Watch the hips

We are hitting the road again for a week, the last vacation until next summer. The Boys will return when we do.

I was waiting for my daughter at dance camp last week when I ran into a mom who has a son about the same age as the twins. She was leaning over a box of used tap shoes, looking for a pair that would fit her daughter. Her toddler was standing beside her, chewing on a pacifier and clinging to her leg.
She asked where the twins were.
"I left them with a sitter," I said. "I can't bring them in here. They'll scream if I leave them in the stroller and they'll run into two different studios if I let them out."
She looked down at her son.
"Not him," she laughed.
That's when it hit me.
That's the difference between the twins and so many of their singleton peers.
Many toddlers find the world to be a frightening place. They might venture a few feet away from mom or dad in unfamiliar territory, many more than a few if they are certain their parents will chase after them. But, for the most part, they have a necessary sense of wariness about their surroundings.
They either wander closely or, like her son, they cling.
Not the twins.
Jonathan and Matthew are full of confidence and lacking in fear no matter where we drop them. They have a routine. They rarely bust into cabinets, yank cloths off tables or topple lamps immediately.
They are team and, like any good team, they have a strategy.
First, they explore the entire perimeter, traveling in opposite directions, sometimes faking right or left, but ultimately waiting for the just right moment to put their game plan into action. They wait until the defense is at ease with their movements, until their opponents mistake their intensity for dullness, for a love of repetition.
They simply wait.
Circling, circling, circling.
Until finally their guardians let their guard down.
The break from their circular pattern is sudden and well-executed. They dash in opposite directions, their eyes focused on their targets, energized to tackle any and all obstacles in their way. They are fierce in their purpose and determined to win whether the trophy is an open garbage can, a glass of water perched on the edge of a counter or an adventure in a forbidden room in a house.
We know they way they operate.
We have reviewed the tapes.
So, as we travel to Minneapolis this week, where they will meet many of their aunts, uncles and cousins, and see their grandma and grandpa for the first time since they were babies, I have this to say to their Uncle David and Aunt Jean, who are hosting this reunion.
Beware.
Don't be distracted their sweet smiles, their infectious giggles or their blond curls.
As my high school soccer coach used the say, if you want to play good defense, watch the hips.
It's all in the hips.