We all know that being a mum of twins is no easy task - so when we saw THIS picture of blogger Annie Nolan's twin girls, Delphi and Cheska, we couldn't help but laugh (in sympathy!)
'I REALLY wanted to leave these signs on the pram today. As a twin mum, you get asked a series of questions/hear a series of statements EVERYTIME you go out.
'I know most people are coming from a great place and are just curious however many can be quite intrusive and after a while it's just plain exhausting. And since I was heading into the city, I knew the questions would be coming thick and fast... but I chickened out on the train and took them off!
P.S- it is a joke people', Annie wrote under the snap in her Facebook post, which has now been shared more than 21,000 times.
Image: Facebook/Uncanny Annie
If you've got twins yourself, you'll probably find Annie's words all too familiar - the questions, the looks, and the preconceptions about twins are something we've all experienced, but have rarely been brave enough to answer.
Here are a few other things your friends all assume when you have twins, and the reality that only a parent to double trouble will understand...
'They must be good sharers'
http://giphy.com/gifs/8UprgD2D1udTW
Well, they might be with your friend's children but when it comes to twins, any mum of them knows hell hath no fury like a child seeing its twin with something it wants. Cue grabbing, scratching, pulling and crying. Note: This problem is not simply resolved by buying two of everything, they'll still want the other's toy/dummy/hair tie, no matter what.
'Birthdays for twins must be twice the fun'
http://giphy.com/gifs/N0AJYvdLySTwk
Not so, friends. They're two people, with two equally big egos. You try balancing making two children feel like it's their special day, simultaneously. Not. Possible.
'They must be best friends'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkp3VNm0rqI
Well they are, but this also makes them each other's partners in crime too. One child learning to get out of its cot is bad enough, try having another child encouraging from the sidelines and eventually following suit. This protocol goes for every stage of their development, like trying to keep on top of two babies who have just learned how to walk and empty the contents of all your kitchen drawers at the same time.
'It must be so much fun dressing your twins up in the same clothes, like Rosie and Jim or The Homefarm Twins'
http://giphy.com/gifs/8EUujhylBGy8E
It is, until one is sick all over themselves, manages to wet themselves or tips spaghetti bolognese all down the front of their clean white baby grow. This is why you actually rarely see twins dressed the same. They probably started the day in the same cute outfit but no sane mother is going to change two babies, when only one is dirty.
'They must play nicely together, leaving you with tonnes of time on your hands'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtqDYTpTDEo
They play together alright, just if it could be described as nicely is another matter... Twins have a habit of pushing each other to do naughtier and naughtier things and this usally ends up in something being broken, just be thankful it's not a bone (this time.)
'Your twins must play adorable pranks on people'
http://giphy.com/gifs/I3ktMcizOYCgE
They can and they will, if they're identical, dress up as each other to trick family and friends. This is fine, until you start mixing them up yourselves and find yourself battling a real parenting complex about whether you know your own children well enough.
'Your twins must be your biggest fans'
http://giphy.com/gifs/iw47njSc6vG5W
As much as this is sometimes true, a pair of little people are also a real force to be reckoned with. You know how annoying it is having one child mimic you or copy each other? Try doubling that and remaining calm at the same time.
'Having two babies at once gets a lot of the hard work over and done with quicker'
http://giphy.com/gifs/9VuKjgs7TCPjW
Wrong. Having twins means you may as well burn money and time. It'll take you half a day to get them washed and dressed, and the other half to get them fed. Why, oh why, were we not born with two sets of hands instead of just one? And money? Pffft, what money? You may as well kiss your savings goodbye, two babies cost a lotta dolla.
'You're a super mum for keeping two children alive simultaneously'
http://giphy.com/gifs/5xkSDT7lRwgbC
They couldn't be further from the truth. They've not seen the messy bedrooms, the unbrushed hair or the food all over the kitchen walls. Having twins is HARD.
But then again, your friends probably think 'Your twins are the best thing that happened to you'
http://giphy.com/gifs/DAY8s6GKRKoVO
And they're right.
And that you must think they're the funniest pair of twins that ever walked this planet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ7qFXneLpk
This is also correct. Even though being a mum of twins is, errr, challenging, you wouldn't swap them for the world. Twice the work, twice the money, twice the time, but more than twice the fun!
Where to next?
