Who Owns Me?

I once asked someone what it’s like to grow up with a twin. He paused for a second, then answered point-blank, “Constant competition.”

And boy! Is he right! You almost always find the twins bickering over something, usually involving ownership or the right to use something first. The fight can be over the smallest thing — it can be food, a toy, or a book. As a matter of fact, they even argue about who owns me!

Twin1: “Mama ‘bang.” (Mama Abang – Big Brother’s Mama)
Twin2: “Mama ‘dik.” (Mama Adik – Little Brother’s Mama)
Twin1: “Mama ‘bang!”
Twin2: “Mama ‘dik!”
Twin1: “Mama ‘baang!”
Twin2: “Mama ‘diiiiiiiiiiik”!
Twin1: “Mama ‘BAAANNGG”!
Twin2: “Mama ‘DIIIIIIKKKKKKKK”!
Twin1 cries at this point, so Mama has to intervene!

And the strange thing is, whenever I buy two of the exact same thing, like a toy car of the same type, colour and design, they get bored very easily. But when I buy Twin1 a toy helicopter and Twin2 a toy dump truck, that’s when things get a little…erm… ‘exciting’.

But the competition works to my advantage sometimes, especially when it comes to giving them medication. When Twin2′s ear swelled to gargantuan proportions due to an insect bite the other day, I showed Twin1 the antihistamine syrup and said:

Mama: “Ini untuk Adik je.” (This is only for Little Brother.)
Twin2: “Abang tak payah.” (Big Brother doesn’t need to.)
Twin1 (pretending not to care): “Abang tengok je…” (Big Brother just wants to look…)

And Twin2 quickly downed his medicine while Twin1 could only look on longingly. No hassle, no struggle! ;)