A bit of a vent :-)

Ok, I knew I was in for it when I had Triplets, but I never realized the
extent of how other people think that common courtesy doesn't apply when it
comes to interacting with people with multiple children. Here's what I mean
.. . .

Last Sunday, my mom, my DH, myself, and my children went to Babies R Us to
try to spend some of the gift certificates we received at our recent baby
shower. We practically could not move through the store because every time
we did, we had people stopping us with comments about our babies. That was
annoying after a while, but it was still ok. I know that triplets cause a
stir. But the questions they asked were totally uncalled for, and frankly,
none of their business. I had comments from "Did you use fertility?" to
"Are you breastfeeding?" I felt like asking them "If I had just one baby
here, would you be asking me these questions?"

My mom asked me if I expected all the attention caused by having triplets.
I told her that I had expected people to whisper about it to the people they
are with, but I had no idea that we would be stopped every 5 minutes by some
complete stranger wanting to look at them and ask questions. I took it in
stride, but my DH was getting quite angry because it took 3x as long to go
shopping as it normally would have if we had been left alone. (of course he
is operating on a lack of sleep also, causing him to not be as understanding
as he normally would have been. Ha Ha)

Gayle

My sympathies here too! My Dad once suggested having a T-shirt made with
all the answers to the stupid and sometimes rude questions people ask: Yes
they're twins, (or triplets), Yes they're a handful, No you couldn't do
that, Yes we're tired, They're being fed so don't worry about how, They're
here so don't worry about how, Yes they're double trouble, Yes they're
double blessings, etc . . . I can laugh about it now but I remember how
frustrating Walmart trips were . . .

Nik

"The Huwe Family" wrote in message
.com...
Ok, I knew I was in for it when I had Triplets, but I never realized the
extent of how other people think that common courtesy doesn't apply when
it
comes to interacting with people with multiple children. Here's what I
mean
. . .

Last Sunday, my mom, my DH, myself, and my children went to Babies R Us to
try to spend some of the gift certificates we received at our recent baby
shower. We practically could not move through the store because every
time
we did, we had people stopping us with comments about our babies. That
was
annoying after a while, but it was still ok. I know that triplets cause a
stir. But the questions they asked were totally uncalled for, and
frankly,
none of their business. I had comments from "Did you use fertility?" to
"Are you breastfeeding?" I felt like asking them "If I had just one baby
here, would you be asking me these questions?"

My mom asked me if I expected all the attention caused by having triplets.
I told her that I had expected people to whisper about it to the people
they
are with, but I had no idea that we would be stopped every 5 minutes by
some
complete stranger wanting to look at them and ask questions. I took it in
stride, but my DH was getting quite angry because it took 3x as long to go
shopping as it normally would have if we had been left alone. (of course
he
is operating on a lack of sleep also, causing him to not be as
understanding
as he normally would have been. Ha Ha)

Gayle

Gayle ) wrote:

But the questions they asked were totally uncalled for, and frankly,
none of their business. I had comments from "Did you use fertility?" to
"Are you breastfeeding?"

Yup. People do that. It gets funny after a while. So far my favorite comments
have been the ones from (a) the intense lady in the health food store who
asked, "Do they have a psychic bond?" and (b) the teenager who said, "They
twins? You ****tin' me! They don't look **** alike."

--Helen

I haven't heard those ones yet. BTW Did you tell the teenager that you've
never seen two ****s alike anyway? And that you are blessed that they don't
look like ****.

Gayle
"H Schinske" wrote in message
...
Gayle ) wrote:

But the questions they asked were totally uncalled for, and frankly,
none of their business. I had comments from "Did you use fertility?" to
"Are you breastfeeding?"

Yup. People do that. It gets funny after a while. So far my favorite
comments
have been the ones from (a) the intense lady in the health food store who
asked, "Do they have a psychic bond?" and (b) the teenager who said, "They
twins? You ****tin' me! They don't look **** alike."

--Helen

We started to put them in separate strollers and it has cut down the gawkers
by 75%.

some people don't even believe they are twins.
Keep the sense of humor though, you WILL need it!

Jack
"The Huwe Family" wrote in message
.com...
I haven't heard those ones yet. BTW Did you tell the teenager that
you've
never seen two ****s alike anyway? And that you are blessed that they
don't
look like ****.

