In the midst of all the “Are they twins?” and “Who was born first?” questions, I do sometimes get some funny and encouraging comments, usually from fellow parents of twins. Recently I was carrying a boy in each arm on the path to the beach and a man nodded to his two school-aged sons, smiled, and said, “Been there. Done that!”

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In the airport on the trip home from Texas, the boys were peering down through the glass onto the tarmac. A flight crewman smiled up at them, waved “hi,” and mouthed to me: “I’m a twin, too!”

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I passed a fellow mother of twins (her girls were three) who asked, “How are you holding up?” -- which was much more empathetic and encouraging than the usual “double trouble!” She told me it gets so much easier around 2 ½: “They won’t need you as much and they always have a built-in playmate!”

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The boys and I were waiting in line at the post office when a little boy of around four years of age came in with his Mom. She must’ve recognized a teachable moment because she started explaining the concept of twins to him…. “Two brothers - born at the same time - who look just alike…” (I was paying for stamps at this point and didn’t bother to point out THEY LOOK NOTHING ALIKE.)

The little boy pondered this concept for a moment, then asked: “But how?”

I strained to hear her answer.  Disappointingly, she said, “I don’t know.”

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Just the other day.... a woman:   My daughter has twins, too! Except it’s a boy and a girl.

Me:   Oh, really? How old are they?

Woman:   They’re much older. They’re a year and a half.