Twins!!!!

[Teresa Edgerton]

I am beginning to be intensely interested in this subject in all its aspects -- stories, anecdotes, folklore, tips for raising them, everything -- because, if all goes well, sometime around the end of the summer I'm going to be the grandmother of twin boys.

Since certain relatives have been known to sport the Jolly Roger (I admit to having a few pairs of skull-and-crossbones socks myself), I told my daughter that until she decides on names for my grandsons, I'm going to be calling them Smee and Starkey.

That she was tickled by the idea instead of offended by it may give you an idea of what kind of family we are.

 

[Carolyn Hill]

Huzzah!

And again: Huzzah!

 

[Brian G Turner]

Sounds good - congrats.

 

[weaveworld]

Congratulations!

 

[nixie]

Congratulations Teresa

 

[scalem X]

Cornelius is a twin, maybe you should turn to him for wicked stories

and double-cheer .

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'm going to be the grandmother, scalem -- I'm not sure that I want to hear any wicked stories. Although I'm sure cornelius must have some interesting things to say on the subject.

I am by turns excited and apprehensive about this. It was beginning to look like there would never be any grandchildren at all, so two at one go seems too good to be true.

 

[j d worthington]

Congratulations and best wishes to all! Both feelings are understandable, but my advice would be to enjoy as much as possible, and -- as my daughter used to put it when she was very young, "remember, every day's an adventure".

 

[littlemissattitude]

Congratulations, Teresa. Double the fun for you; double the trouble for mom.

 

[Lissa]

That is great! My older brothers are twins. I have only seen them fight once when we were much younger. They must have been in junior high. They had their fist fight and it was over. Never seen them fight since and they are in their 30's now. My sister in law has had to get used to being married to a twin. It hasn't been easy for her.

My mom loves to tell us stories. she said when we lived in the Netherlands the twins were playing upstairs (age 3 or 4) they emptied their wood toy box one got in and the other pushed it down the stairs. The one at the top was the one crying!

 

[Patrick Mahon]

Teresa,

Congratulations! I'm one of identical twins myself, and can say without fear of contradiction that twin boys are the very best things since sliced bread!

More seriously, I've got a whole stack of anecdotes about me and my twin brother when we were kids, if you're suffering from insomnia at any point...

Cheers,
Patrick.

 

[dwndrgn]

I always wanted to be a twin! I used to make up stories about being a twin, and even try to convince people that I was both twins. Of course, this is nothing next to the stories I made up about roly poly bugs...

Congratulations! Double the pleasure, double the fun! You'll have to share photos

Plus, being the grandmother - you've got the easy job. Pinch hit now and then, spoil them rotten and give 'em back!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Lissa and Patrick -- I am up for any twin stories that are not like to prove too harrowing to a grandmother's soul.

 

[Carolyn Hill]

Strange, but the fiction about twins that spring immediately to mind all deal with some unpleasant aspect of twinhood. Yet twins whom I've known in person seem to like one another immensely.

 

[Patrick Mahon]

I am up for any twin stories that are not like to prove too harrowing to a grandmother's soul.

OK, a nice(ish) one then. Up till we were about six or seven, my twin brother and I seemed to have a slightly spooky mental link. Now I'm grown-up, I try to rationalise this away. But it certainly seemed real enough at the time...

Anyway, one time early on at our first proper school, when we had just turned five years old, some of the other kids in the playground decided to pick on me when Dom wasn't around. (I was little and weedy, and was an easy target...) Anyway, I started crying, and out of nowhere my twin brother appeared, told them off, and took me off to see one of the teachers, who calmed me down.

Now the weird thing is that he was over the other side of the playground a moment before, and whether (rational hat on) he heard me crying, or (irrational hat on) he suddenly got a feeling that I was in trouble, I couldn't - at this distance of time - say. But at the time, I was sure that he'd had some kind of sixth sense. And whether that is factually correct or not, as a five year old, to think that your twin brother will magically appear if you're in trouble, and bale you out, is a pretty great confidence boost!

Sorry - this probably sounds pretty lame to the rest of you! But for me, having a twin was a real blessing when I was little.

Oh yeah, and we used to beat the hell out of each other the rest of the time. But that's a different story!

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Well most of the fiction stories I can remember featuring twins are, on the fantasy front, the Dragonlance twins of Caramon & Raistlin Majere, although they weren't identical twins.

Twins, although not human ones, also feature as Oponn in Erickson's Malazan series.

Most twin fiction seems to centre on aspects of ESP or shared feelings, or pain. One twin gets hurt, the other feels pain in the same area, sort of thing.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

That's actually quite a nice story, Patrick. I think for non-twins part of the fascination of twins is the whole idea (accurate or not) of growing up with a built-in playmate, advocate, and friend.

I wonder which is more common in fiction -- the ESP theme, or good twin/bad twin? But you remind me, W_S, that I should really look into getting a copy of The Corsican Twins to present to the grandsons at a suitable age.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It's getting close. Very, very close. Apparently, on the average, twins are born at around 36 weeks, and my daughter is just over 34. Right now, estimated weight for the babies is slightly under five-and-a-half pounds each. I don't know how they figure it these days, but when I was birthing babies, at five-and-a-half pounds an infant was no longer considered premature. They only need a couple of more ounces to reach that milestone.

At this point, we're all torn between wanting them to have all the time they can to grow and develop, and eagerness to actually meet them and see for ourselves that everything is all right.

Poor Megan is absolutely huge. She waddles like a duck. She looks like a pregnant woman in a sitcom or movie, where her size and awkwardness are exaggerated for comedic effect.

The suspense is tremendous. (And so, of course, is she.)

 

[dwndrgn]

The time is nigh...I bet that mingled with her fond desire to meet her little darlings that after carrying them for 34 weeks, is an almost as fond desire to have done with the whole thing already. My coworker who is due in November has confessed that while she is enjoying the process of getting to know her baby before she actually knows him, she also has a newfound respect for 'people of size' as she says. Always having been a slender and fit woman who normally walks with purposeful speed, she now must waddle (it really is the best word isn't it? Sounds bad but fits.) to the best of her ability and allow all the rest of the world to pass her by, hair blowing in their breeze...and it is beginning to annoy her a tad.

I send along some good wishes for your twin grandbabies as well as for your daughter and son (he must be included, I once visited a newly born baby and her parents and when the poor dad [all 6 feet of him] saw the baby for the first time, he immediately keeled over in the hallway, prompting his own medical attention )

May they all be healthy and happy and not need to be checked for concussions

 

[j d worthington]

Glad to hear things are going so well with this. Good luck and best wishes to all concerned (and she definitely has my sympathy for dealing with this in this heat!).