Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Two times one is two together!

After my home, the place that I spend a lot of time in a week is our neighbourhood supermarket. Boy!  I go that way for something totally not related to grocery shopping and I will not return without stepping inside. Somehow, there is always something to buy.

There is a tall lean dusky girl employed there whom I have been encountering for the past couple of months. Her age must have a close proximity to twenty and she is quite brisk at work and always helpful. She always bears a lovely smile and would always rush to my assistance to keep my little girl occupied while I finished off the billing and payment at the self check out counter.

The other day I had just finished piling up my shopping cart; As always with a few things I had come to buy and a whole lot of other do-I-really-need-them things I just found on the racks during my visit. I was busy bending over the basket and taking the items one by one for billing. I nonchalantly lifted my gaze and saw her standing a few feet away from where I was. I smiled, continued with what I was doing. I was about to pay when my eyes drifted towards her again and Lo! I was in for a surprise. There were two of them. A kind of clone image of her stood next to her; Same height,weight, complexion, hairstyle, way of dressing and above all photocopied facial features!  'Wow' I could not help but exclaim out aloud. I finished my payment and moved towards them pushing my stroller along.

I popped the question they must have heard a zillion times since they entered this world together. " SO you are twins?" . They nodded with a grin.

"Who works here?"

"We both do!" they said in unison.

"Oh!Have I been seeing both of you without realizing that its two people or was it the same person?" I was really not sure, they were that similar.

"Thats me" one of them answered.

Some things in life just make you feel good and smile though you are totally not related. The concept of twins is one such. Its kind of an 'Aww!So Cute' thing.

Ask the parents of any of these siblings on earth. Well, "Aww Not that cute" would be their reply.Raising and taking care of one baby is a hectic round the clock job. Imagine two of those!

I have two cousins with twin children one each on my maternal and paternal side. To begin with , during the gestation itself its double the load on the mother. The most likely mode of birth would be a caeserean section, that too slightly before full mature term to avoid later complications. Then all the work aka bathing, changing nappies, feeding, cleaning and everything baby related is double. That is if they come with the tag 'We are the best behaved and easiest to maintain infants'. Considering the quintessential unpredictability infants possess its much more than that. Half the night goes sleepless pacifying a screaming child while his twin is huddled snugly and fast asleep. The wailing infant finally decides to sleep and this act behaves like a silent alarm and wakes up his sibling. By the time the second one is pacified, its time for the sun to greet everyone.

The expenses as they grow also arrive in double - Right from diapers all the way to their college education unless colleges come forward with a enroll one-other goes free system.

I had a teacher with twins during my schooling years. Every evening after school she would feed them some food and I clearly remember how much running she would do after them. They would always be running at 180 degrees from each other and away from their mother and the food. We loathed her for the pain she used to be in our class but this scene always evoked our pity.

Well these are some challenges but its indeed a beautiful thing.  Seeing two of your kids achieve all the milestones together and blossom into fully grown individuals is a difficult yet highly rewarding experience.
The bond the two of them share is something unique. A companion for life enters the world together with you and stays together in thick and thin. They are partners in everything from classes to play time to smearing mummy's lipstick all over the dresser.Usually there is no sibling rivalry. They know each other in and out. In fact some studies suggest that a sort of telepathy exists between them.

To all mothers and of course fathers who are parents to twins, Kudos to you for all the efforts.

To the twins themselves, well, you are 'Aww So Cute!' I have to agree :D

Image courtesy of Boians Cho Joo Young at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

37 comments:

  1. Oh yeah...twins as much as they look cute and makes say awwww...it is really a pain to raise both of them at the same time. I always wished to have twins :P I have a friend who has one daughter first and the 2nd time, she had twins. But both the boys are in India for a long time now for the cost of raising them here, no help and don't want to separate them etc...so, it's a curse I feel..not a blessing for them

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    1. Yeah even I wanted twins :D During my first pregnancy I kept asking the doctor during the first scan "Are you sure its not two?" ha ha Curse is too strong a word, dear :D I would call it overflow of blessings :D

