experiences being a twin!

I have an identical twin sister who is 2 mins older than me and she never lets me forget it! Ever since we were born we have been really close. My mother said we had our own language until the doctor told her would shouldnt do that. I personally thought there was no harm in it! Anyways, we have had many "twin" experiences. I would love to hear from other twins on here if there are any, and I would think there would be, of their experiences with their twin...I will give a few

A few Thanksgivings ago we all went to my grandparents for the holiday weekend. Well I couldnt go until the day of because of work so my sister was already there..So I get there and open the door and about 30 plus people are staring at me like I have a huge blob of something on my face. Well my sister comes out and we both laugh our butts off. Well we both had the exact same outfit on from head to toe! We both had our haircuts about a week a part and they were the exact same. My entire family still talks about this but to us its nothing unusual. We are very different which is why it's funny that we had the same thing on. I mean literally bought from the same place in two different cities about 3 hours apart. We never told each other what we bought so nobody can say we planned it, cause it wasnt.
I have been to my sisters house and vice versa and it's amazing at how many of the same things we own. We both have the same comforter set but in opposite colors (they were purchased at different stores too). Our dishes are the same and we use the same make up and hair products. These are all things we dont really talk about. I dont give her a run down of what I buy and neither does she.
When she was pregnant and had morning sickness I felt it too at times and let me tell you that part I was not liking! It was really odd but my family says that our entires lives we have been that way. We sort of feel each others pain in a way. I dont think anything of it other than it's normal because it is what I am use to. In adolescence if she got a pimple I got one too but on the opposite side she had hers. That was weird and people always pointed it out and that we did not like...
Another thing is when she went into labor I knew it and felt it! I started cramping and I had no reason to if you know what I mean. I felt achy and swollen. I was at work when my mom called and said my sister went into labor and my response was "yeah I know!" I had told my boss at work that I bet my sister is in labor earlier and she asked why and I told her I felt it and I meant literally. When I got to the hospital I laughed and thanked her for that wonderful experience while at work.

I was wondering if any other twins out there experience this as well? I have always wondered why I was born a twin. I dont consider myself special in any way cause I am one, just different and lucky to have a best friend from birth who always seems to know everything about you and is always there


Here is a really cute pic from when we were little

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6624c12bab4c.jpg[/atsimg]


[edit on 7/7/2009 by mblahnikluver]

Ok what in the world?! I had it all typed out paragraph by paragraph and it wont post that way so sorry if it looks boxy or improperly typed..

[edit on 7/7/2009 by mblahnikluver] title change due as a suggestion by a friend

[edit on 7/7/2009 by mblahnikluver]

[edit on 7/7/2009 by mblahnikluver]

Very interesting! I am not a twin but I have identical twin daughters who are 8 years old. They had their own language when they were younger - I think it's called "twin-speak" - but I didn't discourage it. They had two older sisters (who are now 9 and 11) so they had plenty of exposure to "real" language and I didn't see any harm in them having something special between just the two of them. They are together most of the time but if I'm looking through a catalog with them one at a time they will pick out the same items.
You mentioned that you are the second born ... is your sister the more dominant one? I've always heard that the first born is the more dominant but my girls don't fit that at all. Their teachers always assume that they will be able to tell them apart once they get to know their personalities but it never works. One of the girls will act more out-going and dominant for 3 - 6 months and then almost overnight they will switch personalities and the one that was dominant suddenly is more reserved and vice versa. It's bizarre and I dont quite know what to make of it!
I look forward to hearing more stories from you and reading what other twins on ATS have to contribute. Ever since becomming best friends with identical twins when I was in 3rd grade I have been fascinated by twins and always wished that I would have twins of my own ... when I found out I was pregnant for the third time it was a surprise and shock but to find out I was going to have twins was, quite literally, a dream come true!

