The One-Stop Internet Spot for Parents of Twins and Multiples

Sweet! Twin sisters Grace Stokes and Elspeth Hall, 70, had a double wedding and are now celebrating their 50th anniversaries.  They even received a letter from Queen Elizabeth because of their special story.  My favorite part of the article:

Elspeth said: “We did think we might have separate ceremonies as we wanted to be married at different times of the year.

“But my dad told us, ‘You came into the house together, so you should leave the house together’ - and that was it’.”

Another anniversary, this one from Canada.com: Colin and Gregory Rankin are Canada’s first IVF twins.  They just turned 25.  From the article:

In Canada alone, there are now 28 IVF clinics across the country, and the 2004 numbers - the latest available - show that almost 2,000 babies were born through IVF that year.

But for Colin and Greg, who are planning to go on a road trip later this summer to make up for their lacklustre 25th birthday celebration, the significance of their birth is enough to make them a bit philosophical at times.

“Hundreds of thousands of babies are born through IVF every year, and it’s crazy to think we were one of the first,” Colin said.

“But if you think about it, anybody being born and turning out the way they are is a one-in-a-million chance, so I think Greg and I being born is just one out of a billion - just a few zeros away.”

Research using twins and other multiples contributes much to the understanding of human behavior. (You can read my interview with a University of Southern California twin researcher here on BeTwinned.com.) This news story gives an example of a pair of twins who are participating in a National Institutes of Health study about eating disorders and genetics. Both twins suffer from anorexia.

I read stories all the time about twins and triplets excelling in athletics. Here’s one about 26-year-old twin hockey-playing brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin. They play for the Vancouver Canucks.

I absolutely love this story about gardening triplets. At the end of the article, the triplets’ mother gives a series of tips about getting kids interested in gardening.

Whew. Be sure to check out this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article about Georgia’s legislature debating a bill that would allow parents to have a choice about putting twins in the same classroom. Don’t miss the comments underneath the article for some fascinating glimpses of ignorance in the electorate. Here’s an example:

Wow. A state law for one complaining mother in one school in one county. Gotyourhandsfull is right. I’ve known many parents of mulitples who preferred to have their children split up to encourage individuality. Where’s their law? This one mandates twins be kept together if the parents want it, but there’s no provision for parents requesting separate classrooms.

A mere 40 days to handle all legislative business for the year, and this nonsense makes it to the floor. The authors of the bill and all committee members who voted to send it on up the ladder should be impeached!

Uh, guess this person misunderstood the part of the bill that states that twins and multiples should be in the same classroom “if the parent or guardian requests” it.

Kudos to Kathy Dolan for bringing clarity to that discussion.

>>>>>>

In other news, researchers from Yale and Canada’s McGill University have made a discovery that may make it possible to determine which IVF candidate embryos have the best possibility of success. This would mean that doctors would only implant one embryo at a time, obviously reducing the numbers of twin and triplet conceptions.

I love this Tallahassee Democrat story about Florida State twins, both medical students, who started a charity drive called “Share a Pair.”  They collect shoes to send to needy children around the world.

And, in other news, it turns out that Valerie Plame is a twin mom!  I cracked up reading this blog post about her defending her claim that she had not used nepotism to send her husband on assignment to Nigers.

Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

A few years ago when my sister-in-law was in London she bought my older son Night Monkey Day Monkey. The book instantly became a bedtime favorite and now my younger son loves it too.

Julia Donaldson is well known for The Gruffalo, which you can easily find in the U.S., but for some reason this wonderful book is harder to come by. The book is a bit British, with the repetitive line “Don’t be daft”, but that makes it all the more endearing.

As the title reveals, Day Monkey and Night Monkey are two monkeys as different as, well, night and day. The story begins with Night Monkey waking up Day Monkey. Day Monkey follows Night Monkey through the night and learns about the unfamiliar nighttime world, such as fireflies, bats and the croaking of frogs.

Finally, Day Monkey gets tired and goes back to sleep, but as soon as he wakes up, he quickly wakes up Night Monkey to show her the daytime world, with butterflies, chimpanzees and parrots. And, as they learn about each other’s world, they also become the best of friends!

The lyrical text accompanied by cheery, bright illustrations is always a pleasure to read (and, believe me, we’ve read it over and over). The concept of being the same, but different is nicely done and easily speaks to twins and multiples. An excellent choice for settling your little ones into a cozy bed.

Ages 3 - 8

My husband and I took our three-and-a-half year old daughters to a little “play date” session at a local private school. Really, of course, this play date was an admissions event.

Already, I have a number of reservations about applying to private schools. I grew up going to public schools, and overall, I got a fine education. I realize I was lucky and that I grew up in neighborhoods with good schools.

Additionally, private schools are expensive, and my husband and I hover in that middle range of the middle class where we don’t make enough to send our kids to private schools, and we don’t fall into the range of people who qualify for financial aid.

But, we live in the Los Angeles area, where good public schools are few and far between, so we have to hedge our bets and explore lots of options for the time being. At least we live in a neighborhood where the public school has a good reputation. So, my husband and I agreed to just check out all the possibilities and watch where the chips fall.

So that’s how we found ourselves at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning, taking our kids to meet strangers who would be evaluating their academic and social prowess.

This particular school has a stellar reputation, and a number of friends of mine have sent their kids there. I also have a number of former students who have gone to this school, all with the same rave reviews.