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  2. There is only one snag here.If both are boys or girls identical in look and one is gentle and another mischievous, many a faux pas can happen with the innocent being blamed for no fault.I feel they should not be dressed in similar manner and differences should be kept prominent. Nicely written post

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    1. I agree, then its a little tough and in this case it could rise to sibling rivalry too. But that rarely happens. Most of the ones I have seen are partners in crime too ;)

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  3. Looks to be great for the twins :) For the parents, though... :P

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  4. When I got married, I really hoped that I would have twins - one boy and one girl- because I too thought it would be so cute!! Thankfully, that didn't happen!! :D

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  5. Oh yes, the twins do look cute together, always! But for the parents, it is a harrowing time till they are at least 5 or 6 yr old. My cousin and a close friend have twins. Even with supporting in-laws, husband and maid, both the families are having a tough time bringing up twins. The work never ends and the expenses... they skyrocket!!

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    1. Yes once they cross 6 or 7 years of age it gets easier

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  6. I had twins as my friend, now both of them are settled in usa and it was so much fun , in college we played so many pranks and did some silly things .. fun was during exams :) shhhhhhhhhhh not telling what he he he he

    Bikram's

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    1. Hi hi ..that leaves it all to my own imagination hi hi hi :)

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    1. Of course yes. Children are bundles of joy and with twins its twice the fun!

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  8. I grew up with my two cousin brothers who are twins. They didn't look-alike but they did everything together, wore the same clothes and things like that. Great thing about twin-siblings is their unity, and loyalty to each other. :)

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    1. Hey Great to see you here again after a long time....I agree, their bond is very very strong.

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  9. These days lot of people are having twins - not the similar twins though. Not seen any similar twins for a long time - there was one pair in kindergarden. Other than its been only movies.

    Twins are nice to have as first borns - you are through with all efforts of bringing them up to a stable age in one go instead of going through the whole process twice. But second time if twins pop up - hard luck - you land up with 3 kids like the old generation - that is too many in the current age.

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    1. ha ha I do know a couple of couples who ended up like that :)

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  10. Woah!! Jaish, just reading the post made me roll my eyes with wonder at the parents of twins. They are all Gods. Taking care of one infant is in itself a round the clock job as you rightly said. If it is two, I doubt if it would even be enjoyable. But then babies are magical and parents enjoy them no matter how challenging they are.
    Very nice post!

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    1. Thanks Aarthy. They are magical I agree. There are moments where they want to scream their lungs out just like any other parent :)

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    2. Thanks Aarthy. They are magical I agree. There are moments where they want to scream their lungs out just like any other parent :)

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  11. When I was carrying our baby, I wanted twins. But then I saw the travails of parents bringing up their twins, I was glad that I had been blessed with a daughter :-)

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    1. That wish I think is common among a lot of women especially the first time pregnant ones :)

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    2. That wish I think is common among a lot of women especially the first time pregnant ones :)

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  12. I wanted twins so that I could be done with having both kids together. :-)

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    1. That is there. No repeat performance of various stages. Done with it once and for all :)

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    2. That is there. No repeat performance of various stages. Done with it once and for all :)

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  13. Its totally crazy seriously! Thanks for stepping in!

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  14. Its totally crazy seriously! Thanks for stepping in!

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  15. True. Raising twins is not a joke ! Only thing is once they are out of their toddler-hood, you can sit back relieved that you accomplished two with one labour ;) And also that they have siblings right from day one !

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  16. Twins are one of a kind!! My best friend is going to have them very soon and I am really thrilled. Good luck to them though!!

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  17. And that made a super cute post.
    You are so right, as long as the twins are not our own, everything about them is cute. :)

    When I was in college, I had a room mate whose mom had a twin sister. And her dad had a twin too and guess what -- these siblings were married to each other. So there were two couples that looked alike. I did know about this until my roomie's older sis got married and I got to see the pictures of the extended family. :D
    How cute is that? :)

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    1. That's super Cute yes, but I wonder how much confusion might have been caused :)

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