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School Success:
Are Your Twins Ready for Kindergarten?
When Brenda Grinnell’s fraternal twin boys, Jeremy and Shawn, were eighteen months old, she taped colorful letters to a sliding glass door in the family’s home. Every day as her sons ran from living room to backyard, they’d pass the alphabet. “I’d point to the letters and say, this is an A, this is a B,” the La Crescenta, Calif. mom says.
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Sibling Relationships:
Nurturing the Twin Bond
Like many multiples, my fraternal twin boys are close but it wasn’t until recently that I was reminded how strong their bond truly is. I was going through their school backpacks, leafing through graded class assignments when one in particular caught my eye. The heading read, “My Best Friend,” and there was a crayon rendering of both my twins holding hands with big smiles on their faces. Just the sight of it made my eyes well up with tears.
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Double Decorating:
Tips for Designing a Twin Nursery
When Nicole Giladi was put on bed-rest during her pregnancy, instead of napping or reading she spent her time pouring over fabric and wallpaper samples designing a nursery for her soon-to-be boy/girl twins, Hannah and Sammy, now six months old. “It was hard to pick a color scheme,” says the Sherman Oaks, California mom. “I definitely didn’t want pink or blue.”
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Sibling Relationships:
Calming a Twin Rivalry
Some days my fraternal twin boys compete with each other about everything from whose bowl of ice cream is bigger to who’s taller. It’s no wonder since throughout their lives friends and family have compared them to each other (even though they’re nothing alike in personality or appearance). And although comparing twins may seem innocent or even insightful, it’s the leading cause of rivalry as they ultimately turn their comparisons to each other.
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Sibling Relationships:
How Twins Develop Friendships
As parents of twins or triplets, we anxiously await the day when our multiples play together for the first time. From the moment they arrive home from the hospital and we place them together in the same crib, we watch and wait, dreaming of the day they’ll become close companions.
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Twin Pregnancy:
Not Your Mother’s Yoga
Yes, yoga is back in vogue. Unless you’ve been spending most of your pregnancy convalescing on a deserted island, you’ve seen the countless new varieties of yoga widely available. But let’s be clear: This is not the yoga of the 1960s where we witnessed a bone-thin Indian contort his body into fodder for a three-ring sideshow.
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Twin Pregnancy:
The Truth About Breastfeeding Twins
We all know someone pushing around a double stroller these days. (Fertility drugs and the rise in the number of older new mommies have increased the potential for conceiving multiples.) Yet many new mothers of twins believe that they can’t breastfeed their babies. Nothing could be further from the truth—nearly every mother can breastfeed.
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Twins in Midlife:
Could it be Perimenopause?
One day shortly after my fortieth birthday, I noticed that nearly everything that my three young sons said or did irritated me beyond reproach. Now some compassionate readers may say, “Hey, kids will do that to you,” and on any other day I would agree. But on this particular day, it was different. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. I couldn’t control the stern words spewing from my mouth; it felt as if someone else were speaking them.
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Twins in Midlife:
How a Women’s Support Group Can Help You
When Heidi Rome, 47, was pregnant two years ago with her first child, she did what most expectant moms do—she signed up for pregnancy preparation and parenting classes. “I had this fantasy that having a baby would open the door to all these new moms, new friends,” remembers the New York City marketing director. Yet when she got to class and looked around she quickly realized that she was much older than most of the other new moms.
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Twins in Midlife:
Can You Read the Fine Print?
Claire Spelta first noticed it when she could no longer read the street names on her Thomas Guide map. “I finally broke down and purchased a navigational system for my car. I’m just not ready for reading glasses,” jokes the 43-year old mom. Gina Bates, 44, was finally fed up with eyestrain, headaches, and holding magazines at arms length. “I went into my eye doctor’s office and pleaded with him to make it go away.” What do they both have in common? It’s presbyopia.
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The Organized Mom:
How to Have a Stress-Free Christmas
It seems like just yesterday that the summer ended and the school year began, but here we are again quickly approaching another holiday season. And although it’s a great time of year to be a parent as you watch the magic and excitement through your twin’s eyes, it’s also a crazy time as you hustle to buy gifts for everyone from the baby-sitter to Great Uncle Ned, curse the endless strings of tangled lights, and plan a Christmas menu for 40 of your closest relatives. So how can you do it all without turning into the Grinch? Easy. Don’t do it all
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The Organized Mom:
Tips for Taming Twin Toys
If you’ve ever stepped barefoot on a Lego piece left laying in the hallway, accidentally set off an electronic robot in the middle of the night, or spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon searching for the missing piece to your twins’ Big Bird jigsaw puzzle, then it’s time to rethink how your kids organize their toys.
