Relax my darling children and my ever so special mother. Today you get a break. Rather than writing about you I’m honing in on the birthday girls!
Yes my twin nieces A and C are celebrating their 32nd birthdays today!
Happy Birthday Happy Birthday!
Hard to believe it was 32 years ago today that my sister gave birth to those two 4 lb wonders. It honestly seems more like 12.
I owe a huge apology to their parents. With my own children but a mere twinkle (I wasn’t to meet my husband for a good five years still) I really didn’t understand the life of a newborn parent. Thought I did but I most certainly didn’t. It’s the only excuse I can come up with for my subsequent abhorrent behaviour. After showing up at their door for dinner (yes I was expected) and taking one look at the exhausted faces of both mom and dad I paused for a rethink. Then spying the clotted baby puke on BOTH sets of parental shoulders I took a step back and after spying the boiled hotdogs and dry buns on offer for supper I fled for my car. Yes I abandoned them.
I’m so very sorry dear sis and brother-in-law. Had I the ability to press the rewind button I would. Please know that those hotdogs would be swapped out for a nourishingly yummy hot chicken caesar, those loads of laundry would be dealt with and the kitchen and rest of the house would be vacuumed and tidied. Rather than desert you I’d stay and fire tall gin and tonics at you both. I’d shoo you off downstairs and look after the girls on my own. Best yet – you could sleep for as long as you wanted.
Oh please accept my most humble apologies.
Rather than wax on about the zillions of ways these two girls have grown and flourished and enriched the lives of us all in so many ways I’ll just spill the beans and wickedly share enlighten you to one shining moment that I consider a critical turning point in their lives. That of the family kindergarten Christmas party.
But first you need some background. The girls come from a long line of shy folk. Shyness can be traced directly through to their paternal great grandmother and we’ve all been raised to view it as hereditary. Much like being born with blue or green eyes. You can work on it though. Just like one can modify eye colour with contacts you can work on your shyness. Up until the infamous kindergarten party the girls were pretty much viewed by their teacher and fellow students as being rather quiet and shy. To the casual observer they were identical; it didn’t help that my sister often dressed them in similar outfits.
Ok. Back to the party. This family kindergarten Christmas do was open to all members of the family. With both my sister and her husband working that day the two grandmothers had been asked to sub in. My mother arrived for pickup to find Kitty in acute distress.
“They absolutely will not wear the clothes that were put out for them.”
“Well surely that’s not really a big problem. They’ve got lots of lovely clothes Kitty.”
“Oh but you haven’t seen what they’ve managed to unearth Frankie. It’s horrific.”
Mom casually climbed the stairs to the girls’ bedroom. Of course Kitty was overreacting. As regular readers know my mother isn’t afraid of colour. She encourages individuality and is open to new things. However the vision that greeted her in the doorway absolutely stopped her cold.
Rather than donning the matching pretty and festive dresses my sister had so carefully chosen the night before the girls had opted for vastly different choices. C, the fashion queen, had obviously been digging through the “toddler clothes” chest. Her find? My long forgotten red woolen party dress that fit me when I was two. Not to worry C was five. Squeezed tight like a sausage she was positively popping out. In every direction. The dress ended a good six inches above her knees. It was remarkable she could move.
A, on the other hand had been rooting through the “future clothes” chest. Her selection? A sale find number that was easily four sizes too big. Tentlike, its sleeves hid her hands and the voluminous skirt dragged on the floor. She looked truly unloved.
Both girls preened proudly; they were very late and they knew it. There was no time to change. However they did have one weensy little question.
“Do you think everyone’ll be able to tell us apart?”
Oh my yes.Ten minutes later after schlepping through the snowbanks they arrived at the party. A’s dress was wet through to the knees and clinging to every square inch. C’s legs were blue and mottled with cold. Every other child was dressed in well-fitting soft velour dresses or their best party pants. Cameras whirred and flashes popped. How special. There’d be more than enough photographic proof to show startled parents and family members.
From that moment on the girls chose their own clothes and began to make their own friends. 28 years later it still makes a great story. Thanks guys.I hope you’ll forgive me.
I’ll share just one more family tidbit today. My sister bought a birthday banner when the girls were small. It was unique and remains a family treasure. Why? The spelling. Birthday is birTday.
As I can’t be with you A and C I’m wishing you both the happiest of birTdays. Of course, as per your tenth birthday wish that you each get your own cake I offer you two.
Enough about me and my nieces happy birthday happy birthday. I’m curious about you. Have you got twins in your family? Are they similar or different? Or how about some … creative dressers? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.
30 Responses
Oh, how adorable!!! Happy, happy BirTday to your wonderful nieces! I adore when you write about your family because your love just radiates from the page…er…screen! I want to be in your family! (and I would still like to be adopted by your mom and become your sister…I’m not having any more kids so I won’t open the door with spit up on my shoulder ever!)
We don’t have any twins in my family. It’s such a cool and special bond. (even if they have to follow their own fashion paths!) –Lisa
Why thank you Lisa! No spit up? That would be a treat. You haven’t received those adoption papers yet? I’ll get on to Mom and check into it. Probably a silly issue with Canada/US Customs. In the meantime I’ll pass on your birTday wishes to the girls. They’ll be delighted to hear from their new auntie…
I have always found my nieces and nephew best taken in small doses until they were old enough to have actual conversations with. There are more reasons than one why I don’t think I will ever be a parent.
