'You've got your hands full'

Halloween, love it or hate it?

I'M not a fan and fully appreciate this makes me a killjoy.

What do you think? I recently posted about this on Ready for Ten and so far the comments seem about 50-50 as to those who say it's a great fun time and others who say no fangs. (Yes see what I did there.)

The parties can be great and there's lots of fab crafts to get stuck into, but it's trick or treating which leaves me cold.

My concerns are about kids thinking they can knock on people's doors fully expecting to be kindly given sweets, or in some cases, money.

I know there are plenty of people who share a sunny disposition and believe this is marvellous. I suppose I just happen to be a miserable old sod who doesn't like the thought of my daughters going from home to home asking for such treats.

Why twins' parties needn't be double the trouble

FOR as long as my daughters have been school-age, I've considered it inevitable they'd be invited to different parties, one without the other.

 

This meant that when they were younger, we tended to try and make the time special for our other daughter in some way while their sister was out celebrating.

 

These days we basically just tell them ‘that’s life.’ They both have their own mates after all and we wouldn’t expect other mums to automatically invite their sister.

BBC Coventry and Warwickshire radio interview about twins

A FEW weeks back I was interviewed by Mark Powlett on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire about twins.

Our chat touched on the following among other things and I hope you enjoy it:

• A unique bond between twins
• Sibling rivalry
• Do you dress twins the same?
• Should they be in the same class at school?
• How does a twin pregnancy compare to a singleton one?
• My crap maths

I know I sound a bit "eccentric" which is of course a polite way of saying well, a bit strange, but then I always do on the radio. I don't care as I've got used to it!

Press on the button below to hear the interview.

Massive thanks to producer Kate for sending me the MP3.

Twins and secondary school

IN a few weeks' time, my daughters will start secondary school.

They are definitely in different classes and there's a chance they won't be in the same groups for subjects where pupils are streamed.

I like it that way.

At the introductory parents' evening, my girls' new teachers made encouraging noises about recognising that every child is an individual.

Did you know that according to experts, twins -- and triplets, quads and any "higher multiples" you care to mention for that matter -- are deserving of special consideration in the classroom?

A new life after twins by Sarah Edmonds

 
FOUR years ago, almost exactly, my son O entered the world, a beautiful, happy, gorgeous little boy. No wonder then that my husband and I were keen to ‘crack on’ with number two. Fifteen months after his birth and a three month scan revealed identical twin girls were to join our family.

To be completely honest, the first year of their life seemed to bring more lows than highs....exhaustion, loneliness, feelings of having no one to talk to who understood, frustration and generally of life being difficult. The phrase ‘popping out’ vanished, only to be replaced by ‘military operation’, or more commonly ‘failed operation’.

Multiple mayhem -- a carnival of posts about twins and more

PHEW. Thank you so much for all your support of this special week on You've Got Your Hands Full which has reminded me why I set this blog up in the first place and put me in touch with some fabulous blogs, some already familiar, others new to me.

If you can say one thing that unites all parents of multiples, well it's that they're busy.

Forgive me for stating the obvious. So I didn't know what to expect with my planned carnival. I've ended up with a dozen or so entries and so I'm delighted.

In all honesty this was very short notice so if anyone wants to make this a more regular feature, with us taking turns to host a monthly carnival, then please shout up and we can kick off an on-going Multiples Mayhem carnival?

The guest posts this week and the carnival entries have made me laugh and made me cry. I hope our small but perfectly formed carnival informs and entertains. 

Having twins? Relax and enjoy it by Young Mummy

Photo by Pat Austin on Flickr.

THANKS to the awesome Young Mummy for our latest guest post all about the trials and tribulations of having twins. Her post has made me smile -- I' definitely became a chilled out mum as soon as was humanly possible after having my girls. There just weren't enough hours in the day to be anything else!

MY mum commented the other day that I’m more like a second-time mum, rather than the first-time mum I really am, writes Young Mummy.

She doesn’t mean I’m some kind of parenting genius, just that I’m quite laid-back as a mother. And she puts this down to having twins.

Two is a magic number by Four down, mum to go

HERE's a guest post from the wonderful blogger Fourdownmumtogo, who previously shared this wisdom on her own site. if you haven't yet discovered this blog, I hope you can check it out as it's one of the best out there.

THIS week is Twins, Triplets and More week. The idea is to raise awareness about the challenges that can face the parents of twins or more. This is a laudable aim, but I think that perhaps one of the best ways to get parents ready for twins is to bolster them up with some of the good news about having two at once.

Rosie Scribble and LivingwithKids welcome Twins, Triplets & More blog tour

THANKS to Rosie Scribble for letting me set up my stall today where I focus on a mum of twins and her story of post natal depression. I hope by spreading the word about the new free/subsidised help on offer from Tamba, word can reach those expectant mums who could most benefit so they can learn that support is out there.

Thanks also to Liz at LivingwithKids who published a guest post from me yesterday, with some facts and figures about twins. I know when I was expecting, I had my eyes opened and a "learning curve" has continued ever since.

Coming tomorrow is another pit-stop in the "tour" and a guest post here from the brilliant Fourdownmumtogo.

So you think you know about twins?

 

THIS is the first guest post in a special week of multiple birth inspired topics. So it's a big welcome to Harriet from the much admired Is there a Plan B? blog which charts the trials and tribulations of shifting from being a London lawyer to a stay at home mum of three in Scotland.  

Her post made me laugh out loud. When I read about some of the questions she has been asked, it takes me back a bit. So, thank you very much Harriet and now it's over to her...

“Goodness, you’ve got your hands full!”
Thank you to Linda for hosting this week of multiple birth inspired posts and for her support of Tamba,

This is a post about about twins. And more precisely about the stuff everyone thinks they know about twins. 

And the stuff everyone says to mothers of twins (I’ve got A and S, who are eighteen months old and identical as well as 3-year-old L). 

And  about the stuff, that sometimes we wish they wouldn’t.