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The Organized Mom:
Getting Ready for Twins
If you’re soon to be doubly blessed, congratulations! Although it’s an exciting time, it’s also a bit unnerving. After all, you think, how will you ever prepare? Will you have everything you need? Will you be able to keep up with the demands of two infants simultaneously while recuperating from childbirth? Not to worry. You’ll do fine.
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The Organized Mom:
Making Dinner Delightful
It’s six PM. Do you know where your dinner is? If you’re like most busy parents these days, it’s probably somewhere at the bottom of a grocery bag waiting to be unpacked and popped into the microwave, or worse yet, just sitting on the kitchen counter frozen solid with no future dinner plans in sight. And to top it off, the kids have just circled the wagons around the kitchen whining that they want to eat now! If you rush to get dinner to the table every night (getting a bad case of indigestion in the process), following these three simple rules are sure to help ease the chaos and turn an evening of frustration into a super supper.
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The Organized Mom:
Tips for Managing Your Morning
If you’re tired of singing the “Hurry up! You’re going to miss the school bus,” blues, you’re hardly alone. Weekday mornings are always chaotic, especially for families with twins and triplets. Seconds before rushing out the door, you can always find children scrambling through the house hunting for that missing science report, gym uniform, or favorite hair band while Mom frantically signs permission slips with one hand and stuffs the ubiquitous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into lunch boxes with the other.
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Taking the Twins:
Destination—Seaside, Florida
“Dolphin alert! Dolphin alert!” My seven-year-old son came rushing from the water, dragging his boogie board behind him. “Look!” he commanded, pointing out over the ocean. Obeying, I scanned the waves, shielding my eyes from the midday sun. Suddenly about 300 yards out at sea I witnessed a large, shiny black creature arching triumphantly through the air before splashing back down in the water. We gasped in unison with each acrobatic trick as the dolphin made his way westward along the horizon. My son said it was the most magnificent sight he had ever seen. I agreed wholeheartedly. And to think, all this excitement and it was only our first day in Seaside, Florida.
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Taking the Twins:
Resort Roundup—The Caribbean
If your family loves a beach vacation like my family, then you’ll love the Caribbean. With miles of scenic and pristine white sand, Caribbean beaches far surpass those of Europe, Florida, Hawaii, and even the South Pacific. The Caribbean offers a relaxing and uncomplicated holiday, too—no touring, no on-and-off buses, or changing of hotels—you simply park yourselves at a resort for a week or ten days, and soak up the tropical life. You can truly unwind—just what your busy family needs
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Taking the Twins:
Destination—Washington D.C.
Did you know that Washington D.C. has more spies wandering its streets than any other city in the world? After my family and I learn that intriguing tidbit at the International Spy Museum, one of the city’s newest tourist attraction, we view everyone with skepticism—our hotel concierge, the camera-clad tourist at the Jefferson Memorial, heck, even the guy selling hot dogs in front of the Smithsonian. They are all possible secret agents in our eyes.
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Taking the Twins:
Resort Roundup—The Phoenician
When my sister suggested the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona as the next destination for our annual Memorial Day family weekend getaway, I was hesitant. After all, with five kids ranging in age from four to thirteen, wouldn’t the five-star resort part of the Luxury Collection be a bit too stuffy, too prim and proper for our rowdy band of marauders? But when we drove onto the 250-acre lushly landscaped property nestled at the base of Camelback Mountain, a red sandstone peek towering nearly 2,700 feet behind the resort, my skepticism quickly turned to elation.
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Taking the Twins:
Two for the Road
When I gave birth to my fraternal twins boys, I vowed they would never keep me at home. After all, I had been a woman on the go having romped my way around Europe and Australia by the time I was 25. So naturally I pictured my husband and myself calming strolling the Champs Élysées while our babies peacefully napped in their double stroller. With my twins’ arrival, however, the bubble didn’t exactly burst but it certainly fizzled a bit.
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