Heptadecagon

I executed a grave parenting error on Sunday afternoon, and I'm hoping you can learn from my mistakes. Let me set the stage. That afternoon, I had wandered into the twins' room to find something. I can't remember what that something was, because as soon as I placed one foot in the room, a wave of disgust rolled over me. Their room rivaled a disaster site: dirty socks hid under the bed, clean clothes lounged on the chair, wrappers stuck to the corners, and toys...well, those toys lay just about everywhere. "My goodness," I said. "This is bad. Really bad," Melina said. She'd followed me up the stairs because whatever it was I needed to find just happened to be hers. "You're telling me." I pushed a few items around in an effort to out the piece I was looking for. No such luck. "Zoe and Talia sure are messy, Mom." Melina stated the obvious in her usual style: hands on hips, eyebrows cocked, with all the wisdom of an adul...