Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Twin talk

I speak to them and wait for the reaction.

They look at each other, make a face and wordlessly walk away.

Welcome to twin talk. Where I am just another outsider infringing on their little world. Their little game. Like Charlie Brown's teacher wah-wah-wahing in the background.

Some days I think that if they didn't need to eat they might never need me - they are so solid in their independence. Interdependence. But it's not true - they are connected in this family, just a little more so with each other.

They are constantly measuring height, discussing size, balancing skills and strengths to find their relative place with one another. It is a give and take, and always has been. They switch back and forth being the cleverest, most artistic, the tallest, most coordinated. But the comparisons are kind and factual, without ugliness. Just a sort of figuring it all out. I love to watch them play and chatter away, and to listen in on their Animal Games or Buddy Games - daily games where they know their roles and slip into them effortlessly. (In Buddy Games, they pretend to be twin boys named Zach & Connor. Animal Games involve 2-20 animal toys, that roost from lamps to stairs.)

Then comes the nighttime, where they have been good little monkeys and stayed in their beds for so long. Until the other night, when I went up to bed... and found them on my chaise lounge! But it was a sight so sweet, I could hardly bear to move them...


It made me wonder, what would it be like to have a soulmate for a sister?

2 comments:

  1. Isn't it fun to spy on their pretend world? I just love it! Every morning Elena and Victor do this for hours! They just wake up, eat, get dressed, and get down to business {the business of play}

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  2. What a sweet photo of those squirrely girlies! I would think a soulmate for a sister would be divine! Until we had to share a bathroom! :D

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Put it right here, babe!