Having twins is like having a sign on your back that read’s “Come chat and ask me all the personal questions you can think of.”
Everyone wants to stop (and stare).
Like it wasn’t hard enough to get out the door in the first place, stopping to change four nappies (a bit too regular), take the right Thomas trains, grab the book with the picture of a doughnut, get the naked baby doll, not the fully dressed one, pack a bag of snacks for a small army, fill the water bottles, pack the nappy bag, shuffle them both to the car without one doing a runner, that I then get to the shops only to be stopped every few minutes by a complete stranger.
Don’t get me wrong. When I have the time I love a chat. But as a working mum, my time is limited, and my to do list is long. Sometimes I just want to get in and get out. You know what I mean.
Old ladies are the worst. I’ve been known to turnaround the trolley when I see an older lady in the aisle eyeing off a jar of mayonnaise. That’s a good five minutes I’ll never get back.
And then there are the questions. I don’t see anyone else getting asked these questions? Or maybe you are. The following is what I get asked in a normal conversation, and what I’d really like to say in reply.
Are they twins? Yes
One looks bigger than the other. I assure you they are twins. I gave birth to them.
They don’t look alike. Nope. But they are definitely twins.
So they’re identical? No. They’re a boy and a girl. And they don’t look alike.
Do twins run in your family? Are you asking me whether I fell pregnant with twins naturally or went through IVF?
I have a friend with twins. That’s good. Twins are pretty common these days.