Jemison

I forgot that my avatar is a photo of my twins during "huggy time". Every evening at 6 p.m. they insist on hugging everyone that is around them. It's so sweet

[edit on 7-7-2009 by Jemison]

reply to post by Jemison


Thanks for your reply! Wow you have twins too! Do you have them wear the same thing and do their names rhyme? My mom dressed us up the same all through Elementary School. We were the only twins all through Kindergarten and up until 8th grade in every school we went to. We were always known as the twins. Even at my HS reunion people were like "oh you are one of the twins" and I would say I do have a name! I don mind being referred to as one of the twins, because quite honestly everyone knew us. We were popular in HS and I swear it's only cause we were the only identical twins in the school. We had a set of fraternal twin boys but that was it.
Yeah my mom didnt see any real harm in our "twin speak" but the doctor discouraged it so she had us stop talking that way. I didnt see the harm in it because we were around other kids and our family and we only talked to each other with it...She was more dominant when we were growing up for sure. My mom said she use to take my bottle all the time and have two in her mouth...lol It is funny how you mention how yours switch personality traits at times because we have done that now. She use to be the outgoing party type and I was the quiet stay at home type. Now I am the one going out and she is at home. We will go through phases of liking the same things at the same time. It is really weird sometimes but to us it is normal. I would love to have twins myself but that is highly unlikely! My sister and I growing up had twins as best friends, my mom babysat them and we all clicked instantly. It was funny cause nobody could tell any of us apart. It was the magic guessing game of the two sets of twins! Even to this day our voices are the same which totally creeped my sisters friend out at her baby shower a couple years ago. She just kept staring at me and saying "wow you sound like her." We laugh a like as well. Whenever we call family they always ask which one it is. I always say guess!.....We switched places once in HS and nobody figured it out until dance class because we didnt know each others routine since we were on opposite sides..lol However it worked all day! I probably could have written a book about my twin experiences growing up.


BTW your girls are adorable! I assume that's them in your avatar

[edit on 7/8/2009 by mblahnikluver]

Cute pic btw.

I watched a show once on twins and they watched them go to dinner seperately. They both tended to talk about the same things at the same points in the conversation.

I alway found the twin relationship interesting. Twins celebrate it, but at the same time, they seem to resent having to share their identity with another person.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
Cute pic btw.

I watched a show once on twins and they watched them go to dinner seperately. They both tended to talk about the same things at the same points in the conversation.

I alway found the twin relationship interesting. Twins celebrate it, but at the same time, they seem to resent having to share their identity with another person.

I have read some very interesting twin stories that are truly amazing!

My sister and I didnt like when we were growing up and even now how people tend to assume we are exactly the same just cause we look a like. This is why if I had twins I wouldnt dress them the same. My mom did that through Elem school and in middle school we had our own style, sometimes it was the same but others it wasnt. One thing that I remember growing up is having friends or trying to have different friends. Whenever one friend of ours had a Bday party the parent always invited both of use because they thought it wouldnt be fair to exclude the other. We didnt like that because we had some of the same friends but mostly we had our own. Its hard to explain but I get what you are saying about having your own identity. We are alike in some ways now but our tastes in some things are the complete opposite. For instance I love Rock and classical music, my sister loves spanish and reggatone. She speaks spanish, I speak French. All in all being a twin is kind of cool imo. I use to want a younger sister at times but having a friend everyday on the first day of school in class really helped. We always had each other even if we didnt know a single person.

I am an only child, but my fiance is an identical twin. Her sister passed away during complications during their birth. She has always said that she can still feel her twin around her. A lingering presence if you will. She calls her a guardian angel. Which I believe 100% because there always seems to be something out there that sets everything right for her when everything seems to go totally wrong. It's really hard to describe.

Since then I've sort of developed a theory or two about twins and why they are the way they are. I always thought that twins are a single soul that split in two and even though they are two separate individuals share halves of the same existence sort of an entanglement.

