Monday, August 16, 2010

Twins ARE Special


"What IS it about Aidan and Matthew that all the other kids can't stop raving about them?"

"All my son talks about is Aidan and Matthew."

"What are we going to do without Aidan and Matthew in the kindergarten next year?"

"My son has asked for a sibling so that he can be like Aidan and Matthew."

What IS it about twins that has us all so fascinated?

Even twins themselves. My two LOVE it when they see a pair of newborn twins in a double stroller. "Twins. Twins. Like us." they whisper excitedly. They followed one unsuspecting grandmother around a playground last year. My two tiny stalkers.

When Gaetan, Claire and Chloe brought THEIR Aidyn and Mia to visit my two each claimed one for their own. Aidan got Aidyn. And Matthew got Mia. They were so pleased.

The kids in kindergarten clearly sense that something special between the two of them. I'm getting complaints from the mothers that their single sons are asking for a brother, just like Aidan and Matthew have.

I'm not sure how it is with boy-girl twins. Or identicals. Two girls. But I do know that my two little men - with entirely different temperaments - still have enough in common with that Y chromosome and shared age - that they have a best bud to knock down, roll around and generally have punchy fun with.

Oh sure, it can get ugly too. Kiddy boxing with equally matched opponents. But for the most part they simply get the biggest kick out of eachother.

I'd been so worried about them retaining an individual identity. No sweat there. They each have their own - warped - sense of fashion. ANd even when they DO elect to wear the same outfit at the same time - or I decide for them out of lack of creativity that morning - well, they wear them very differently.

So that they are NOT clones of eachother.

Just brothers who are lucky enough to be the same age.

It's fun watching them grow into that twin bond, exciting watching them realize what it means.

And now that they're four, I get to be special too. I'm a mother who survived the baby years with twins. I am WAY more laid back than mothers with only one child. I've nursed two. I've changed two. I've fed two. Bathed two. Carried two. Up stairs. With the groceries.

Honestly, you live through that.....you've earned the privilege to enjoy them a bit now too!

2 comments:

  1. Heehee I missed this one! Nice photo :-)
    I hope Aidyn and Mia will be friends, just as I hope they'll be friends with their big sister.
    They've started stealing each other's toys, so we're off to a good start!
    Sometimes I'm so happy to have two - two to love so individually yet simultaneously. It's like extreme mothering. I feel special that I can do it, too. But I'm also EXTREMELY frustrated by twice the feedings, twice the poop, twice the weight (I'm carrying up the stairs), twice the squirminess, twice the hysterics (okay, four times the hysterics, all of us are going crazy at the moment). It's exhausting.
    But also amazing, I have to admit. Twins ARE special and they make us special by being in our lives.

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  2. Extreme mothering, I like that. Something noone else will understand. And you know what, I'm pretty proud of both of us for doing it ourselves too - no family, no help. Yeah, it is frustrating - for me not so much how mcuh harder TWO are but how much EASIER everyone else with one has it. And they have NO idea! Then again, they have no idea of the specialness. So that's just for us. Really glad I have someone else to share it with though!

    (LOVED your last blog on Chloe and you after the Aidyn and Mia's birth - twins really probably are the most emotional thing I've experienced so far. And that's saying quite a bit!

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