So I went with the best expectations.

When we got there, we were invited into a large multi-purpose room where there was friendly kiddie music playing. The kids were all playing with the giant blocks and having a nice time.

I watched as a teacher approached Dinah and asked her to come with her. Suddenly, seeing this teacher approach only Dinah, I realized that they were going to separate the girls for the session.

I went up to the teacher and asked if this were the case. She wasn’t even aware that there were twins coming! And she said that yes, they probably were going to be separated, and that if they came to the school, they would probably be separated then too.

Now, as a teacher and a parenting writer who regularly receives electronic news feeds about twins and multiples, I am a double ringer. So, I decided not to make too big an issue out of it. After all, I figured, maybe Dinah and Djuna would do fine being separated. Who knew?

But, I couldn’t help thinking, that the current trend is not to separate twins in school. There is even a law being proposed in New Hampshire that would prohibit schools from automatically separating twins in school. (Read here for more information.)

The kids all eventually scampered out with their respective teachers, and it was hard to see, in all the hustle-bustle, just which kids were with which teachers.

Dwayne and I waited in the room with the other parents, and the kiddie music continued to play in the background. We chatted with a family we knew, but I was distracted, thinking that my always-together girls would be apart.

In fact, they were separated. The parents were invited to wander through the school for a bit, and we caught sight of Dinah and Djuna at different times in the playground. They seemed content enough, but somehow sedate, not my sparky, sparkly daughters.

As a teacher, I get it. I know that the teachers only wanted to see the girls in their individual state. That’s OK. But would you say to a tiny, young individual, “You know, we want to see how you do this try-out session without your right arm. If you are truly strong and smart, you’ll figure out how to cope without that arm. You have another one, after all.” The cherished all-American value of independence is different for tiny twins.

How can I explain to people who don’t have twins that being a twin is an integral part of their existence? That when I was in the hospital with one daughter when she was one-and-a-half that she woke in the night, calling for her twin? That on the few occasions when we have separated and done different things with the girls, that they run to each other and hug when they are reunited? That they have a multitude of jokes that only they understand?

Things are different as twins grow older, I’m sure, and I know that different twins have different needs too. But, shouldn’t teachers at least ask what’s best for my twins? Funnily enough, without my husband and I asking the girls specifically, they have both told us that they missed each other yesterday morning.

It made me have a newfound appreciation for Mama Pete, the woman who runs the girls’ current preschool. She’s over 90 years old and has been running her preschool for over 50 years. In her holiday card to us, she wrote something along this line: “Dinah and Djuna still pretty much stick together, but that’s completely appropriate for twins at their age.”

Thanks for your wisdom, Mama Pete.

Tyra Banks recently taped a show about conjoined twins that is expected to air February 15. These two articles, one from the Litchfield County Times and the other from Canada.com, both tell the stories of conjoined twins who participated in the taping.

Read about 7-foot twin brothers Robin and Brook Lopez, both freshmen basketball players for Stanford. There’s a Q & A where the brothers talk about each other’s strengths as ball players.

About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned

Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

This winter my children and I have been spending lots of time sitting around the wood stove and snuggling as we read collections of stories. Last week we came across a great collection of riddles and stories, Riddle Me This! Riddles and Stories to Challenge Your Mind, which entertained us for days. I already love most of the Barefoot Books (people can buy Barefoot Books by “Stallholders;” click here to go to the website of a Barefoot Stallholder) I’ve come across (The Barefoot Book of Knights and The Barefoot Book of Pirates are big favorites.), and this is no exception.

The riddles and stories come from all over the world, including Cuba, Russia, India and Arkansas, USA, to name a few. Some of the riddles are classic ones you probably heard yourself as a child (”Those that have eyes have no head, Those that have heads have no eyes.”), but some are new to me.

The vibrant and charming folk-art style illustrations give hints to the answers for the riddles. My four year old was able to solve a few with the help of the illustrations. And if you can’t solve the answer to a riddle, there is a handy page of answers in the back, as well as notes and sources for the stories. I peeked at a few of the answers myself!

Your library probably has a copy of this book, but if not, the paperback will be coming out this March. If you’re reading your way through the long nights of winter, Riddle Me This! should be added to your pile of books.

Ages 4-9

Just a glimpse from just-before-bed-time last night:

My adorable little three-and-a-half-year old twins working sweetly on a puzzle together singing, “We’ll work together, we’ll be friends forever,” from Pooh’s Heffalump Movie.

And then I called them upstairs for bed, and Djuna read out loud to Dinah while she tried to poop on the potty.
How cute is that?

And a glimpse from tonight, right now:

One twin in a monkey costume, one twin in a frog costume, running in and out of our home office, hiding behind the door, opening and closing the door, giggling one second and screeching the next, teasing each other by swiping the little stuffed banana that came with the monkey costume.

Some days when they run around like crazy opening and closing the door to the office, like two little freaks in some Moliere play, I think that the only reason they still have their fingers is because of the blessing of little gadgets like this, something that every parent-to-be or every parent of toddlers simply must have. This one isn’t exactly like mine, but you get the idea:

Image of “Door Mouse Finger Guard” from One Step Ahead

And during the time it has taken me to write this post, now the girls are sans costumes, sitting right outside the door that would have otherwise taken off their fingers (if not for the safety gadget), and they’re sitting on the floor, their toes touching, reading their books.

Sigh. Ah, life is lovely …