I posted about this issue before. But that was two years ago, and now I’m viewing things in a different light.
Identical twins. Do I dress them the same or different? The short answer: the same, 95% of the time. I have practical reasons for this. It’s easier to buy two of the same shirt than search out a different one. It makes it easier to know if laundry gremlins are stealing clothes. And okay, yes. I think it’s cute.
But yesterday the real reason I dress them the same became abundantly clear.
A few years ago, we went on a mini family vacation to Las Vegas in between college semesters. And we wanted to get the kids a cute souvenir. We found these adorable shirts that coordinated but weren’t the same. One said “double trouble” and the other said “here comes trouble.” So we bought them.
Yesterday, we went to a baby blessing for church. Afterward, we went to our friends’ house for lunch, and the twins proceeded to cover themselves head-to-toe in pink sidewalk chalk. Normally I’d toss them in the bath and call it good, but it just so happened we’d been invited to dinner at a neighbor’s house. So after we got home from the baby blessing, we changed their clothes.
Thing 2 made his way from the laundry room to the bedroom first. I asked him which shirt he’d like to wear and he chose the yellow “double trouble” shirt because of the truck. A few seconds later, Thing 1 arrived and ripped the yellow truck shirt out of his brother’s hand. He wanted to wear that shirt as well. A ten minute crying meltdown ensued, interspersed with screaming and hitting. All because two years ago, we bought them shirts that weren’t exactly the same.
The day may come when they assert their independence and want to dress differently. And I’m totally fine with that. But until then, I’m going to keep buy two of the exact same thing. It’s just easier that way.