Michelle Duggar on Raising Twins
FAMILY MATTERS on 02.07.14
Photo: DCL
Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: Your family has two sets of twins. Are the twins a lot like each other? Do they have similar personalities?
We were so elated when we found out about Jana and John David, our first set of twins. The joy of knowing there were two little blessings in my tummy was just more than we could ever have hoped for – we were so thankful. We had a lot of prep work to do before they were born: making sure we had two car seats, putting two baby beds in the room, and preparing our oldest Joshua to become a big brother to two siblings at once. We knew it was a boy and girl coming, so we got to tell him he was going to be a big brother to a brother and sister.
As they were growing, I realized that they were so different from each other. Jana and John, of course being boy and girl, had a lot of differences in that respect, but their personalities were so different, too. One was so laid back and the other one was so energetic and into everything. John David just watched Jana because she had enough energy for both of them.
Jana took off walking at eight months. John David waited until the average age of twelve months like the rest of my kids. John was a bigger baby when he was born; Jana was smaller, so I think she was more agile and able to get around.
Because Jana was always getting into things, of course, she was always having to be trained and corrected a little more because I’d say, “No no, you don’t climb up on that shelf because you could fall and hurt yourself.” John would watch and probably think, “I’m not going near that!”
Even to this day, I think Jana will take more chances. She doesn’t mind making a mistake on something because she can always go back and fix it really quickly, and still get done in the same amount of time. John David, he is very steady and methodical. He thinks through everything. He doesn’t take a lot of risk, which is a neat thing since he’s a pilot. I think that’s the kind of pilot you want, the kind who’s not going to take risks and who is very steady and methodical about everything they do.
Now, Jedidiah and Jeremiah, my other set of twins, they’re the same as Jana and John David in in that their personalities are almost opposite. One took off fast, and the other one was more steady and slow. Now they’re fifteen and they do things together all the time because they’re both boys. They have the same interests and they’re really close. Jed and Jer are constantly doing things together. They’re almost opposites in personality though.
It’s really interesting to see how their personalities play out later in life. They really were there from the time they were little.
