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Twin Tuesday: D&D

By Dawn Sailors In Featured Twins, Twin Tuesday

It seems like I shouldn’t be asking other people questions without answering a few first. Also since my own sister inspired TT, it’s only fitting that she be a featured lady. So here we go with Twin Tuesday, and this week my sister, Dania, and I are answering a few questions that we get a lot.

1. Are you identical or fraternal? Do you think you look alike?

Dania: People tell us we look alike, but I generally don’t think we do. There have been a few times when we pass each and have thought it was a mirror, or pass a mirror and thought it was each other. So I can see the resemblance I suppose, but I also see the differences. We never really have known for sure if we are identical or fraternal. It was not clear when we were born, and our parents chose not to have blood tests done to find out. It would be interesting to know..

Dawn: We never really found out if we were biologically identical, but have always looked alike so we usually go with that one if people ask. Our doctors couldn’t tell when we were born and our parents didn’t see a need to put us though tests just out of curiosity. We know we look alike, but we don’t think we look as much alike as other people seem to.

 

2. What is the biggest difference between you? What are the most similar things?

Dania:  think our general sense of style and decorating is our biggest difference. Dawn is very ‘artsy’ while I feel I am more traditional. She takes fashion and decoration risks that I always think look great, but I prefer my simpler styles. In general most other things about us are quite similar. We have the same feelings and thoughts on most topics, we have the same tendencies and lifestyles, and we have the same values. We often find ourselves thinking the same things at the same time, or both picking up the phone to call each other at the same moment.

Dawn: The biggest difference is probably our style, although we both appreciate each others. That and maybe a few interests. Oh and Dania is more bossy outspoken ;) I think. Pretty much everything else is very similar. We like the same foods and have the same friends. We think the same things are funny or gross or interesting. We agree on most things.

 

3. If you could choose, would you want to have twins?

Dania: If I were to have children, I would love to have twins. I had so much fun being a twin. My husband, however, disagrees.

Dawn: I used to answer yes very quickly, but since having a baby, I’m ok with just the one. Haha. I used to think that she would be lonely, but now I like to think that maybe her and I will be closer instead since she doesn’t have that built-in BFF like I had. If I had twins I would still be excited, but I know now how difficult that would be as a parent. God bless you parents of multiples! You’re amazing!!

 

4. What’s the worst part of being a twin?

Dania: I generally enjoy most parts of being a twin. I never minded people calling me the wrong name, or strangers talking to me, thinking I was Dawn.  The worst part of being a twin, I feel, can also be the best part. There always seems to be an unspoken competition, I think, between twins. Grades, scholarships, appearance, etc. If one twin gets and A, and one a B, you feel inferior. If one gains 10 pounds, you have an identical reminder of what you could look like if you were 10 pounds thinner. However, I have always thought that Dawn and I have a healthy competition. More like we push each other to do our best, rather than compete. In that sense, the competition has been a good thing for us, if slightly frustrating at times. It pushed us to both obtain free college educations, stay physically active, and advance in our respective career choices.

Dawn: I don’t know that there is really anything I hate, but I guess it does get pretty awkward sometimes when people come up and start talking to me at the gym or somewhere and I have no idea who they are. Haha. That happens a lot actually. Maybe that and the unspoken sense of competition. It’s hard not to have that when everyone around you is comparing you to each other. I think you can either let it make you crazy or you can use it to be better. We push each other.

 

5. What’s the best part about being a twin?

Dania: I have definitely always enjoyed having Dawn try on my clothing so I can have a walking model of what I will look like in a purchase.  Honestly though, the best part to me is having someone who thinks nearly exactly like me. We talk through everything, we talk nearly every day. She knows nearly every experience I have had, and I her. “Hey what was that one person’s name? You know, that one person?”  We encourage each other, and are brutally honest. Dawn is the only person who will tell me if I am being rude or if my new hair cut looks stupid. “What did you do to your hair?! I hate that color on us.” I am the only person who will tell her that her art work sucks when it does. “Yea, you’re going to need to redo that, it looks ridiculous.”  When people first meet us, sometimes they think that we are mean to each other, or arguing, but we rarely are. It’s just how we speak to each other. Dawn is the only person which whom I don’t feel the need to exchange pleasantries, make small talk, or dance around her feelings. In other words, as my husband would say, we share a brain.

Dawn: The best part by far is always having someone who you can completely relate to. Everything I go through, she is there and usually going through similar things. It’s like always having your best friend around, but that friend is brutally honest, knows you better than anyone, understands all your family quirks and was raised exactly the same as you. It can’t compare.

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Our mother is a middle school science teacher. Every year growing up we used to go into her classroom with Virginia and Pearleen during her section on human biology and answer questions for her students about what it’s like to be a twin. Inevitably every year we were asked “Do you like being twins?” followed by “Do you ever get confused and forget which one you are?”

I realize that I didn’t include these burning questions and a lot of others on my short list, so if there is something you want to ask, or want me to ask other twins, let me know! If you would like to be featured (as a twin or parent of twins/multiples) in the next Twin Tuesday, email me!

Happy Tuesday!

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