When two atoms are entangled no matter how far away in the universe they are from each other they still coexist as one. If I where to spin one of these atoms clockwise the other one sitting on the other end of the universe will spin identically only in the opposite direction. I always thought this was a good way to describe twins. Even though they can be totally different people, they always seem to share a special oneness. Not being a twin, it's hard to describe from the outside looking in.

I have a pair of friends who are identical twins. These guys could not be more black and white, but even though they are nothing like each other they still talk about feeling each others pain and they say more often than not they share each others thoughts at the exact same time. They always seem to just know. Its kind of scary sometimes actually. One of them is a level headed go getter, and the other one is a laid back party fanatic. They are so different in fact that it is not very difficult to tell them apart, yet sometimes I have serious trouble doing so. (What can I say they look the same) I actually called Chris (mr. level headed) to come out to my house to have a beer and wind down. Since my fiance and his are friends we get together quite often. Well all of a sudden there is a knock on the door. It's Josh (mr. party dude). He said he felt like he should come over because he somehow knew his brother was there. I asked him how, and he replied "I don't know, just knew". There is no doubt, there is something special going on with twins.

Oh cool, what a neat post!

My wife and I just had ID twin girls 5 months ago. We are sooooo blessed to have them. It was great reading your posts. I hope our twins have similar fun experiences. Any advise you could give to the parents of twins? Anything you wish your parents had done differently? We dress them alike sometimes but not always. We figure that when they are old enough to pick out their own clothes then it will be up to them if they wanna dress alike or not. I'm also a frequent poster over on pregnancy.org where there are a lot of twin moms and dads that share stories and the like, you might head over there. =)

I was at a dollar store a couple of years ago and heard some bizarre buzzing type of language in another isle. My curiosity to eaves drop, I went down the isle and it was twin girls ( or clones?) and they freaked me out as if there was something alien about them just being in their zone. They seemed to get upset and angry and it was like they were ferrell kittens or similar..Yikes! I wonder if they also have higher IQs, but higher when they're together? Maybe that's obvious? idk

My first wife was a surviving twin and told me she was always depressed as if picking up on her ghost twins emotions. Or survivors guilt? idk

Makes me wonder if we ever did clone people, they would have psychic abilites. Since mothers also seem to have a psychic connections with the children sometimes, I wonder how much stronger that is, if at all, with twins.

Yeah, there's something spooky about twins most can't get used to. The notion of alien visitors using cloned human bodies, as if twins, makes me wonder if they are really human when I see them.

Originally posted by djpain75
Oh cool, what a neat post!

My wife and I just had ID twin girls 5 months ago. We are sooooo blessed to have them. It was great reading your posts. I hope our twins have similar fun experiences. Any advise you could give to the parents of twins? Anything you wish your parents had done differently? We dress them alike sometimes but not always. We figure that when they are old enough to pick out their own clothes then it will be up to them if they wanna dress alike or not. I'm also a frequent poster over on pregnancy.org where there are a lot of twin moms and dads that share stories and the like, you might head over there. =)

Wow congrats to you! The only thing we didnt like was the dressing a like growing up. My mom thought it was cute, but we really didnt..lol She did it all through elementary school. When we got to Middle School we told her no to that! She still tried to buy the same thing in different colors but that didnt work. I will check that site out. I love hearing other stories about twins.

Originally posted by aleon1018
I was at a dollar store a couple of years ago and heard some bizarre buzzing type of language in another isle. My curiosity to eaves drop, I went down the isle and it was twin girls ( or clones?) and they freaked me out as if there was something alien about them just being in their zone. They seemed to get upset and angry and it was like they were ferrell kittens or similar..Yikes! I wonder if they also have higher IQs, but higher when they're together? Maybe that's obvious? idk

My first wife was a surviving twin and told me she was always depressed as if picking up on her ghost twins emotions. Or survivors guilt? idk

Makes me wonder if we ever did clone people, they would have psychic abilites. Since mothers also seem to have a psychic connections with the children sometimes, I wonder how much stronger that is, if at all, with twins.

