Disneyland tickets, a treatment at the Lavande Nail Spa, a gift card for Santana Row. Does that sound tempting to you? Or maybe you just want to get a few hundred bucks to splurge on something special. In any case, if you want to win,  you need to buy some tickets soon.This year, for the 2009 Gemini Crickets Annual Auction & Raffle there are two types of tickets:

1) Raffle tickets, which will give you a chance to win the prizes mentioned above and many, many more cool things, such as restaurant gift cards.

2) 50/50 tickets, which will give you a chance to win cash! The money generated from the sale of 50/50 tickets will be put together in one pot. One winner will be drawn. Whoever wins takes home half of the money that is in the pot. The other half will go to Gemini Crickets.

Given that people don’t have to be at the auction to win and can purchase through PayPal on our website makes it possible to buy tickets even if you live in Honolulu (or even further away), this is also a wonderful way for grandpa, grandma, aunts, uncles, friends and neighbors to participate and to give some money to the club and maybe win big ;-). Please spread the word!

If you have already purchased your raffle tickets and wish to allocate them to the various raffle prizes, please go here to fill out the Raffle Tickets Allocation Form.

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You can purchase your Raffle Tickets and/or 50/50 Tickets for Gemini Crickets 2009 Annual Auction & Raffle anytime before the event on June 4, 2009.

Raffle Tickets and 50/50 Tickets can be purchased in 2 ways: 1) Directly from volunteers selling tickets at any of the upcoming Gemini Crickets events such as the Spring Picnic, All Club Playdates and General and NEP Meetings. 2) Via PayPal on our website - see below for all the details on purchasing via PayPal.

Raffle Tickets are 6 tickets for $5 in advance of the event (before midnight on June 3, 2009) or $1 per ticket on the day/night of the event.

50/50 Tickets are $10 each.

Tickets can be purchased via PayPal or by check - see below for details and to purchase by PayPal.

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Detail on Raffle Tickets:

Even if you can’t make it to the auction on June 4th, 2009, you can still participate in the raffle. Here is how that works: If you give us your tickets and identify how you want them allocated to the prices, an Auction Agent will drop your tickets in the raffle bags for you.

• If you buy tickets directly at an event, you can fill out the back of the tickets with your name and email address on the spot, keep the coupons and give the tickets back to the volunteer selling the tickets. He/she will make sure that the tickets are getting into the hands of the Auction Agent. Helpful Tip: Bring address labels or address stamp to help with this process…because filling out your information on 100 tickets can be time consuming!

• If you buy tickets via PayPal on the website, you can indicate the option to have the tickets dropped into the raffle bags by the Auction Agent. In that case, we will keep the tickets, fill them out with your name and email address (which we need from you) and send only the coupons to you.

An online form is available for you to fill out and to indicate how to allocate your tickets. Based on this allocation, your tickets will be dropped into the raffle bags by the Auction Agent at the night of the auction. To keep you updated the exact procedure, we need your email address when you buy tickets.

Details on the 50/50 Tickets:

One 50/50 Ticket costs $10. All money generated from the sale of 50/50 Tickets goes into one pot and the winner will take home half of the money (represented by the tickets) in the pot. The other half goes to Gemini Crickets. The more people participate, the higher is the money you could take home. So, sell those 50/50 Tickets to everybody you get a hold of!

Once again. even if you can’t make it to the auction on June 4th, you can still participate. Give us your tickets and an Auction Agent will drop your tickets in the big pot for the 50/50 drawing.

• If you buy 50/50 Tickets directly at an event, you can fill out the back of the tickets with your name and email address on the spot, keep the coupons and give the tickets back to the volunteer selling the tickets.

• Same with PayPal. You can indicate the option to have the tickets dropped into the 50/50 pot. In that case, we will keep the tickets, fill them out with your name and email address and send only the coupons to you.

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If you want to mail your tickets to us:

For both ticket types, you can also always mail us your tickets (only the tickets with name and email on the back, keep the coupon!) in case you decide last minute, you can’t come to the auction in person. The address is P.O. Box 10305 San Jose, CA 95157. Just make sure you send them out so that they are in the PO Box at least two days before the auction.

