Siblings prove to be different

    Take a boy turning two. Add a girly girl turning two. What do you get? Pure delightful entertainment at its finest. Then hear them call you Grandma as they come running with hugs and it’s indeed priceless.
    Many parents reflect amazement that their children are so very different despite being raised with the same rules in the same environment. Supportive, positive parenting very obviously makes an impact on any child’s life as they learn, build confidence and develop skills and habits.
    No doubt about it, everyone is born with different likes and talents. People can successfully develop a habit by intentionally working at it but it will never be as natural as someone born with the trait.
    There are, however, reasons why siblings show different emotions and trust levels. Over the years, parents change. Maybe they’re at a different stage in life, a different age, different financial comfort by the time younger children arrive.
    Experience, life circumstances and varied stress levels certainly factor into play. Rules may lighten up. Older siblings think the younger ones have it easy. Multiple children and exhaustion sometimes find parents allowing whatever a child wants if it means peace and quiet.
    What about twins? Except in some circumstances, twins have always been together even before they were born. Each experiences whatever stage the parent is in at the same time. They are exposed to the same opportunities at the same time. Yet like all siblings, their different interests and natural instincts form unique personalities from day one.
    Stories I’ve heard include twin girls who are buddies but opposites. The competitive, aggressive, freckled red-headed tomboy likes sports. Her dark-haired sister with finer features prefers shopping to accommodate her frilly, feminine interests.
    In one family, one of the twins has the same temperament as her older brother and the other twin marches to the beat of her own drum.
    Other shared stories reflect how a young boy is meticulous and not only wants his own things organized but attempts to make sure everything around him is in order. His sister on the other hand isn’t concerned with orderliness and thinks time spent adorned with plenty of jewelry, a purse, a hat and sunglasses as she covers her many dolls with blankets takes priority.
    One might warm up to people instantly while the other is clingy and very hesitant to trust anyone before scoping them out.
    An adult twin born on Christmas Day says she wishes everyone could experience being a twin because it’s so special. Their mom got double bundles that Christmas. Do you suppose there’s much individual attention with Christmas and two birthdays on the same day. I bet so.
    In some instances, one jabbers continually while the other speaks only when there’s a point to be made. Obviously that isn’t just with twins but there’s more of a tendency to stereotype twins as being the same.
    There’s something about little twins or triplets that turn heads in a public place. Or the awe of identical twins at any age. How can a person have such a replica?
    Imagine a world if everyone fit the same mold. Wouldn’t that take spice out of life? It indeed takes all kinds to make a world!
    Happy birthday, Tucker and Lyla. Buddies for life!

LORI PANKONIN is co-publisher of Johnson Publications newspapers in Imperial, Wauneta and Grant, and part-owner of the Holyoke Enterprise in Holyoke, Colo. E-mail: lori@jpipapers.com

 

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