Our Differences Make Us Who We Are

After the ultrasound where we found out we were having twins, we stopped at a bookstore so I could buy a book about twins.  I read the section on the first year with twins over and over during the remainder of my pregnancy – trying to make myself believe that we would survive. One statement in the book continues to stick with me – it is only natural to compare children to each other and with twins it is inevitable, but try and make a conscious effort not to compare your twins and remember that they are individuals. (not an exact quote, since I can’t find it)

I am so happy that the boys do not look the same, that eliminates many of the “how do you tell them apart questions”.  When someone asks me who is who, if they are close I touch each one of them and say, “This is Ruslan and This is Wyatt” and if they are across the room, I will say, “That is Ruslan in the green shirt and Wyatt in the blue shirt”.  I try to avoid comparative statements like he is the taller one.  I also generally do not refer to them as the twins and instead call them by their names or “my boys”.  I dress them in similar clothing most of the time and they are only dressed the same on rare occasions.

They are physically different and have different interests.  I love that they are so different, it’s what makes Ruslan – Ruslan, and Wyatt – Wyatt.  Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we all looked and acted the same? These art projects came home from childcare this week.  I didn’t need to flip them over to see the names on the backs of the papers; I could tell who created them by looking at the projects.