Yeah, there's something spooky about twins most can't get used to. The notion of alien visitors using cloned human bodies, as if twins, makes me wonder if they are really human when I see them.

I assure you I am human and not alien just a twin. As for the twins you heard talking in their own language, it is very common for twins to communicate with each other in ways they would only understand. I remember my sister and I not liking it when anyone would want to listen. It was like our own thing and we didnt want anyone a part of it. That was probably all it was. We arent spooky but I guess to a non twin I could understand since every time we are together and people meet us they always want to "compare" body parts..lol That is odd even for adults that ask us. It's always "stand next to each other" and then they "pick out" differences and I mean they are so minor but for some reason people feel the need to do this.

reply to post by DaMod


I have read numerous stories about twins being separated or the dying at birth and the connection they still have. It is very cool if you think about it. I have more of a connection with my sister than anyone else on the planet. We feel each others emotions and many many many times will say the same thing at once. When we were little it was funny to our family because we would be trying to talk but we would talk at once and say the same thing. Many times my family would say ok Andrea (me) you say it or Alyssa (sister) you say it.
The story about your friend just showing up cause he felt like it is makes a lot of sense to me. Its kind of different but many times on both ends we will pick up the phone to dial one another and they are already on the line and it never rang. This happened just last week. I went to call her and vice versa but when I went to dial she was already there. We both laughed and dismissed it because it's not unusual for that to happen with us.
You gf's twin is probably her Guardian Angel. I have always believed in that esp when one twin survives and the other doesnt. I believe Elvis, yes Elvis, said the same about his twin who passed either before or during birth.

Here is one of the most interesting twin stories I have EVER read! I get goosebumps every time!

The stories of identical twins' nearly identical lives are often astonishing, but perhaps none more so than those of these identical twins born in Ohio. The twin boys were separated at birth, being adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both families named the boys Jim. And here the coincidences just begun. Both James grew up not even knowing of the other, yet both sought law-enforcement training, both had abilities in mechanical drawing and carpentry, and each had married women named Linda. They both had sons whom one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. The twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other women - both named Betty. And they both owned dogs which they named Toy. Jim Lewis and Jim Springer finally met in February 9, 1979 after 39 years of being separated.

source www.oddee.com...

That is a link to 10 most fascinating twin stories....however this one strikes me as the most fascinating. Amazing!!

I would think it to be most rare for twins to be exact. Subtle differences seems likely. A recent court case a couple of years ago involving twins, had the exact DNA and fingerprints. Just curious if you other twins ever compared finger prints also.

The other thing is twins with different personalities. The Olsen twins are said to be different. But I guess that's also a learned behavior for others as well, especially when being actors. Maybe people just expect them to be clones. Parents seem to want to dress them the same. But is that so they don't lose them in a crowd? idk

Originally posted by aleon1018
I would think it to be most rare for twins to be exact. Subtle differences seems likely. A recent court case a couple of years ago involving twins, had the exact DNA and fingerprints. Just curious if you other twins ever compared finger prints also.

The other thing is twins with different personalities. The Olsen twins are said to be different. But I guess that's also a learned behavior for others as well, especially when being actors. Maybe people just expect them to be clones. Parents seem to want to dress them the same. But is that so they don't lose them in a crowd? idk

