Have you ever wrestled an octopus? I imagine you have because I am fairly certain I am not alone in experiencing this…..phenomenon.

I’ve been blessed to have my oldest two daughters as big helpers. I’m so thankful God knew what He was doing giving me girls first because if I would’ve gotten the son I wanted first, I maybe would’ve experienced octopus wrestling sooner. It would not have been the pleasant feeling I expected and I would have pulled my hairs out one by one. 

Instead, God gave me not one, but TWO daughters before He ever blessed us with a boy. And then another boy. And then TWIN boys. (I won’t chase a rabbit here and tell you how I felt during that first sonogram during our SURPRISE fifth pregnancy and then even more surprised during a later sonogram to find out it was TWO babies and then even later during yet another sonogram to find out it was TWO BOYS. ?? There were tears…but I’ll save that story for another day.)

I digress. Soooo having two big helpers is amazing with twin toddlers. They each have their own baby and they help change diapers, dress them, play dress up with them, and last but not least, help strap them into their car seats.  

Now this is not my favorite activity and I gleefully pass this chore off to my daughters which they haven’t minded until recently. 

There has been yelling and tears and threats until finally today, I stepped up. I said, “You know what? I’m tired of hearing you complain about buckling your brothers into their car seats. It’s NOT a big deal. I’ll show you how to JUST DO IT and then buckle yourself up. Watch and be amazed.”

I’m not arrogant (usually….well, I don’t think so anyway!), but this wasn’t my first rodeo and I felt confident in my abilities to quickly strap those little boogers into their seats.

Puh. 

Now remember I said I feel confident I’m not alone here, but JUST in case you have never experienced this, pay attention. File this away for future knowledge; it may or may not come in handy. If you have NEVER wrestled an octopus, by all means, let me describe this interesting and difficult activity.

So one of my daughters hands me one of my sons and I carefully sit him into his infant car seat (because he’s almost two and the size of a peanut and I wonder if he will ever graduate to a toddler car seat). He sits still for .02 seconds while I grab a shoulder strap and stuff his arm through it. As I reach for the other arm, he yanks the first arm out. I sternly reprimand him and command him to be still. Because he is one and listens so well, he flips over before I can blink and climbs up over the back of the car seat, hanging onto the driver’s side head rest. Whew. I think I’m getting an idea of why the girls consider this a most difficult task. 

I scoop him up and plop him back in the car seat and by now, game is ON. I won’t take no for an answer and I get my aggression on. With lightning speed (or so I think), I whip his both arms through the straps and reach for the buckle. Letting go of one toddler arm, I cram the buckle in and hear it click. Boom. 

Not done yet. His leg twists unnaturally and I glance up to see he has wriggled his arms out and is twisting back up the seat and out. I yank his leg, sliding him back down and thrust his arms through the straps once more. This time, I don’t let go and I use my teeth (kidding! It was my nose.) to hold the top shoulder straps in place and I finally get the entire harness strapped over him. Too. Many. Arms. 

I slide down and sit on the step of the truck. I’m exhausted. I feel like I’ve just wrestled an octopus and I’m slap worn out. I’m pretty sure that took less than a minute but it felt more like 38 minutes and 7 seconds to buckle that little baby in. As I’m resting my head against the car seat, I feel a little hand grab my hair and a sweet voice say, “Great job, Mama! Now here’s the other twin!”

Oh dear. And here we go all over again.

It’s all fun and games until someone wrestles a baby octopus into a car seat. Comment below and share your octopus wrestling experience with us!

Until Next Time,

The Farm Wyfe