Twinning: I’m All About Matchy Matchy Holiday Outfits
Having twins can be the most amazing experience of your life. It can also cause you to wake up in the morning wishing you were someone else. Twinning offers an honest depiction of life with twins from a mom who tries to keep things somewhere in the middle.
Some moms cringe at the thought of dressing their twins in matching outfits, but I’m not one of them. For me, part of the fun of having twins was being able to buy them adorable matching outfits. I might have thought otherwise if I had identical twins, but with my boy and girl, I could buy pink and blue sailor suits without an ounce of worry that they’d have identity issues later in life.
I still look back at the pictures of Allie and Nick splashing in a pool wearing blue and pink Snapper Rock swimsuits and sunhats, and can think of nothing cuter. And I remember when they toddled into their music class in pastel blue and pink overalls and every adult in the room said, ”Aw!” And when a stranger asked if she could take a picture of my twins during our first pumpkin patch outing because they looked so adorable in their fuzzy blue and pink marshmallow hoodie jackets. These were fun moments that made up for all the sweat and tears of the behind-the-scenes twin-raising. They were moments when complete strangers were complimenting me instead of saying, ”Boy you’ve got your hands full!”
I did, however, stop buying the occasional matching outfit once they turned four because let’s face it -”” there’s Cute and then there’s Weird. When I bought my 4-year-olds matching polo shirts in green and pink, my daughter hated hers and refused to wear it. So that was it for matching clothing ”” except when it comes to the holidays. I reserve the right to dress them in whatever I deem cutest for the holidays.
The holiday season is hectic enough when you’re a new parent with twins, so finding matching outfits is not a priority for many twin parents I know. I have a friend who somehow resists creating photo cards of her three adorable kids and just sends out Hallmark holiday cards every year. No photo card, no need for holiday outfits. I have another friend who puts together a New Year’s Eve card with three random shots of her three kids. They save time and money doing this and I’d love to do the same, but I have to say that I like a good holiday card. And with relatives all over America, England and France, sending a picture of the kids out every year is important for my family.
We all cut corners to make up for our splurges, and while I splurge on matching holiday outfits and a shmancy card from Tiny Prints, I cut corners on the photo. Every year I take it myself, sometimes with help from my husband. I refuse to wait for two hours with two babies wearing uncomfortable clothes in a line to get a bad picture with Santa in the mall. No picture, no matter how fantastic, could be worth such a wait, and the truth is that those pictures are almost never fantastic anyway.
Every year after I find the outfits, after I take the picture, after I make the cards and I mail everything out, I swear that next year I’m not doing it. I’m skipping it all and sending out plain store-bought cards. And then my Mom cries when she sees our card, my friends ask for the photographer’s number, and relatives call me to tell me how they loved the card, how they tacked it up in their office because seeing my twins’ smiles makes their day happier. And in 10 months, I start my search for holiday outfits all over again.
(photo: Melissa King/ Shutterstock)
