into the living room.

"He won't tell me!" Thalia said.