"Of One Mind"

When you talk about being "of the same mind" or being "of one mind", what you mean is that you are in agreement with someone else... unless you know my oldest son and my daughter, cause then you're talking about them.

We have said from day one that my daughter has the nastiest bits of each of her older brothers in her (plus a few of her own). That's not to say that she is evil personified; she obviously has many good qualities, it's just that when it comes to the negatives, she happens to possess a healthy combination of each of my older boys. Needless to say, this makes her a bit more of a challenge in some ways (depending on what kind of spin, if any, she decides to put on the learned behaviour), and in others, a little easier to manage (having gone done that path previously).

Of the three older kids, Faith (the youngest of the 3) and Nathanial (the oldest) are becoming more and more alike as they get older. It's a little frightening just how much alike they are, actually. Physically, they are both going to be tall and slim, and they both have the same little faces, and the same big hair. I have often told them that if we grew Nathanial's hair out or cut Faith's off, they would look like identical twins. Their skintone, mannerisms, facial expressions, and yes, even their attitudes are so similar, again, it's frightening.

The joke around here at times is that they are even functioning off the same brain; not the nicest thing to say, I guess, but our reasons for saying this should soon become clear. Here's a good one, for starters; if I ask Nathanial to do something, both he and Faith respond. For example, today at lunch I told Nathanial to clear his plate from the table and go play, and as though physically attached at the hip, both he and Faith got up--at the same time, nonetheless--cleared their plates and left the room. The other day, I told Faith to go out and get in the car, and once again, they both exited together. I told Faith to change her coat, and Nathanial started to take his off to change it as well, which is interesting, really, as he does not have another coat to wear.

So I'm not really sure what to think of this phenomenon, other than it is a little creepy and somewhat annoying. Here's the kicker: for as much as these two kids are as close to identical in appearance, attitude and behaviour as two kids could be, they can't stand each other. At first I thought it was a combination age and gender thing, but I think there is some truth to the adage that often the things we dislike so much in others are the very things found in our own person.