Panda Song

The buzz surrounding Toronto's Zoo resident giant panda, Er Shun, birthing twins this morning had me thinking about my two little cubs and their own twin identities.  While both the minions are aware that they share a birthday and are twins, I don't feel that their "twinness" has been ingrained on them the same way it is for other multiples.  We have rarely had the time or inclination to put them in matching attire, and attempts at things like coordinating outfits or Halloween costumes have been epic failures.  They have never had twin songs or twin languages or so many of the other "multiple" things I had eagerly anticipated.  (The number of times I have been sent the viral Twin Baby Talking video since I conceived Molly and Jack is unreal)

My Twins and the Panda

This year as they entered kindergarten we thought it was a good opportunity to let them spread their wings (there may be a lot of animal analogies in this post) and further develop their own identities.  It didn't surprise us too much that Jack is struggling with the separation whereas Molly is not.  The school has been extremely accommodating and has allowed the minions to have snack together once or twice a day to help Jack adjust and things are improving, slowly.

We have never made the birth order of the minions a secret or avoided talking about who is twin A and who is twin B, although I am beginning to understand why some parents decide to keep birth order of their multiples under wraps.

After a conversation with the parents of Molly's new "bestie" it turns out that my darling twin A has made a point of telling people that she is Jack's big sister, having successfully convinced most children and some parents that she is in Sr. Kindergarten and her "pesky" little brother is in Jr. Kindergarten.

Has our effort to make Molly and Jack's role as "twins" not the focal point of who their identity robbed them of some of their multiple experience?  Or is Molly simply displaying typical twin A behaviour? I tend to lean towards the latter.

Any other parents of multiples have any thoughts on "twinness" and birth order and how it's impacted the family dynamic?

To read about toddler "twinning" in the minions click here.

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