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Sometimes, I run into people who love to say that their children are practically twins because they were born say, 13 months apart (such as my uncle). I smile and nod. Oh, if they only knew. One particular incident comes to mind and I am certain that my uncle never experienced such a thing.

One of my twin girls was a little further along in her quest to being potty trained than the other. So much so that I kind of already thought she was basically there. Her sister, however, still enjoyed the convenience of Mommy laying her down, cleaning her bottom and putting on a clean pair of pull-ups. After all, why should she give up the luxury of Mommy taking care of this dirty task?

One afternoon, I was in the middle of changing one of my twins. She was lying on the Pack ‘n Play “shelf.” With one hand holding both her legs in the air and the other reaching for a wipe, my other daughter runs into the room crying, “Mommy, I have to go potty!” I encourage her to run into the bathroom and go. She screams, “Come with me, Mommy!” I tell her I will be just a second while I finish up with her sister. Upset, she screams, “No!” A trickle and then a downpour…on my beautiful Oriental rug. “I’m almost done, baby girl,” I assure my daughter as calmly as humanly possible, sighing heavily to myself. It’s only a rug…it’s only a rug…it’s only a rug - I held onto this thought as I quickened my diaper changing process.

That scene will forever play in my head. This story will be told multiple times over the years.

Every instruction book will tell you the key to potty training is to remain calm, maintain a supportive, positive environment and your potty training child will be successful. I wanted to scream…but I couldn’t. I didn’t. Five deep breaths. I cleaned up my sobbing daughter. I sprayed the Resolve on the offending area. I covered the spot with Febreeze. I smiled and soothed my weeping daughter.

Then I vented on my husband when he walked in the front door. Finally. Relief.

Posted by Linda D (Novemberr 14, 2007)  Cross-posted at Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

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The Gemini Crickets Official Club Blog has moved to: http://gcblog.typepad.com/gemini_crickets_club_blog/

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A few of us Gemini Crickets twin mommies, Linda, Akemi and Linsey, write for Silicon Valley Moms Blog, a collaborative blog of, well….sort of what the name implies - Moms in the Silicon Valley. You can read our stuff here, here, and here. It is a fun and challening enterprise, and every now and then, we get treated to a little pampering.

Yesterday, we were invited, along with the other Silicon Valley Moms, to the Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto by Graco, who showed us their new product, the SweetPeace “soothing center”. While our husbands and babysitters (Linda’s husband was traveling on business) handled the kids, we chatted poolside with our fellow bloggers (there were 5 of us there who have twins- pictured in the photo are, from bottom left, Linda, Linsey, Ana, Akemi and Beth - Alix, we missed you!), enjoyed hand massages, drank wine and ate yummy sushi appetizers (this party was NOT for expectant mothers, apparently). And we got an education on soothing from Graco.

The sweetpeace is really a fantastic product (although pricey at $169…especially when you have mutliples - maybe it is an item for the shower registry or for the grandparents to buy?). We all wished we’d had one or two when our twins were babies (they are all 3 now). After all, it is quite physically impossible to hold multiple babies ALL DAY LONG and what the sweetpeace tries to do is to imitate being held and soothed by the best (mommy, of course).

Akemi’s view is that its too bad Graco doesn’t make one for twins, but realistically, you don’t really need to have both babies doing the same thing at the same time. She would have just used it in her baby circuit (bouncy chair to swing to sweet peace). Linda pitched a concept to the Graco people there that the base of the product lends itself easily (maybe?) to the addition of a second chair for a second baby. Another twin mommy bloogger, Bonggamom, actually came up with this same concept for a twin version and has a nice photo on her blog. Aha - it can be done! Linsey liked the MP3 connection and the built in swaddling blanket (although, she was personally addicted to the Miracle Blanket for swaddling). Also, the fact that the Graco car seat fits in the base of this soothing contraption is very cool, so that if baby falls asleep in the car you can just transfer them right into the sweetpeace soothing so they will stay asleep for hours (I’m pretty sure Graco does not guarantee this sleeping part). And, no, it does not work the other way around. That is, the sweetpeace cradler thing does not fit into the Graco car seat base - it is NOT a car seat!

All in all, it was a truly lovely way to spend the afternoon - we were soothed ourselves and could have used a nice 4-hour newborn stretch of that action.

Posted by Linsey K   (Novemberr 13, 2007)

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The Gemini Crickets Official Club Blog has moved to: http://gcblog.typepad.com/gemini_crickets_club_blog/

Please visit us in our new home for the latest posts. See you there!

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Elizabeth Lyons, author of Ready or Not…Here We Come! (on the first year of raising twins) and Ready or Not…There We Go! (on the toddler years with twins), has some great (not to mention funny) tips on her website for Managing Multiples. From what to cook for dinner, to how to deal with all the questions you’ll be asked by strangers about your new twins (for instance, I seemed to always be asked “Are they identical?” even though I have boy/girl twins…), to all kinds of tips for survival and sanity-savers. This column is a great read. Enjoy!

Posted by Linsey K  (Novemberr 02, 2007)