by Your twins will recognize themselves as siblings–brothers or sisters–before they realize they are twins.
Twin Label
The label of “twins” seems to be pressed upon your twins instead of being something that they naturally recognize and claim for themselves.
The “twin” label seems to be a reference point that is picked up later in life by the twin herself. Yet from birth, everyone else knows your twins as exactly that.
Referring to Twins
You may call your twins “twins.” Their brothers may call them “sisters” or “twins”. Everyone in public will say, “Hey, look! Twins!” However, each twin is an individual.
Our twin daughters knew and could verbalize that they were sisters way before they grasped the meaning of the word “twin.” Perhaps this is because we didn’t call them “twins” when talking about them or to them. We’d tend to refer to them in the third person as “the girls” or “your sisters.”
Twin’s Place in Family
To one of your twins, the other twin has always been there. She is a sister, friend, roommate, playmate, and even someone that everything gets shared with.
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It is easier to explain to one of your twin daughters that she has a sister and is a sister than explain how babies typically only come one at a time and how she is different.
As your twins grow, see if they recognize that they are siblings before they understand what a twin is.
Picture by Russell Harrison Photography
You know, I’ve never really thought about it, but my five year old twins only know they are twins because we’ve said it and they’ve heard us say it. But, isn’t that how most things in life are? Something becomes what it is because we’ve heard it said?
For example, a girl may know she is pretty as she gets older because she has heard it over and over again.
Or a boy may know he is a good athlete because he has been told by his peers, coaches and parents.
Interesting topic! 🙂
@Crystal – it is always interesting for me to hear other’s examples with their twins. Thanks for your comment!
We have also refferred to the twins as “the boys” or “your brothers” or we speak to one and say things like “Give that toy to brother.” They are two years old but i dont think they realize they look alike yet or anything like that. Its definitely a neat thing to think about.
@ANG – since we referred to our daughters as “the girls” it took them awhile to realize they were twins too.
Very nicely written. Our boys, connect themselves to being referred as brothers more than as twins. It looks like the brotherly bonding overrules the twins.
@Janani – that has been our experience as well with our girls