Yeah it is rare for them to be exactly the same. I know one set of grown adults who are identical sisters and the are the same! My best friend from HS, her mother is an identical twin. They dress a like, have the same jobs, interests, hair, cars, everything! They are always together and are very close. When I met her mom and sister they were so happy to meet other twins. Her mom and aunt were really cool and outgoing but I swear it was like one person split in two. They are the exact same! My friend always thought her mom and aunt were weird for being that way but being a twin I completely understand their ways. They are just too cute!
The thing people tend to think is that twins will be the same because they look the same, but that's really not true. I mean for us growing up we were more a like but when we grew up and had our own views many things that were the same became different. Our views on many things are different but we still have some likenesses that are the same. As for the Olsen twins I dont really follow them but one is obviously more outgoing than the other.
I have never compared fingerprints with my sister before. I have heard of that case if it's the same one I am thinking of. I feel bad for the twin that didnt do anything and yet they are suspect because they just happen to be the twin to the one who did it. Oh God that would be horrible.
As far as dressing them a like I think its more or less the "cute" factor to dress twins a like. It really has nothing to do with about losing them in a crowd. If that were the case parents would dress all their kids the same. I know my mom did it cause it was cute...At first yes it is but later when you want to be different from the one you will look like forever you kind of want to have your own individuality and dressing the complete opposite of them works for many...it did for us.

Just as an FYI - the Oleson twins are actually fraternal twins so while they look like identical twins they are no more similar than regular siblings.

I didn't dress my twins alike any more than I did my older two girls who are 20 months apart. For the first six months after the twins were born I had four children under the age of four, two who were very active and mobile, so dressing all of the girls alike or at least in the same bright colors made it much easier to keep track of them when we were at the park or in public. I can't remember buying any matching outfits for the twins when they were babies but all of the clothing that we received as gifts for them were matching. Now I let them choose their own clothing and since my 9 year old has the same taste in clothing as my twins it's a given that all three of them will want the same outfit. Thankfully they have a system down where they choose different colors of the same item. One of the twins, Graci, loves green and incorporates something green into her outfit daily, even if it's a green hair ribbon, so for people that are around them alot it makes it easy to remember "Graci is in green"

All four of my daughters look eerily alike so people do a lot of double and triple takes - especially if we are seated and they can't tell how tall the girls are. By far the biggest annoyance that all four of my girls have is they are always being stared at when we are in public. Especially when we go out to dinner and are trying to enjoy ourselves and as other people are leaving they stop by our table to ask if we have two sets of twins or triplets, etc. We answer their questions but our response always leads to more questions and even though the girls are very social and outgoing they get tired of answering the same questions over and over in such a short period of time when all they want to do is eat their dinner.

Yes, those are my twins in the avatar and they are wearing jammies that were given to them as a gift on Christmas.

I think it's interesting how some children will look very much like one of the parents or grandparents when they're younger, but when they get older, might look more like the other. Some of my kids now look more like my fathers side than they did when they were younger.This is another reason I have to question the age progression for missing children.

It is very interesting how some genetics are much stronger than others. I met a family in Wisconsin whose parents looked very similar and found out from someone who knew them that said they were actually cousins.

I've seen a few couples who also looked like they were related.

reply to post by Jemison


You know I actually go into an argument about the Olsen twins with a friend years ago. She was convinced they were identical because they look a like and I told her they were fraternal. Fraternal twins can still look a like but it's not as common as identical ones.

Yeah my sister and I were very outgoing when we were younger. My mom said we talked to everyone and would say "this is my twin sister" to everyone...lol People would always look at us at dinner too. They always had to stop and ask my mom the age and how far apart and all the question you know parents of twins get. It does getting annoying now at 30 when people ask us this.. I went to where she worked for dinner and the stares and whispers she I were getting. She finally addressed the whole restaurant and said yes this is my twin sister we are related! People started laughing. It happens everywhere we go but we are use to it.
When we were little and dressed a like many times my mom would get the same outfit but different colors and I was always the one in pink! I was just looking at pictures the other day and even our backpacks were the same but different colors. Even now as adults we have some of the same clothes but in different colors. We didnt buy them together we just have the same taste in some things and it works out that way. We both bought the same PJ's at Ross but in different colors a month a part. I didnt even realize it until I stayed at her house and wore them. Her bf was like did you guys plan this or what? It was funny!!

BTW their outfits or pj's are just too cute!