In my last post, I discussed the challenges twins face in finding their own unique identities. This week, I have tips on how you, as a parent, can help your twin child establish his identity — outside of the twinship. Preschool/Toddler Years I discussed this topic in my post titled “Helping Your Twins Form Friendships […]
In a recent episode of the humorous sitcom Blackish, Pops (played by Laurence Fishburne) is roughhousing with one of his grandchildren who is a twin. “Be careful!” yells Pops’ son Dre (Anthony Anderson), “He’s half of a set…!” In real life, however, I think most parents of twins try to show their children that they […]
From the time I was knowingly pregnant with twins (because I do remember those weeks when I didn’t know there were two in there!), someone had something to say about it. To this day, I still encounter a steady flow of inquiries. Strangers ask whether twins run in my family (which is often the indirect […]
In my last post, I explained why having a built-in playmate isn’t always the best thing for your twins. What, then, should parents do to help their twin children branch out socially? Here are the top tips: 1. Schedule Separate Play Dates A parent of toddler-age twins will find it simply impossible to schedule separate […]
As a parent of twins, you’ve probably felt grateful that your kids have a built-in playmate. Once your kids reached toddlerhood, it became clear that you didn’t have to spend every second entertaining them or scrambling to find play dates for them because they had each other. Having a built-in playmate was ideal, right? Not […]
In my last post, I discussed how to decide whether to host a separate birthday party for each of your twin children. If you determine that having a joint birthday party is best, you still might consider how to ensure that each child feels unique and special even when he is sharing the party with […]
As if researching inexpensive balloon artists for one birthday party isn’t enough, a parent of twins should now do it twice?! Dr. Joan Friedman, author of Emotionally Healthy Twins: A New Philosophy for Parenting Two Unique Children, strongly advises that parents host separate birthday parties for their twin children. Having a separate party shows your […]
Like all other homes of young children on the Planet Earth, Disney’s Frozen empire consumed our home. We owned a digital version of the movie, we had the soundtrack on our iPhones, and we owned every chotchke known to man that was in the likeness of Elsa, Anna, or Olaf. Indeed, from decorative hair accessories […]
At a recent playground outing, my friend, another twin parent, was complaining about a streak of bad behavior from her twin son, who had just turned three. He was hitting his twin sister, not following the house rules about where he may eat food, and seemed to cry at the tiniest obstacle. My friend was […]
You’ve probably heard of the famous twins named “Jim.” They were raised apart from the age of four weeks and were finally reunited at the age of thirty-nine. When Jim Lewis and Jim Springer reunited, they discovered some amazing similarities: they had both been named “James” by their adoptive families who did not know each […]