'You've got your hands full'

Some great resources for families with twins, triplets or more

 

THIS is a cross-post from Ready for Ten, where I'm editor and where lots of marvellous bloggers write about life with kids aged six to nine.

We have a twice weekly 'best of the web' post and this week one of these has been about multiple birth families. I hope you find some of the links here useful and that you can check out the bloggers mentioned and perhaps add any details of who I've missed.

I also hope you can check out Ready for Ten in general as it's a lively fun site with some great writing from the likes of Deb, Rosie, Ellen, Liz, Joanne, lovely Jo, Ian, another lovely Jo, Tim, Maggie, Kath, Alice, Cathy, Keris, Camilla, Ursula, Jane and Jan.  

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?

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. 

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.

How have you got on with SATs?

THIS week, my daughters, who are in Year six, took their SATs.

 

Despite all the discussion about how stressful a time this can be, I somehow thought my girls -- who are laid back, hardy little souls -- would sail through. I don't mean in terms of their academic ability (which I won't discuss thank you very much) but how tough they would find it to actually get on and do. I naively thought it would be a breeze.

 

Off they went to school on Monday, as relaxed as they could be, with my words to "just do your best, you know we love you," ringing in their ears. They had the best packed lunch ever and were mildly excited by the prospect of a free bacon sandwich on offer when they arrived.

 

Are your children afraid of being alone?

JOANNE Mallon has some excellent advice over at Parentdish for anyone who's worried about their children not relishing their own company.

This is certainly relevant in our family. My daughters, now 10,  share a room and as twins, inevitably enjoy each other's presence.

We've tried to do lots to encourage individuality and independence but as they get older, I worry more about sending them off into the big wide world - or even to the Co-op.

So thank you Joanne for the great advice. I think I will be reading and re-reading this in times to come...

 

Do you mind when people refer to your children as "the twins" or "the triplets"?

I SORT of know I shouldn't care about this, yet I do. I know it's not the end of the world and there are lots more pressing matters we can all turn our minds to, but when people call my daughters "the twins", it irritates me.

"They have names, you know," I want to point out. (But of course don't because then well, the other person would see that I sort of cared about something so outwardly trivial.)

How much 'one on one' time do you give your multiple birth children?

HERE'S a picture of my daughters on a recent trip to London.

That's Emily and Melissa in the front and a friend they made one day. No I don't know what he's supposed to be either.

We went together as a family. It would never have occured to me that we should split up and head for different destinations.

So imagine my surprise, when they both returned from a school trip last week, to numerous parents asking with a bemused expression: "They BOTH went then?"

Did they really think one would go without the other?

Does having boy/girl twins make you emphasise your daughter's femininity?

I'VE not heard of this before, but it's a question that was recently raised by a new aunt of a brother and sister.

If you've heard of this happening, or feel you may have done it yourself, then please get in touch.

I'd love to hear your experiences. Or if you are the parent of boy/girl twins and feel strongly that this isn't the case, please let me know why.

As this isn't a question I'd happened across before, I thought it could make quite an interesting discussion.