Yes probably best to stick to the uncle department for a bit I would think. Nice to be able to pack them off after those small doses.
Our twin grand boys are this first in our family. I had absolutely no idea how hectic life with newborn twins could be! Think a factor of 10 rather than just double! As everyone told my very frazzled son and daughter-in-law it would, life got much easier (not EASY mind you, just easier!) once the boys were able to do more things on their own. It is such a blast to watch them as they grow up together!
Happy birTday to your nieces! They are lucky gals to have such a fabulous aunt!
Mo! I remember walking with my sister as she pushed the girls when they were little. She’d grit her teeth and smile at every “twice the trouble!”observation from passing strangers. I am so sorry I didn’t help out more even though I did help a fair bit! I’ll pass on your lovely birTday wishes.
Brilliant story! No twins in my family, but quite a few… creative dressers! When we first moved to the States, my sister and I convinced our brother (who would be starting third grade) that it was the done thing in America to wear odd shoes to school. We walked him to school, so managed to get him to change the matching shoes mum had put him in as soon as we were out of sight of our house… we got away with it for weeks before a concerned teacher phoned our parents!
Oh Claire this is such a hoot. Bless him. He’s got stories for days I bet. “Why yes, I do have another pair of shoes at home just like this…”
What a great story! Love how the girls established their independent personalities.
Thanks Kathy. Yes, me too!
Memorable! Much like the outrageous clothing my kids always manage to pull off on picture day…
Well done!
The picture day comment conjures up oh so many memorable memories. Least of which was the time the grade 3 teacher sent home multiple notices that directly after photos class was going to corn maize. She advised change of clothes. Long story short. Many parents ignored the note. I drove home several little girls decked out in muddy velour dresses and ruined tights and shoes. Ruined to the point of tossable.
Love hearing stories about your twin nieces Kelly, they sound wonderful ! How delightful that they each have such a defined sense of style ! Hope they enjoy their birthday(s)!
Happily their defined sense of style changed over the years Jane! I’ll pass on your birthday wishes. Thank you!
HaHa – I was dying about you abandoning your sister and brother-in-law instead of getting spit up on your shoulder and eating the hotdogs. I was the same way – totally clueless!!!
Loved the story of the girls dressing themselves for the party!
I am a twin – I have a brother. And, my dad had a twin sister.
My husband was hoping we would have twins – thankfully that didn’t happen!!!
Wow – you’re a twin and your dad was too? That is so very cool. Apparently my mom had twin cousins but that is the only other set of twins that I know about in our family. Have to say I love the fact that you were clueless pre kids as well. Cringeworthy, no?
Yes my two brothers are twins and they look nothing alike. I was 3 when they were born. Unfortunately my parents split soon after….Dad took the boys and I stayed with Mom. Good news is we rediscovered each other in later years and definitely have made up for lost time!
Whoa – your brothers are twins? This is so cool to learn about all the twin connections out there. How wonderful that you rediscovered each other in later years Debbie. That’s really special. Happy Memorial Day to you!
I used to be the creative dresser, but somewhere along the line, I got lazy I guess. My in-laws (nice Canadians from your neck of the woods, Kelly) were rather, uhm, conservative, but polite. Only slightly uplifted eyebrows when I was introduced by their son, my husband-to-be.
Oh that is so sweet Linda – can picture the slightly uplifted eyebrows! You’re such a gem I bet they were ever so quickly won over and never looked back.
You are forgiven for your youthful behavior I am sure. That’s the sort of thing that gets lost to the ages when it’s replaced by the kind of love and adoration that you have for those two.
You’re right Kate. I suspect I am forgiven. However, I still cringe when I think of it!
Thank you for the lovely birTday wishes and memories! Too funny 🙂 Bee ya boon.
BirTday girl! Why thank you so very much for stopping by. Thank you for the treasure of memories. Still smile when I think of that sack race at Sports Day …
Happy birthday to your nieces! I remember a set of twins in my preschool class; they always wore identical outfits but in different colors. I so wanted a twin sister of my very own – surely she would be more interesting and fun than the baby sister I had at home!
I know! The grass is always greener on someone else’s lawn, no?
Laughing….reminding me of my daughter yet in a different way. She hated tags. Not one piece of clothing had a tag on it. And if there was, there was hell to pay to me for forgetting to cut it off before she put it on. She’d squirm around like a cat on a hot tin roof trying to get that tag off her body. It was an evil thing indeed. And bad, bad, me for sending her to school with a tag still left on. No concentration going on there. Well for the tag, not the school work. LOL
Grinning here Kelli picturing your daughter squirming in her seat trying to get that evil tag away from her skin. I had a problem with cutting off my kids’ tags. Invariably I’d lose the very important cleaning instructions or that would be the one place I could put their name. This was important at swim meets when everyone received the same t-shirt. Where to put the ID once the tag was gone. I can’t sew to save myself so labels weren’t an option.
No twins in the family, but I’m very proud to be able to tell my son’s identical twin friends apart. It only took a couple of years! Happy birthday to your nieces. Love the story!
Oh Jennifer the fact that you can tell your son’s identical twin friends apart is just wonderful. I so relate. It was a red letter day when I achieved the same status with my son’s twin pals. Took me a while too but I managed it and they were just so thrilled when I nailed it more than twice. (The two freckles on the right cheek of one vs the three on the other was my ticket to identification). Good on you for making the effort and mastering it. Will pass on your kind wishes to my nieces!