One of the biggest problems I've come across with the girls is the fact that they look so much alike. It was a problem from day one. Little babies look similar, but to have two that were identical? Quite an issue for just about anyone who looked at them.
Over the years we came up with numerous ways to help people tell them apart. When they were babies, they wore bracelets, or one had her toenails painted and the other didn't. When they got to be toddlers, the bracelets still worked, but we'd dress them differently. In kindergarden, they were in separate classes, which was one of the best ways to not only keep teachers from mixing them up, but to help them develop their own identities.
Now that they're in middle school, the girls have developed very distinct personalities. They dress differently, act differently, and very rarely are they together. Most of their teachers don't even know that they are twins (they only have one class together) and all of their friends can tell them apart quite easily.
But that's not to say that this isn't still an issue. Many of the adults in our lives still have trouble telling them apart. The truth is, they look just alike and talk just alike and for people who only see them once a week or so, its still confusing. They take it in stride, and correct folks when they need to. I know its still frustrating for them, especially when I, their mother, blurt out the wrong name.
This new age has me looking for new ways to help them to be individuals. Middle school is so different - even for me - and I'm hoping that this change will spur other changes in their personalities, confidence levels and they way the interact with friends and each other. I tell people all the time - twins are a challenge that doesn't get easier, it just gets different!
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