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To purchase Raffle Tickets via PayPal:

(Note: You can purchase any amount of Raffle Tickets by selecting the $5 amount and then changing the quantity once you get to PayPal - the amounts below are just for your convenience)

Number of Raffle Tickets

$5 in raffle tickets (6 tickets) $5.00 $25 in raffle tickets (30 tickets) $25.00 $50 in raffle tickets (60 tickets) $50.00 $75 in raffle tickets (90 raffle tickets) $75.00 $100 in raffle tickets (120 raffle tickets) $100.00

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To purchase 50/50 Tickets via PayPal:

(Note: You can purchase any amount of 50/50 Tickets by selecting the $10 amount and then changing the quantity once you get to PayPal - the amounts below are just for your convenience)

Number of 50/50 Raffle Tickets

1 50/50 Raffle Ticket $10.00 2 50/50 Raffle Tickets $20.00 5 50/50 Raffle Tickets $50.00 10 50/50 Raffle Tickets $100.00

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To purchase Raffle Tickets or 50/50 Tickets by check:

Click here to contact us.

You can find us at http://gcblog.typepad.com/gemini_crickets_club_blog/ .

We have a new, quite adorable look (if I do say so myself) and name – Mad About Multiples. Come visit us there to see our latest posts (and all the old ones).

Original Gemini Crickets Blog post by MommyTwinGirls.

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

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My longtime friend Lisa and I carry identical backpacks. I’m sure she wouldn’t exactly disagree that although we both aspire to be minimally fashionable, we sometimes fail miserably (well, I probably should speak for myself), our sense of practicality trumping our sense of fashion. We know that we look like side-by-side dorks when we’re out together, marching into a coffee shop in our mom uniforms of matching brown backpacks and comfortable workout clothes. We’ve tried out other backpacks, purses and such, but we always go back to our matching backpacks, back to the tried and true. And when we do, it can get confusing. Sometimes, I will run off with her backpack thinking it’s mine; other times, she will rifle through mine looking for something of hers (usually her wallet or cell phone). Look closely, however, and all is not the same. While she prefers to toss her wallet into the depths of the roomy main compartment, I prefer to slip mine into the discreet zippered pocket along the back panel. But we agree that the smaller, outer pocket is the ideal place to keep our lipsticks close at hand. We know what’s important here.

When I was a new mom nervously venturing out with two babies, I’d gone the sylish route, accessorizing my double stroller with diaper bags by Fleureville or Skip*Hop. I eschewed what I deemed to be an ordinary diaper bag. I knew I wasn’t a cool mom, but thought a cool looking diaper bag might be a step in that direction. I even purchased a Baby Sherpa diaper bag which, with its pockets within pockets, had me hoping I’d be soon be zipping my way to an organized life. However, all of these bags just didn’t work for me as a mom of twins. Most diaper bags are made to house the travel essentials of just one baby, not two. If a mom of a singleton carried two changes of clothes for her baby, I needed four changes and so on. These bags were not designed to cart around the essentials of twin babies. Besides, I could never get the straps of those diaper bags to stretch the length between the handlebars of my double stroller. I always had to hang it lamely off just one side.

I never did find the perfect diaper bag during those early years when my twins were still in diapers. Finally, though, my twins turned 3 and with potty training pretty much behind us, I found I could travel more lightly. I no longer needed to bring along so. much. stuff. I decided to downgrade the size, exchanging my hip but impractical diaper bags for a more practical mom bag. Then, I discovered the bland but practical Nikole Day Bag by REI. Perfect!

The beauty of this compact bag is in its construction. It can be worn as a sling pack or as a backpack. There are two side pockets for my bottled water. My phone and lipstick and other small items fit in the small front pockets. My wallet, as I mentioned, slides into the secret back panel where it is practically pick pocket proof. The rest gets dumped into the main compartment, which is roomy enough to stash a book or two. This bag also gets points from me because it is made out of recycled plastic bottles and recycled polyester and gives me a chance to redeem my consumer-driven past that has left me with a closet full of unused diaper bags!

What’s in my backpack? Everything on the list below fits neatly into my Nikole Day Bag, with room to boot.

Cell phone
Lipstick
Pull-ups (1-2 just in case)
Pocket camera
iPod
Pens + small notebook
Hand wipes
Hand sanitizer
Nail clippers (for my kids)
1-2 Sigg bottles for water (one if I’m out solo; two if out with my kids)
Book
Wallet
Snacks (for my kids)
Travel size lotion
Contact lens solution + storage case
Keys
Small purchases

But by far biggest plus is that a backpack enables me to be HANDS FREE. This is essential! I need to be hands free to manage grocery bags, sand toys, preschool art and the occasional boy in a tantrum. I tried handbags, oh yes I did, but handbags don’t leave you hands free, especially the trendy, designer brands. I do see many moms (some from my multiples club, even) toting these stylish handbags but I just can’t pull it off. I have one friend, also a mom of twins, who carries only what she can stash in her pockets. I can’t pull that off either. That would be like walking around naked and God knows my belly will never see the light of day ever again.

