scout & indiana: the who, the what, and the why

I had joked with my husband for years about having twins – my best friend says that she thinks I actually willed it into existence (which I think is kind of awesome really). So imagine his surprise when at the first ultrasound the doctor announced that there was a second baby in there! Having twins has been an absolute joy – don’t get me wrong, it is an incredible amount of work and exhausting at times – but it’s by far the most rewarding and satisfying thing I’ve ever worked at. Also I would do it again in a heartbeat (…and my husband just had a heart attack ;)). Life in our house is pretty much like life in any house with multiple children under three, which is to say that mostly nothing makes sense, we exist in a general state of organized chaos, and there are a lot of absolutely ridiculous things that get said and done on a daily basis. I absolutely love that world and fully embrace that space – especially since I know that it will all be over, or at least evolved, before I know it.

The Scout & Indiana brand is deeply rooted in that reality. We value good style as well as comfort but mostly, we embrace the humor that accompanies raising little ones. The Bomb Like Mom and Rad Like Dad apparel line transpired from our personal experience raising Scout and Indiana, who although they are identical twin girls, couldn’t actually be more different. Like in almost every way. Which is funny because when we found out that they were identical, I at least, was terrified. As my brother-in-law nervously pointed out, what if I switched them in the bath and they were forever the opposite person? I deeply hoped for a freckle of difference and asked the doctors if identicals came with a set of sharpies for identification purposes (which they didn’t all think was as funny as I did, go figure). My deepest fears came true though and the girls are exact mirror images of each other, which was extra terrifying, especially in the early days when we were just completely overwhelmed and exhausted. So first of all, I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you that you can always tell them apart – I mean you can because I keep Scout’s toenails painted and have since about day three of life, but I will say that their unique personalities have manifested as the biggest difference between them.

One of the most interesting things about creating tiny humans in general is what you pass on to them without even realizing it. Like it makes sense that they have my semi-freakish toes and the shape of my husband’s face, but it’s amazing how quickly a mischievous streak, short temperedness, or tendency to favor order and cleanliness can manifest before you would think they even have time to learn the behavior. The parent of origin of a particular trait has become a bit of a running joke in our house as the girls’ personalities have emerged and evolved. We like to point out who the trait comes from and who therefore, is responsible for that kid’s behavior that day. For instance, when Indiana started wandering around her room with her stuffed moose’s shirt on her head, pulled over her eyes, my husband lead her in my direction and said ‘ I think this is yours…’ What’s extra amusing in our household is that my husband and I actually have the same personality, but it manifests in drastically different ways. For instance, sweet Indiana is much like her father; she values rules, order, and cleanliness. She generally doesn’t like any funny business and is the first to wag her finger at basically anyone to help them get back on the straight and narrow path. Scout however, is a bit more of my mini – I think she truly enjoys general mayhem, complete ridiculousness, and care not one tiny duck about the way most people would do things and definitely not about the way you are supposed to do things. It is in this world that our Bomb Like Mom and Rad Like Dad apparel line emerged. Our house is truly a circus and we have chosen to embrace that fully and enjoy the humor and hilarity that is innate to our life. Those tiny years can be frustrating and exhausting if you let them. But we chose to take pleasure in the small things, enjoy the details, and ride our own melt