A friend posted a link on Facebook that really hit home in all its complex simplicity (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?). I wish I had been sitting in that room as Paul Hawken gave this particular commencement address to the Class of 2009 at the University of Portland. You can read it here.

I used to think I wanted twins. Now, I’m not so sure. I’ve been watching my nephew for the past three days and have one more day tomorrow. His mother and sister are out of the country and his dad drops him off in the morning at 7:30 on his way to work and picks him up at 5:30. B was 4.5 in May and my nephew will be 4 in about a week so it’s not technically like having twins but it’s been pretty crazy. They have a love/hate relationship and my days have been filled with constant noise (the can’t-hear-myself-think variety) and bickering. It seems that each of the boys has a serious case of Mustdisagreewitheverything-itis. They also seem to have a no-less-serious, and in fact, roaring, case of Mustbefirstateverythingandannounceitloudlymultipletimes-itis. If this is what having two four-year-olds is like… Though I guess it would be a little different if this household had always had two four-year-old boys instead of all of a sudden "acquiring" them. Regardless, half an hour after my nephew got here this morning, I couldn’t help but remember this scene from yesterday afternoon and long for it to be afternoon again.