I've written before about changing attitudes to bringing up multiple birth children. An important aspect, in my humble opinion, and thankfully one that has taken hold, (it's not rocket science) is giving different children different sounding names to help foster their sense of individuality. So my jaw fell to the floor when I clocked the names of these sisters sharing their wisdom in a double whammy US agony aunt slot.
What do you think? Is it harmless fun, a lovely trend that makes twins feel more special? Or does it make your toes curl? There's also a great piece here on the Helping families expecting twins or multiples blog all about how each child can be encouraged to feel more unique.
UPDATE: Some corkers listed by the forumites over at www.twinsclub.co.uk. My favourites are Bill and Ben, Christy and Misty (known as the 'Isties') and triplets called Nathan, Nathaniel and Nathalie.
Friends of my parents named their twins William and Benjamin without even thinking of the Bill and Ben aspect. My favourite was on some fly-on-the-wall TV show: Ebony and Ivory. "But that's more for mixed-race kids" the woman said. Ha.
Distant relatives of ours have four children named Dale, Gail, Karen and Sharon. It's just plain wrong. But funny.
Posted by: Keris | October 21, 2006 at 04:33 PM
I don't understand why Bill and Ben are funny, but we went out of our way to make sure our twins didn't rhyme or even start with the same letter.
Posted by: Your Nemesis | October 22, 2006 at 12:40 AM
Only because around these parts they are best known as cartoon men who talk funny and live in flowerpots.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/characterpages/billandben/
Posted by: Linda | October 23, 2006 at 08:00 PM