Recently, a question popped up in my Facebook timeline from a group dedicated to parents of twins. This particular mother was asking about having identical toys for her young twins and whether this was okay. Many of the replies to her post were from parents insisting that she was wrong to do so and that her children would never, ever learn to share if she always bought two of everything.
Personally? I believe those parents are thinking about it all wrong.
My daughters are now 16 and let me tell you buying two of certain things just makes your life so much easier! Actually, they still get two of a lot of things. In fact even their 14 year old sister quite often gets an identical gift, all by request. At Christmas they have always sat with their backs to each other and everybody’s gifts are numbered so everyone still gets their own surprise.
Did my children grow up unable to share?
Of course not! My children grew up to be much more selfless than many other children I know. They would share more readily at playgroups when they were toddlers and always ask for a treat for everyone else if one was being offered to them.
Being a twin, in fact being from a large family in general, means that sharing is ingrained into your every day life from the day you are born. Everything is shared. Nobody gets a snack if there aren’t enough to go round, bags of sweets are shared, chairs are shared, hell even pyjamas are shared in this house! 