Gayle
"H Schinske" wrote in message
...
Gayle ) wrote:

But the questions they asked were totally uncalled for, and frankly,
none of their business. I had comments from "Did you use fertility?"
to
"Are you breastfeeding?"

Yup. People do that. It gets funny after a while. So far my favorite
comments
have been the ones from (a) the intense lady in the health food store
who
asked, "Do they have a psychic bond?" and (b) the teenager who said,
"They
twins? You ****tin' me! They don't look **** alike."

--Helen

wrote:

It's probably just my perception, but I've been interpeting "do
twins run in your family" as a slightly nicer way of asking "did
you take fertility drugs?" or actually "did you do IVF" because
the general public seems to be unaware of any fertility
treatments OTHER than IVF.

I think probably some people are asking it for that reason, and some aren't,
and it is probably impossible to tell who's who. With older folks, say more
than 30 years older than I am, I tend to assume they really do want to know if
twins run in our family, since it's the kind of thing I've heard lots of
conversations about over the years. (Another question like this that I've
always taken as having two possible meanings is "Did you know you were having
twins?" Well, I don't think there are very many delivery table surprises any
longer! I've always answered that as "I found out at the ultrasound, it was
quite a surprise.")

The classic answer to the runs-in-the-family question, by the way, is "They do
now!" :-)

Another way to handle it is to say "I think there are a few sets back there
somewhere," which is probably true of any family tree, after all.

--Helen

Who was it on the group who's DH replied to some lady drug infertility
therapy, "that after his wife took the cocaine and heroine she became
pregnant with the twins"! Of course the lady shut up and didn't know what
to say.

Shirley

"H Schinske" wrote in message
...
wrote:

It's probably just my perception, but I've been interpeting "do
twins run in your family" as a slightly nicer way of asking "did
you take fertility drugs?" or actually "did you do IVF" because
the general public seems to be unaware of any fertility
treatments OTHER than IVF.

I think probably some people are asking it for that reason, and some
aren't,
and it is probably impossible to tell who's who. With older folks, say
more
than 30 years older than I am, I tend to assume they really do want to
know if
twins run in our family, since it's the kind of thing I've heard lots of
conversations about over the years. (Another question like this that I've
always taken as having two possible meanings is "Did you know you were
having
twins?" Well, I don't think there are very many delivery table surprises
any
longer! I've always answered that as "I found out at the ultrasound, it
was
quite a surprise.")

The classic answer to the runs-in-the-family question, by the way, is
"They do
now!" :-)

Another way to handle it is to say "I think there are a few sets back
there
somewhere," which is probably true of any family tree, after all.

--Helen

H Schinske wrote:

The classic answer to the runs-in-the-family question, by the way, is "They do
now!" :-)

I just say "No." LOL! :-D

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

Who was it on the group who's DH replied to some lady drug infertility
therapy, "that after his wife took the cocaine and heroine she became
pregnant with the twins"! Of course the lady shut up and didn't know what
to say.

Shirley

"H Schinske" wrote in message
...
wrote:

It's probably just my perception, but I've been interpeting "do
twins run in your family" as a slightly nicer way of asking "did
you take fertility drugs?" or actually "did you do IVF" because
the general public seems to be unaware of any fertility
treatments OTHER than IVF.

I think probably some people are asking it for that reason, and some
aren't,
and it is probably impossible to tell who's who. With older folks, say
more
than 30 years older than I am, I tend to assume they really do want to
know if
twins run in our family, since it's the kind of thing I've heard lots of
conversations about over the years. (Another question like this that I've
always taken as having two possible meanings is "Did you know you were
having
twins?" Well, I don't think there are very many delivery table surprises
any
longer! I've always answered that as "I found out at the ultrasound, it
was
quite a surprise.")

The classic answer to the runs-in-the-family question, by the way, is
"They do
now!" :-)

Another way to handle it is to say "I think there are a few sets back
there
somewhere," which is probably true of any family tree, after all.

--Helen

H Schinske wrote:

The classic answer to the runs-in-the-family question, by the way, is "They do
now!" :-)

I just say "No." LOL! :-D

--
Brigitte aa #2145
edd #3 February 15, 2004
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau