Twins ARE better

Prue and I spoke of being twins in the comments of the post below (I am the girl of a boy/girl pair, Prue is an identical twin). I facetiously said that twins were better at duo, one on one relationships (such as marriage) because of practice in this regard. Well, I did think the remark had some merit . I also suspect, though, that twins may struggle more with group relationships, at least initially.

This interview with a twin expert backs me up, that twins learn empathy and sharing earlier, but also can struggle when first in school in learning how to interact with a larger group because they haven't needed to learn this skill, because they have been sufficient for each other. Another interesting point is that twins tend to use their twin as their blankie (security object).

Hey blankie! what you doing in another city?

(but hey prue, lets not mention that twins are on average meant to have lower IQs ;) .......I haven't noticed this with the twins I know)

earliest experience

further to last post. I was thinking about my experience as a newborn, that while I was used to sharing the womb, when I came out due to being very small, I was put in a humidicrib and then stayed in hospital til 7.5 weeks old. So my twin was taken away at birth - how did this affect me? And they now know that children need touch from day one - so the humidicrib I was in, which had no holes for touching - has been replaced with touch friendly ones these days. This explains quite a bit about me (if you know me you might be able to work that out). Watching my 2 children, I can see the birth order influence already shaping their personalities. My eldest, who was an only child only 3 m onths ago, is now suddenly displaying eldest characteristics. My youngest is developing more pateince, as he is forced to wait more than my first. How much of who we are is determined pre memory even?

for my bro

a couple of nights ago i watched a show on conjoined twins. as a twin, such docos draw me in. i cried as one twin died so the other might live.

what really struck me was that once they were separated they had to put a mirror next to each baby because otherwise they fretted - life had always been lived with this other. hey my twin i miss you! you were there before birth even. still not used to you being interstate even -is it 8 years? later.