Silly things people say about Multiples

[MuckingFuddle]

I was in a lift the other day when a lady walked in and said "Oh look Twins - oh no they cant be haven't got matching shoes on" I did this then said " They are Twins they are just wearing different shoes"

So apart form the usual handsfull and double trouble - what funny comments have you had ?

primi you can say anything to me I dont mind . well as long as its nice. Personally I dont know how people do it with a newborn and older dc especially if the dc is on a routine need to get to school etc. And to the bf multiple mums with older dc's they are truly amazing (mine are ff firstborns lol again).

As they get older especially once they are past the pram stage you'll find that you get a lot less 'are they twins comments'? So make the most of all the 'you're superwoman' comments!

I never refer to them as 'the twins' so it always sounds strange when people say it to me. My DH has an aunt who does it and it drives me mad. At a recent family party, DHs cousin's DCs, both boys 2 years apart, we're referred to by the names but mine were always the twins. Even when there was only one of them in the room.

No offence taken :)

Classic conversation over the weekend when in the park.
" oh you have 3 babies"
Yes I do.
" how come." !
Because I had triplets.
" they all look like girls though"
That's because they are girls.
" your poor husband must be devasted"
Not at all. Why do you say that.
"because he wanted all boys"

Give me strength. Then give me Wine!!!!!

Yesterday on the way to the park, I kid you not, these two ladies in their 60s peered into the pram and said
"Are they twins?" (No missus, that one there's three months older than the other one. Of course they're bloody twins!)
"Are they identical?" And my OH says "oh no, look, she's got red hair and the other one has brown hair.
"Oh, but that's got nothing to do with whether they're identical or not!" (WTF?) "It's something to do with the way they're born." (Eh?)

And then she pointed to the other lady and they were identical twins! Which, yes, they actually were... I'm assuming she was talking about the difference between mono- and dichorionic or something, but who knows...

I do get all of the above and get stopped frequently and asked a barrage of questions, I often leave the supermarket with achey jaws because of all the inane grinning to complete strangers I have to do!

The most annoying comment is though when they say "better you than me", or "are they all yours, ohpoor you" as I also have 2 older daughters and they can hear and understand, I find it very rude!

I've also had "if it happens to me I'm going to die!"

I did once say "lucky it happened to me then!"

Primi I think that was a lovely thing to say!! As a mum of 5, ds9,dd6, dd16 months , twins 6 months I can say twins are harder in my personal exsperience!!!

And I find it really lovely when someone compliments you on how well you are doing and appreciate how hard it is!!!
Because a lot I things get taken for granted and some
Don't realise how much effort goes into getting out the house, so wen someone sais "wow you are super" it makes me feel fab

Xkatyx - 5 children! Wow, you certainly deserve the praise!

Thank you red, it's hard work but worth it all :)

Wow Katyx you really do have your handsful

Mucking, that is the one thing I'm told all the time, and tis so SO hard to smile and look delighted that they've said that to me!!!

Things I don't mind people saying:

• are they twins (yes I could be minding a friend's baby)
• are the bb/bg/gg (yes it's hard to tell the sex of babies when they're tiny, especially when my DH buys pink dummy clips )
• are they good (annoys the hell outta me but I know what they mean)
• are they identical (because even when twins look ID they sometimes aren't)

Things that I wish I could shoot people for saying:

• you've got your hands full! (yes, I literally do have, are you going to help me or stand there making stupid comments?)
• Poor you! (why exactly? I specifically prayed for twins...)
• are they natural (why, are yours? how many years of sex did it take to conceive YOURS?)
• do twins run in the family (yes, they do as it happens, but i've just told you they are identical... getting tired of explaining the ins and outs of twins to all and sundry!)

Oh and the most annoying thing is people - total strangers, mind - who think they have the right to stop me and peer into the pram. Even before I had kids I would never have done that. Singleton or multiples, it's just rude to lift up a hood without asking! Yes, it's lovely that you're interested in my twin babies, but you do not stick your head under the hood without permission! A woman yesterday peered in as I walked past and looked mightily miffed that I nearly walked the pushchair into her, and then seemed to expect me to stop so she could have a good nosey despite the fact that she'd not even said hello or anything... As she was about the 5th person to take an interest during out 15 min walk to toddler group I'm afraid I just sort of smiled, nodded and sped away!

Oh and this thread is hilarious, particularly that video!! Sums up my life since the twins were born!

