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A conversation about twins:

Nice woman stranger (or, for future reference, NWS): "Oh, are they twins?"

Me: "Yes, they are."

NWS: "But wait, they aren't identical, are they?"

Me: (While thinking that I would probably rather shoot off my toes one by one than have this conversation yet again) "Um, no. They can't be identical. One is a boy, and one is a girl."

NWS: "Oh, and well, now that I look at them, one has blue eyes and one has brown eyes.

Me: (right, because eye color has always been more definitive than gender) "Yep."

NWS: "So if they aren't identical, then they are...?"

Me: "Fraternal twins."

NWS: "Now wait a minute. I have a friend that has twin daughters... they don't look anything alike. One is short with brown hair, and one is tall with black hair. I know they aren't identical... but since it's two girls, would they be Paternal twins?"

Me: (what?!?) "Um, no. They would still be fraternal twins. I don't think there is any such thing as paternal twins... Fraternal twins can be two boys, two girls, or one of each, like mine."

NWS: "Oh. so why are some identical?"

Me: (this explanation has never gone well) "Identical twins start as one egg, and then the egg splits. Fraternal twins start as two seperate eggs that are fertilized seperately... siblings that happen to be born at the same time."

(I really don't enjoy talking about eggs with total strangers... I'm always surprised at how little is known about the interworkings of reproduction. Maybe babies really do come from the cabbage patch? But how else do you explain this concept?)

NWS: "Eggs?"

Like I said... babies come from the cabbage patch.

*Originally posted in April of 2008. Lucky for me any and all conversations about twins have ceased because Sam and Lucy no longer look like they are the same age. Lucy is a good inch or two taller than Sam and outweighs him by seven or eight pounds. Now, everyone just assumes I had them really close together. Which is fine with me if it turns off the flow of ridiculous questions.