Are There More Twins in Florida?
While on vacation, Josh and I were out in public a lot more than we typically are at home. Part of our goals on this vacation was to try and take more risks and also be outside as MUCH as possible to take advantage of actually being somewhere with nice weather after the winder we had endured.
While out and about, we were constantly being approached by people. We have become accustomed to this (see blog about us being freak shows from several months ago), but there was something a bit different in Florida. At home, people always stare, sometimes whisper, and occasionally come up to us asking if the boys are twins. In Florida, though, people were coming up to us wanting to talk all about the twins in their own life. One example was an elderly couple who came up to us at a restaurant while we were eating dinner to tell us that their own twin boys were turning SIXTY-ONE this year.
In addition to being approached by more twin families, we saw twins all over the place. Whether it was walking in the historic part of downtown St. Augustine, taking an evening stroll by the ocean, shopping for groceries, or getting ice cream, it seemed as though twins were everywhere. I can't tell you how many twin strollers we saw!
Even weirder than this, there were more twins around us than we are used to. At the complex where we rented our condo, there were 20 month girl/boy twins that we saw pretty much everywhere we went: on walks, at the pool, at the 5K race I ran in. Although their twins had went down to only taking one nap, our schedules were awfully similar. The time we saw them every time was our evening walk around the complex. We'd put the boys in their PJs and just go stroll slowly around the pond to chill them out before bed. Their family was always out doing the same. We instantly connected with the parents (of course) and stopped to chat every time we saw them and had great conversations. There was another family at the complex that had twin teenage boys. I loved that mother instantly when she stopped to offer to take a family picture of us. Finally, at the airport, there were five-year-old boy twins traveling with their parents on the flight we were on. Those parents came right up to us talking about how brave we were to take our boys somewhere so young. They shared they went absolutely nowhere until their twins were three. After experiencing travel, I think that was probably a smart decision ;)
I don't have a singleton so I'm not sure if mothers with one baby get stopped a lot or if they feel the kind of connection I feel with every parent of twins I have ever met. Even if we don't speak to each other, there is a look and nod between us that is so heavy with meaning. That nod and look say I get you, I truly get you...we have done something special, rare, difficult, and so amazing.
When talking with the twin parents, they understand Josh and I in a way that others never will. They get how important it is to keep twins on the same feeding/napping schedule, they understand the strange looks and weird question we are always asked, they can joke around about how their friends 'don't get it' sometimes, and genuinely laugh about how much the dads of twins have to do, especially at first-be up with every feeding, be a part of every diaper change- that other dads don't (although, to Josh's credit, I'm fairly certain he would be a very hands on dad no matter how many kids we had at one time). I wish I had more time with these twin families because I always wonder if they too if their twins were fertility twins like ours. I wonder if they too had miscarriages or had to be on all kinds of medicines or had to endure lots of bad news before having their twins. This would deepen our connection.
It really does feel like you're in some kind of a club and it's one that I am beyond grateful to be a part of. It was fun to be surrounded by all these twin families, but seriously, are their more twins in Florida or what?
While out and about, we were constantly being approached by people. We have become accustomed to this (see blog about us being freak shows from several months ago), but there was something a bit different in Florida. At home, people always stare, sometimes whisper, and occasionally come up to us asking if the boys are twins. In Florida, though, people were coming up to us wanting to talk all about the twins in their own life. One example was an elderly couple who came up to us at a restaurant while we were eating dinner to tell us that their own twin boys were turning SIXTY-ONE this year.
In addition to being approached by more twin families, we saw twins all over the place. Whether it was walking in the historic part of downtown St. Augustine, taking an evening stroll by the ocean, shopping for groceries, or getting ice cream, it seemed as though twins were everywhere. I can't tell you how many twin strollers we saw!
Even weirder than this, there were more twins around us than we are used to. At the complex where we rented our condo, there were 20 month girl/boy twins that we saw pretty much everywhere we went: on walks, at the pool, at the 5K race I ran in. Although their twins had went down to only taking one nap, our schedules were awfully similar. The time we saw them every time was our evening walk around the complex. We'd put the boys in their PJs and just go stroll slowly around the pond to chill them out before bed. Their family was always out doing the same. We instantly connected with the parents (of course) and stopped to chat every time we saw them and had great conversations. There was another family at the complex that had twin teenage boys. I loved that mother instantly when she stopped to offer to take a family picture of us. Finally, at the airport, there were five-year-old boy twins traveling with their parents on the flight we were on. Those parents came right up to us talking about how brave we were to take our boys somewhere so young. They shared they went absolutely nowhere until their twins were three. After experiencing travel, I think that was probably a smart decision ;)
I don't have a singleton so I'm not sure if mothers with one baby get stopped a lot or if they feel the kind of connection I feel with every parent of twins I have ever met. Even if we don't speak to each other, there is a look and nod between us that is so heavy with meaning. That nod and look say I get you, I truly get you...we have done something special, rare, difficult, and so amazing.
When talking with the twin parents, they understand Josh and I in a way that others never will. They get how important it is to keep twins on the same feeding/napping schedule, they understand the strange looks and weird question we are always asked, they can joke around about how their friends 'don't get it' sometimes, and genuinely laugh about how much the dads of twins have to do, especially at first-be up with every feeding, be a part of every diaper change- that other dads don't (although, to Josh's credit, I'm fairly certain he would be a very hands on dad no matter how many kids we had at one time). I wish I had more time with these twin families because I always wonder if they too if their twins were fertility twins like ours. I wonder if they too had miscarriages or had to be on all kinds of medicines or had to endure lots of bad news before having their twins. This would deepen our connection.
It really does feel like you're in some kind of a club and it's one that I am beyond grateful to be a part of. It was fun to be surrounded by all these twin families, but seriously, are their more twins in Florida or what?
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