From old grannies, I get a lot of how lucky I am to have two boys. Whilst my DD stands silently by me.

That video is brilliant, I mean I knew from DD that people say daft stuff about children and to parents, but having twins has taken that to a whole new level.

And mine, I'm so sorry for what your friends said to you. How rude? I mean, like you, I can understand why people ask lots of (daft) questions, but implying something about how valid your children are based on their conception is just wrong.

But I had a lovely one the other day - we were out walking on the beach with our double buggy and passed another double buggy (the same one actually) and we looked up at the parents at the same moment they looked up at us, a look of understanding shot between us and then we all high fived. It was hilarious. Unspoken solidarity! (We do live in North America, so high fiving can be excused...)

This takes me back, my twin girls are nearly 8 now so less comments
people ask the girls directly 'what's it like being a twin?' how on earth
would they know! Maybe I'll teach them to answer it's ok but the ridiculous questions can get a bit tedious!! Lol

Lots of comments, mostly nice old ladies so I smile and grin, the typical ones, handsfull, they play together, wideload (whilst in the double buggy), are they identical (no b/g and obviously different).

The ones that annoyed me were:-

1. From a friend no less who was having a baby at the same time, "If I'm having a hard time I just think about you" and "See you in 10 years".

1. When I was out with DS1, who was 4 at the time, and the twins people stopping and focusing all the attention on the twins, ooh lovely what are their names? etc etc I would always introduce DS1 as the lovely big brother, luckily most ladies picked up on that and spoke to DS1 too. I know they didn't mean any harm but it would have been upsetting for DS1 if it happened all the time, its difficult enough having a new sibling let alone two at once.

Oh and its a bit off track but on another thread on MN, something about twin mothers expecting preferential treatment. Er no, just a few allowances made now and then.

Double trouble - my reply is always "nope, double the cuddles!"

My ID girls are often called boys despite being in pink lots of the time. I feel like saying yes they're boys but we're hoping they'll be gay! ;)

My boss was horrified as she too was pg at the same time. Her "oh my god what will you do?" lasted about 20minutes before I told her I'd choose my favourite and leave the other at the hospital. She shut up after that!

I was told by a lady "oh they're not ID then?!" err yes they are "well they don't look alike?!" Really? My dh can't tell them apart and I struggle (they were 3mo and very id with no birthmarks or anything!)

The stupid comments usually come from the fact I have 3 girls "didn't you want a boy?!" I always say "oh no I can't be doing with boy bits!" I wouldn't have minded a boy just feel blessed to have 3 healthy babies!

Lemele - do twins run in the family (yes, they do as it happens, but i've just told you they are identical... getting tired of explaining the ins and outs of twins to all and sundry!)

Heehee, I had to explain it to a biology teacher. I was an ID twin (she died when we were young) so having id twins myself is actually quite rare... Oh so dull but I really just can't say no to the question as I can't not acknowledge my sister's existence.

Princess - it's annoying isn't it!! Must be so much more so because of losing your own twin.

This weekend I got asked: "Did you know you were having twins?" Surely in this age of ultrasound scanning, they did not really think the midwife was about to stitch me up and said: "hang on, there's another one coming." I'm guessing it was an IVF question in disguise.

toomuch, I've had that one quite a lot. It's one of those questions where they ask it without thinking, because anyone who knows anything about modern pregnancy care would know about ultrasounds etc! One person who asked me that seemed to actually be asking me how early I found out, which is slightly more plausible a question, especially since I suspected it was twins from about 5 days into the pregnancy... ^^

Still think a lot of these questions are nobody's business though, even if they are just genuinely interested in the twins!

My mum has a twin brother. It is a common occurance for people to ask her (when she has mentioned she has a twin brother) if they are identical, so much so, that now she just says
'NO, he has a penis'
which quickly shuts them up and makes them blush

Haha

My doula did have unexpected twins. 2 years ago. I'm not joking. She's such a hippy she'd refused all scans. All of them. And she wasn't measuring huge and one of the boys was behind the other so none of the midwives noticed anything unusual.

She delivered one boy at home and then the mw was like, um there's a foot poking out!!!! Cue ambulance rush to the hospital where she safely delivered the other boy footling breach. How crazy is that?

Loving this thread!

A work colleague once said about ID twin boys - almost 2 - 'they used to be identical when they were babies' - ya, going to cast them in the next X-men film as their DNA mutated a few months ago so are no longer identical

rednellie, OMG, I thought finding out at eight weeks was a shock.