To hit the next person who tells me I have double trouble

[Handsfull13]

I have twins - I prefer to say two babies. They are lovely and I'm so proud of myself for coping with them.
But why oh why does everything have to be a negative.
I'm sick of hearing 'you've got your hands full' and 'oh look double trouble'
You would never go up to someone with one child and tell them they have trouble. The same as you wouldn't say 'double trouble' to someone with two child of different ages so why is it perfectly acceptable to tell me I have 'double trouble'.
How can I respond to these comments without killing someone?

Oh and it's not two for the price of one - I certainly don't get anything free like a Bogof def 2 for the price of 2 😂😂😂

People always make comments about babies. I quite like it as I'm not usually the type who speaks to strangers comfortably. My baby was always very chubby so I constantly got comments about his weight, chubby legs, etc. He is still big and has a very boyish cheeky face so always getting comments about him looking trouble, having my hands full and so on.

Single new babies get less attention from random strangers, and yes it did get a little annoying when the cliches came out. I can remember considering getting one of those LED display signs with a choice of replies to stick on top of the double buggy!

The only one that did really get on my nerves was the 'Oh they're not identical are they?!' comment. One with brown hair and brown eyes, the other blonde and green eyed. Stating the utterly obvious.

Sometimes twin conversations could be fascinating though. A lady who had had twins during the second world war and been unable to feed them properly due to problems breastfeeding told me how she managed with cow's milk with brown sugar stirred in and her family kindly gave her their sugar ration. The boys had grown up healthy and fit and were now grandfathers themselves.

OMG @egg. My twins are 10, mostly despise each other and are a fucking nightmare generally. Solidarity. People simply don't believe it when I tell the truth about them. Except a work colleague with twins the same age. She knows.

Think yourself lucky op, my friend is a naturally concieved triplet and people would come up to her mum when they were babies and say 'ooh dear, was it ivf?'

I try not to take offence and I am well aware the twins are a thing of wonder. But I only here negative things said to me and not in a friendly jokey tone, it's usually quite serious. Trouble is a negative word. I get stopped constantly never once do I get a 'aww aren't they adorable' 'such gorgeous boys' etc that I say and hear said to single babies.
I get 'are they identical' followed by 'are you sure they aren't identical' which isn't said in a jokey tone it's accusing like it don't know my own children.
Also 'they must keep you up all night' and 'I wouldn't want twins'

I have no problem with people asking me how I do it or if I'm getting sleep. But people don't understand there are nicer things to say then double trouble and when you hear it 5-10 times a day it grates on you

As a PP has observed, nowhere but on MN have I seen people getting so upset about normal harmless small talk.

People are trying to be nice. But - i'm not saying this to be mean - they're not actually very interested in you and your babies. If they were they wouldn't be making small talk with you. But they find themselves having to make small talk with a woman with two babies. Few people like small talk. They're thinking of something to say. The phrase 'double trouble' rhymes and is quite cute. It pops into their heads. They say it. It doesn't occur to them that the woman with two babies might take offence on her babies' behalf.

I get asked the age difference between my children... Always looks surprised when I saw one minute😋also hate double trouble

I have a 3 year old and a 5 month old, both girls. I get told "double trouble" a lot! When I've got DDog with me too I get the "you've got your hands full" comments.
I think you may be over thinking it.

Alpaca the identical one annoys me more than the are they natural - as when I tell people yes they are I get people then telling me no they can't be. I've started walking away from idiots like that. Unless you hear it day in day out then I don't think others will understand x

Where do you live? Sounds like a miserable place if EVERYONE is so negative.

La Montser - nobody quite gets it unless they have the same! I am currently in the gym on holiday as it's age 16+ so I have escaped. I have spent all day with them until now and will be with them all evening too, drinking many glasses of wine.

Ah OP I think if you've had a bad day or are extra tired and then come on MN you are bound to get wound up by things that really don't matter.

Don't get upset, people don't mean to upset you. Save your upset and stress for those who genuinely mean to offend you x

There is a well known comedian who is a twin who says that his parents told him and his twin brother that twins are 'all the joy of one baby...........ruined'.
I do get what you're saying that it must get quite tedious hearing the same thing over and over again but I don't think it's meant unkindly.
A friend of my SIL has 3 children under 4 and has just found out that she's expecting triplets. That just doesn't bear thinking about.

they're not actually very interested in you and your babies.

Then perhaps they should keep their traps shut and their beaks out.

YANBU OP. Sounds irritating as hell.

Oh God yes I'd forgotten about the

"Are they natural"?
Are they identical? "no they are boy and girl"...but they look a bit identical! Are you sure?
Who's the oldest? who's the naughty one? who's the greedy one, who's the chatterbox, who's the clever one....

Don't know what to say? How about a plain old - "they are lovely" would do!

marvellous I've had the opposite, people arguing with me that since my kids look quite similar they must be identical. FFS they have different coloured hair!

Since I came on MN I have scrupulously avoided any small talk with parents with babies or children - unless they initiate a conversation.

It's the only way.

I have twins - I prefer to say two babies

Honestly that's such a wanky thing to say! You have twins. Let people make small talk, they're being friendly.

I have 4dds born within 5 years and 2 months. It's much the same, a broken record. People always make comments like 'got your hands full'. I can cope with that small talk. What pisses me off, is those expressing sympathy with dh because he is the only male in the family, to down-right rudeness how people wouldn't want that many girls.

I often want to say that my children aren't stupid, they can understand what they are saying. They've all perfected the eye roll too!

I have 3 boys. I sympathise OP

Let it go, it's just an expression. Twins mean twice the expense, twice the worry, twice the hassle - in the mind of the person who doesn't have them. Not worth worrying about, or worth murdering someone over.

I have twins and not much bothered me about people chatting. Except those people who think having a close age gap is just like having twins. No, it's absolutely nothing like having twins. Having a newborn and a one year old is completely different to either having two newborn babies, or two one year olds. Not the same thing. Just don't.

Trouble is not a negative word when used in that context at all. I don't have twins but must have heard and said it so many times over the years during small talk.

I don't mind small talk I have had some great chats with people who ask their age or if they have different personalities it's the one comment as I walk past or even stopping me to tell me this.

I know having two boys will no doubt be trouble at some point I just don't appreciate random strangers telling me that. And they aren't making small talk because they have to, I get stopped while out shopping or walking down the path.