Thursday, November 22, 2007

critical identity

You're going to dress them the same, right?
Why would I do that?
You'll give them similar names, you know, that rhyme, right?
Why would I do that?
Then what will you do?
I will emphasize identity, autonomy, and individuality.
But identical twin girls are special!
And each one will be her own person. That's special.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

My sister has identical twin boys. First, everyone will say annoying things like, "double the fun/love/etc." No one talks about double the diapers, the trouble, etc. You can't punch them for saying stupid things like that, but it will be tempting.
Two, separate identities are a good idea. Sis started by NOT letting anyone know "who was oldest". Also, even with identical looks, her twins have VERY different personalities, and intelligences, etc. to the degree that one is in SpEd and other isn't. So if you have identical twins, they may look the same, but they aren't the same.
If they are identical you will not want to dress them the same because it will make your job harder. You'll have enough to deal with, make sure you dress 'em different. For a while my sister color coded them (green for one, blue for the other). I'm not kidding. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Maybe God gave us twins to remind us that it's what's on the inside that counts. It should tell us something about all of us that two people can look exactly the same and be completely different. I love that you're encouraging that individuality.

Anne Van Meter said...

People honestly ask you if you're going to give them rhyming names? I hope they were kidding! That is cute for about a month, then it is annoying.

My sons, though several years apart, look very much alike. Lord help the person who assumes their personalities and interests are anything alike!

Ken Rodoff said...

Thanks, all.

And yes, people have suggested everything I wrote about. In fact, I wouldn't have even known about any of these "twin trends" without the kindly input of others.

We're thinking of names...
Sydney
Morgan
Quinn
Sofie

And the list is growing.

Oh...and middle names honoring grandmoms.

Anne Van Meter said...

I love the name Sofie. Reminds me of The BFG, one of my all-time favorite read-alouds.