Mistaken Identity

Being the mother of twins has had its perks. Potty training was done only once, the pediatrician gave us a two for one deal but there were down sides as well. The biggest down side was that my nest emptied in one swift moment when they went away to college. Another challenge was just telling them apart although I haven't always admitted that to be a problem. When my twins were about 18 months old one of them pulled the button off her dress and shoved it up her nose. They were strapped into their car seats at the time and I didn’t notice until I heard sniffing in the back seat. We stopped the car and upon investigation I noticed a button missing on one daughter’s dress and immediately looked up her nose. There is was, just barely visible but definitely in there. Being a young mother I wasn’t sure what kind of damage this could do to my baby. Could it get sucked up right into her brain? I remained calm as I drove straight to the emergency room of the nearest hospital. I got the girls out of the car and ushered them into the waiting room like little ducks. We were met with what had by then become the customary greeting. “Oh, look, twins, how DO you tell them apart?” Still concerned about the possibility of my child having a button permanently floating around in her head I quickly responded, “Why, I’m their mother, of course I can tell them apart”. Sensing my distress (not the babies) they ushered us immediately into an exam room. I put the baby on the exam table and had her sister sit on a nearby foot stool. The doctor immediately began examining my daughter looking up her nose with a flashlight and tweezers. She was a perfect angel. She never resisted or flinched a muscle. After spending a considerable time looking for the object of my concern the doctor finally said, “There is no button in this baby’s nose”. I immediately responded “OH YES THERE IS, I SAW IT.” About that time I heard my other child sniffling from her little perch at the foot of the table. I looked down to see her rocking back and forth pointing to her own nose saying, “I dot a button in my nose”. I immediately switched babies and in the midst of all the laughter the doctor swiftly removed the foreign object. They were laughing so hard they didn’t even charge me for the service. Never again did I claim to know them apart.