Growing up the older sister of twin brothers was not always easy—at times it was downright infuriating. I guess I even told my mom after the boys were born and home for about a week, to take them back now.
My parents say I was an easy child. I smiled a lot, slept through the night and I breezed through the twos without an ounce of terribleness. When other parents would complain of sleepless nights or temper tantrums, my parents would listen but couldn’t comprehend. My glory in the spotlight and my mom and dad’s skewed view of parenthood ended after two and half years with the birth of my brothers, Chuck and Eddie.
Whatever my parents previously missed out on, they now experienced two-fold; diapers, bottles, feedings, crying. Then once my brothers were mobile and crawling around, it was hard for Mom and Dad to contain them. They tried using a baby gate, but the boys would have no part of that. Somehow one would hold the gate up, while the other crawled under and then they would switch. As they grew into toddler hood, the terrible two’s became a reality for my parents. When they were three they snuck over to a neighbor’s house and ransacked their kitchen.
My brothers were basically the anti-Kerrie. When I was asking people how I could help, my brothers were figuring out how to destroy everything in their path. From the moment they woke up their energy ran at full throttle. Questions and chatter flowed out of them like a roaring river and drained all the life out of any adults within 50 feet.
Growing up with Chuck and Eddie was at times (well, many times) a challenge. I am happy to say though that we are very close now and I am so thankful they are my brothers. More importantly, they have provided me with an almost endless source of material that I can use in my writing. They inspired the title of my book of essays: Planes, Trains and Chuck & Eddie and the opening essay (which I borrowed a little from for the beginning of this post) is called Chuck and Eddie’s Sister.
They are also featured in my fictional children’s series, The Trouble with Two, which is loosely based on my family growing up. The story is told from 10-year-old Claire’s (me) point of view. The great part about using my brothers as the other main characters is that I already know them so well and I don’t have to embellish too much (they really were wild and crazy). I didn’t even bother to change their names, which they are completely fine with.
There are some events with my brothers that I weave into the books that are actually true. In Claire’s Christmas Catastrophe I have a scene where they boys are playing tug-of-war with Claire’s pigtails, one of them on each side yanking her head from side to side. True story. Another scene where they are eating all the “good” cereal mom bought before Claire can get one bowl is true (and in real life it didn’t just happen once).
In the most recent book, Claire’s Unbearable Campout, I have them at different times asking lots of questions and talking constantly (which they always did). For both books, I went back in my mind to when I was 10 and thought, “what would Chuck and Eddie do” and I created scenes based on who they were when we they young that absolutely could have happened the way I wrote them.
Being able to use real people as the characters makes writing these books fun. I love my brothers and I am glad they are good sports about me using them in my books.
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Kerrie Flanagan is a Freelance Writer, Writing Consultant, Publisher and Author. You can visit her website at http://www.KerrieFlanagan.com. The Trouble with Two series is published under her imprint, Hot Chocolate Press.
More from my site
Two are Better Than One; Tips for a Successful Co-Author Partnership … by Kerrie Flanagan
Exiting the Doldrums
Books Are the Best Gifts for Kids
Recommended Blog/Article Reads
Another DIY Interview with Kerrie Flanagan (and her muse): How and Why Kerrie Started Hot Chocolate Press
Bobbing for Watermelons by April J. Moore — The Story Behind the Story
A fun post! And they obviously gave you some great inspiration 😉
Boy, could I relate to this blog post, as a mother of twins. Mine are boy/girl, but they managed to get into as much trouble as Chuck and Eddie. When they were barely two, a neighbor found them walking down the street early one morning. The girl, who was the lead troublemaker, had pushed out the screen in the window in their bedroom and they crawled out and went for a walk. The window was almost floor-to-ceiling, so it was easy to raise the lower half, push the screen out and go outside. That story is the lead into my humorous memoir, A Dead Tomato Plant and a Paycheck, which I really need to finishe one of these days. LOL
I’m sure your younger twin brothers must have driven you up the wall, Kerrie. Now that they are older I’m guessing they must be quite protective of you, even though they are younger than you.
I’m sure it’s all more entertaining to look back on rather than how it was at the time. Kerrie sounds like a typical older child. Mature, responsible and a joy to parent.
Susan,
Exactly! At the time! I didn’t want them around, but I am so glad to have them in my life now. Yes, I was the stereotypical first born. 🙂
Ha ha. Kerrie, with three brothers, I can relate! Though my hair was too short for the tug-of-war on the pigtails thank heavens! :O) How fun to weave stories out of your memories.
Colleen, maybe that is the lesson here for girls-if you have brothers, keep your hair short so they can’t play tug of war! 🙂 It has been a ton of fun to weave memories into the books. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my post. Hope you are doing well.
It’s good to hear you’re a close-knit group – thanks for sharing your experiences. And how wonderful that you can tap those in your writing. I’m sure they resonate with a lot of young readers.
You’re welcome. Thanks for reading my post. My hope is that the books resonate with young readers; especially those readers with siblings. I am glad my brothers and I are close today too.
As an only child I can’t image what you went through. So glad y’all are close. Sounds like you have lots of material for your books. I’m sure there are plenty of young girls out there who can relate to your stories.
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Yes, I have plenty of material. I bet there are a lot of other girls or siblings of twins who can relate.
I would’ve said take them back, too. I’m so grateful I was an only kid.
I bet you have enough fodder to write a dozen books.
I do have enough for AT LEAST a dozen books. 🙂
I imagine they were quite the thorn in your side when you were kids. Glad you’re all close now.
Do they help you come up with any of the events?
Alex, they were a thorn in my side when we were younger, but I adore them now and am so glad to have them as brothers. They do help me some with the books and fleshing out some of the ideas, but they haven’t helped with any events yet, but I think that is a great idea. Having them at an event would be fantastic. I will talk with them about it. We all live within an hour of each other so I am sure we can figure out something. 🙂