I am the proud mother of two teenage girls – twins, no less!  They fill my life with mischief and fun, frustration and humour, craziness and love.  I haven’t figured out whether having them is keeping me young – or ageing me quickly!  But I would not trade them for the world…

They are fraternal, not identical, twins.  So while they are extremely close as sisters, they are also not-so-subtlety competitive.  In academics, sport, fashion – and boyfriends – they appear to have an ongoing rivalry.  This is not all bad, but on occasion it tends to make our homelife a bit of a battle zone.  

In my ongoing efforts to be fair, I decided about a year ago that one daughter would have the computer in her bedroom, and my other daughter would have the TV in her bedroom.  This has generally worked out very well.  They are considerate of each other’s needs and schedules, and (generally..) allow free access to one and other’s room.  But a few weeks ago, things started to turn particularly bitter.  Since both girls have weekend jobs, they have some personal money to spend for clothes or entertainment.  My daughter with the PC, Sarah, subscribes to an online music download service, while Elizabeth (with the TV) likes to purchase movies from the Internet to view on the PC.   Elizabeth could not watch her movies while Sarah was busy studying in her room.  And when they wanted to view the movies together, sitting in front of the PC was not very comfortable, in addition to the annoyance of viewing on such a small screen. Elizabeth also wanted to enjoy listening to the music Sarah had downloaded on the computer while she remained busy in her own room.  My problem was how to keep things peaceful and calm – and to still be, as always – fair.

One afternoon I was having lunch with a friend, and told her about the growing tension between the girls.  She said, “You just need an X10 Video Sender!”   Not being very technology oriented, my response was a look of surprised confusion.  She went on to explain that she had an X10 Video Sender System at home, and not only did it put an end to sibling squabbles, it provided real pleasure and convenience for her and her husband.  “You’ve got a house full of cables?” I asked her, with not much enthusiasm for the prospect of adding wires to the upstairs hall and the twins’ already crowded bedrooms.  No, she explained, the X10 system is completely wireless and installation takes only a few minutes.  She then gave me an overview of the X10 Video Sender System in her home – and I was amazed.  They were able to watch live TV programs on various PCs, and conversely, movies from a PC on TV screens.  The small TV in her kitchen gave her access to DVDs and other data stored on the PC.  I was fascinated listening to her describe the options for transmitting and receiving audio and visual entertainment and information. And even though her system was more extensive than what my needs were, she told me it was inexpensive!  This  - needless to say - turned out to be a very productive lunch.

We now have an X10 Video Sender System that has put an end to all the PC/TV conflict between the girls.  By installing the small X10 Video Sender transmitter box to the PC, and the Video Sender receiver to the TV, one of Elizabeth’s  ‘pay-to-view’ movies can now be sent to the large TV screen for the girls to enjoy together – or separately.  In addition, I also decided to put some old hi-fi speakers we had to good use.  We placed the speakers in Elizabeth’s room, and with the X10 Video Sender System 2.4 GHz  Speaker Link, she can now listen to Sarah’s music from the Internet while in her own room!

X10 has made living with two caring – but competitive – teenagers a delight.  (Well, most of the time!).