A mom of nine-year-old identical twin girls asked me to help her understand a specific dynamic that is playing out between her daughters. On the surface, the circumstances make very little sense to her. Both girls take piano lessons—Annie loves the piano and practices without being asked, but her sister, Amy, rarely practices and asks her parents about playing the trumpet. Their mom understands their differences and does not make a big deal about their divergent likes and dislikes. What […]
Tag Archives: twin bond
Twinsburg Revisited
Every day I open my Google Alerts to read the latest news stories that relate to twins. The usual fare includes movie stars giving birth to twins; stories about conjoined twins; tragic circumstances surrounding the birth and death of twin pairs; and, during baseball season, a plethora of stories about the Minnesota Twins baseball team. When I read through the offerings the other day, I was delighted to discover a fantastic piece written by identical twin men who made their […]
A Mirror or a Shield?
The other day I was speaking with a female twin in her midtwenties about her high-school experience. She told me that she enjoyed those years so much because her twin sister shielded her from feeling overwhelmed, intruded upon, and overexposed. This surprised me because she had always talked extensively about her sister being her “mirror”—needing to get continual validation from her twin about her clothing, hair, and general overall appearance. I was struck by how this young woman experienced the […]