I’ve often wondered how parents of identical multiples tell them apart. I know moms there are slight nuances and differences, but what happens when you have four kids who look exactly the same? A mother of quadruplets was faced with that scenario, and came up with this solution:

According to Chinese news website NOW News, Tan Chaoyun from Shenzhen, China, shaved numbers into the heads of her six-year-old sons to help teachers differentiate them.

Tan said that when she had registered her kids for elementary school, the boys’ future teachers had worriedly informed her that they would likely have a hard time telling them apart.

So in an attempt to avert potential mayhem, Tan decided that the boys — who are reportedly identical aside for a difference in the shape of their eyelids – needed to be adorned with a more distinguishing trait that would set them apart from each other.

“Even now, their father can’t tell which one is which. Sometimes, he punishes the second one for something the third one has done.”

Tan told reporters that the new hairstyles have been a huge success. NOW News notes. Though perhaps not the most subtle of hairdos, the boys’ new identity markers have ensured that they are easily differentiated.