My poor kids never had a chance when it came to names. I didn't want the rhyming twin names but I wanted some similarity so I stuck with the same first letter, Jamie and Julie. That was probably a little too close but what the heck, I was twenty so what did I know. Now the identity problem was always an issue and one my father never tried to resolve so he just called them names like turd and bird.....or the generic, "hey you". Their friends called them JamieJulie just so they wouldn't get the wrong name. Our neighbors called them Ding and Ling or sometimes Link Link.....The girls just learned to answer to just about anything even each others names.
When they were teenagers I would be with one girl shopping and someone would come up and start a conversation. Later when I asked who it was my daughter would say, I don't know it must be one of the other daughter's friends. Whoever it was they wouldn't want to embarrass the person by telling them they were talking to the wrong twin.
Another little stunt they would pull was when boys started calling. They would switch the phone between them when they got tired of talking and the poor boy never knew he was talking to the other sister. I know this trick has been played on me too but I've never been able to catch them at it. Because we all three sound alike on the phone my dad always asked first "which one are you" before he started talking.
What I really love is the reaction to Jamie's pre-k students sometimes have the first time they see her sister. Some have actually cried because it startled them so much but all of them just go into a dumb struck stare. Then they have to discuss all the similarities...."She has your face" "You sound just alike" etc. The one big advantage to Julie being the kindergarten teacher is that Jamie's four year olds have an easy transition from pre-k to kindergarten. I'm not sure some of them even realize they have a new teacher. I do know their parents are relieved when the new year starts and no one is crying.
Raising twins has been my greatest adventure. Even though I was out numbered from the get go I have had a great time observing them and trying to figure out this whole twin connection. It also gives me great comfort to know that they have such an incredible bond. They always have each other!
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1 month ago
5 comments:
I think having twins teach next door to each other is great. I loved reading about how they handled the boys when they were teenagers. So funny.
We have twins in our family like yours. They're amazing. They still show up at events wearing the same colors even though they haven't discussed it. They say they often cook the same things without discussing it.
Their names are Kimberly and Kristy. They have a sister 15 months older. I remember their mother used to sew assembly line style, all the sleeves, all the collars, all the skirts. She said she couldn't stand doing their dresses one at a time. She kept them dressed like triplets.
I think that is just just a hoot--that they are pre-school and kindergarten teachers. Remembering how attached kids can be to teachers at that age...it really must ease the transition.
Our grand-twins are boy/girl - so no identity problems here....LOL
Ours were very close as babies and youngsters, but at age 14, they are somewhat antagonistic. I do hope they will grow close again when they are older. Ours have "J" names too.
What a delight your girls are.
Always wanted to be a twin, actually any sister would have been good in a family of boys till I was a teen.
Dated a twin in high school. They were basketball players on a state championship team. One fouled more than the other so at half time they would switch jerseys. Pretty certain I dated both unknowingly.
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