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Monday, August 27, 2012

Stand Out. Be Yourself.



"Be your own person!", "Do your own thing!", "You and your sister are two different people!".

I seem to be saying these a lot to the twins lately. Perhaps it is partly my fault. I have always dressed them alike, I buy two of almost everything for them, and they both do the same after-school activities. They are the same age, born on the same day and only a minute apart. Shouldn't they both be treated exactly the same? Up until they were in Third Grade, I even went as far as to request that the school put them both in the same classroom with the same teacher, so that they both have exactly the same learning experience. But now I think and worry about the trouble they'd have in finding their own friends and worse, their own individuality.



Last year, I finally decided to have them placed in different classes and I was pleasantly surprised that the transition was not as hard as I anticipated. In fact, they seem to relish the opportunity to break away from each other's shadow. Instead of "Here comes C & H.", they are happy to just be "C" or, just be "H". Yet when the school year ended and they got to stay home together, it was "I want to do what she's doing!" all over again.



Today's card is a message to my girls. I printed the base as I wanted to get it out of my head quickly. The colored doll was hand-cut for layering because it was faster to cut that out myself than to print-and-cut. Besides, doing the latter would cause paper wastage due to registration marks.


The girls' classroom assignment for the 2012-13 school year came in the mail on Saturday and the arguments came almost as soon as the envelopes were ripped opened.

"Mom! Are you going to be volunteering in my class this year? It's not fair if you volunteer only in her class."

"Mom! Whose curriculum night are you attending.? They are held in different classrooms at the same time."

And while the twins are trying to outtalk each other, their baby sister came up and said to me,

"Mom, how come I don't have a twin? I'm not special."


OMG! Excuse me, while I go bang my head against the wall.....


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Supplies:

Hello Dolly Cut Its (SVGs) from the Simple Shapes Super Plus Bundle
Matryoshka Doll SVG
LD This and That font
SNF Skip and Play (discontinued, from the Kim Hughe-Mongous Bundle)

Designed with Silhouette Studio Designer Edition and printed using my Canon PIXMA MP495 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-in-One Printer on American Crafts white cardstock.

9 comments :

  1. A great post! Love your card, and was touching to read up on your perspective in bringing up twins :) I think they are both growing up beautifully.

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  2. Laughed as I read your post!! I have a friend with identical twin boys. Last year they both got into the same 2 state colleges. Each wanted to go their own way but my friend wanted it to be as economical as possible. So they both started college together at the same school with same major and roomed together. They are so identical that it really is difficult to tell them apart until you hear them talk and "see" their personality. They have totally opposite personalities. They hated living together because they shared the same friends and were treated as "one" rather than 2 separate individuals.

    This year, they made their own decisions. They did not room together or live near each other. They are happier being alone and being treated as an individual.











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  3. Love the card!! My grandmother was a twin. They spent there entire lives close to each other, When they got married, they lived next door to each other & raised their kids together. By the time I came along they had both lost their husbands & were living in a duplex, one in each side. I was as close to my aunt as I was to my grandmother, I loved it when I was a kid, it was like having 2 grandma's & they both spoiled me, lol. My grandmother died first, at the age of 82 & my aunt was devastated, she had no idea how to go on without her sister, it was incredibly hard for her. I've always wondered if they had lived as 2 separate people instead of 2 halves of the same of person, how different their lives would have been. I'm thankful I had them both in my life!!

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  4. Such a fun post...

    Love your card!

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  5. I so enjoyed this mornings post. It made me giggle and as a grandma, thanks for reminding me of the joys and woes and self-doubts of parenting. Loved the card too!

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  6. I am not sure which I loved more.. the card, or the story!! Thanks for putting a smile on my face this morning Jin. :)
    Lori

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  7. cool card and your kids sounds like so much fun.. I recently got married.. and look forward to having kids.. alitle scare but i know it will be all worth it.

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  8. You're a true artist. Both talented and funny!!!!

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  9. Jin, I had twin uncles, but they were not identical either in looks or likes. Their kids also had twins,but I missed all the fun because I didn't live in the same town. Love your parenting stories :)

    Hugs,

    Carmen L

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