Sorry hun.

At the grocery store today I wheeled the double stroller into the checkout aisle. When shopping with the twins there is only 1 grocery store I will go to and it is 20 minutes away. It's the only one that has aisles and checkout lines wide enough for our stroller. In front of me was a pregnant woman who looked to be about 7 months along. She was making faces at the babes to which I was thankful because I was able to unload the groceries onto the belt without fighting candy bars out of their hands.

When I was pregnant, people would ask me, "is it a boy or a girl". It got to the point that I hated riding in elevators because it was a non-stop question-fest from whomever was on there with me at the time. I would reply, well actually it's one of each. They would reply, twins! and then these would be the following responses. Wow that's neat (these were obviously women without children) or Honey, good luck! (these were obviously women with children). It got to the point that I was so disgusted by these women who tried to put me down. I'm creating life, they should have nothing but nice things to say to me, I would think. Looking back, they were just very practical people who knew much more about life than I did.

So, after she had waved the millionth time to my kids, she looked up at me with her beaming pregnancy glow. She said, I'm having twins too!! I looked up and saw her in her cute Pea in the Pod dress and strappy sandals, her hair freshly blown dry and straightened, and a full face of makeup. I paused and gathered myself before opening my mouth. What do I say to this woman as I stand here in my t-shirt with sweet potatoes on it, my athletic pants, my hair in an unwashed pony tail, and flip flops. Do I tell this woman how it really is? Do I lie? Do I offer advice? I thought back to the days when I was pregnant. It had been a long hard road for me, and judging by her age I stereotyped and assumed the same for her.

I looked down at my twins just in time to see my son reach for a candy bar and my daughter hit him on his nose because she wanted one too. Then, I looked up and said, Congratulations, it's nothing but a blessing. She smiled and went on her merry way. I told the truth, but not the whole truth.