Oooh….oooh! I just noticed that REI has given the Nikole Day Bag a slightly more modern look. Mine is definitely boring by comparison. Dare I buy another? While it could still never masquerade as a stylish Fleureville bag, it’s not exactly a dour bag either. It’s more of an earthy mom goes to yoga look, which is not exactly the look I’m going for but seems to be the look that’s going for me. Oh, well, all I really care about is that I can go about hands free. I wonder if my friend and I will upgrade our backpacks together? I have a hunch we will.

Posted by Akemi (April 7, 2008)

Cross posted from Chalk and Cheese Chronicles.

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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What another wonderful meeting of new and expectant parents! I am always amazed at how large these meetings have gotten. I was a New & Expectant Parents (NEP) Liaison a couple years ago organizing these get-togethers and our meetings were half the current size. It’s fantastic! I guess this is what happens when you finally have a board member focused on advertising the club on popular online mailing lists and discussion groups.

This month’s New & Expectant Parents Meeting focused on travelling with your twins (or more!). A panel of eight parents offered their tried and true tips for making the entire journey doable while saving the sanity of the parents. I love it when we arrange panels of parents for topics like travel. This is a true benefit of membership – parents sharing advice and wisdom with other parents. We were also joined by Kelly Rubingh, an itinerant mom of two, whose Family Travel agency focuses on condo and resort packages in Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean as well as Disney vacations. By the way, the services of a travel agent are free (to you) as they get paid commissions by hotels, airlines, etc for booking portions of your trip.

It was an enlightening hour of travel stories related, questions asked and answers (or options) given. All of the panel members had travelled long and short distances, in cars and via planes, stayed in hotels and relatives’ homes – and all had a lot to say about their journeys, good and bad.

The NEPs had collected a long list of travel tips from many club members and distributed them in a document to the meeting participants. (Wish I had that document years ago….). Here are a few:

• Pack one extra set of clothing for each baby for each leg and lots of Ziploc bags to throw soiled clothing in.
• Bring an extra set of clothing for each parent.
• Bring your stroller. Those airports are huge and you will be walking a long while.
• Research equipment rentals like Akamai Mothers so you don’t have to bring everything with you. Another site called Baby’s Away offers equipment rental in many resorts and cities throughout the USA.
• Even if your twins are under 2 years old, seriously consider buying at least one extra seat for the two of them. Having them both in your lap on a long flight - or even a short one - is very difficult.
• Bring a few items to childproof wherever you’re staying such as heavy duty tape (secure cabinets and doors), outlet covers, twist ties to secure long cords, and Lysol wipes.

One of the members demonstrated how the popular GoGo Kidz Travelmates worked. This popular piece of travel equipment allows you to roll your car seat around on the ground while giving your kids a ride through the airport. One of our members now rents hers out to members as needed.

As an alternative to the GoGo Kidz Travelmate, I showed how my husband tied small loops of rope around the backs of our Britax Marathon car seats and hooked up the leashes from our carryons/rollerboards. He simply attached the leashes to our carryons as one would a purse or briefcase. Easy and nice to have the extra storage space on the plane.

As always, it was an entertaining evening with babies cooing, crying and squirming everywhere. And the best piece of advice I’ll take away from the evening - Take a deep breath and remember that every minute gone is one less to spend on the flight.

Original Gemini Crickets blog post.

Posted by Linda D (March 26, 2008)

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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We had a great speaker for our General Meeting in March - Valerie Lewis, co-founder of Hicklebees Bookstore. She read from a wide selection of childrens books that she likes and talked about why reading to your kids is so important. While reading excerpts, she had lots to say about how and what you read to your kids. She offered some tips such as:

• Read books that you like - your child can tell if you have lost your enthusiasm or are reading something that you don’t like.
• Don’t worry about “dumbing” down the books or words - even if they don’t understand all the words, they will still understand the story. You can always go back and talk about new words and concepts.
• Trust your children if they want to hear a “scary” story. They often focus on different elements than adults, and may not see a scary story in the same way.
• Try to read to your kids for 20 minutes each day - but that is just a goal.

One of the topics she felt strongly about was not worrying about teaching your kids to read so early. Valerie talked about just reading to your kids for the fun of it - and to offer books without any expectations. Without the pressure, your kids will learn to love books; and they will learn to read.

Valerie also talked about a couple of books that she thought should be a part of every child’s library:

• When We Were Young - AA Milne - exposes your kids to rhyming and rhythms
• Mother Goose collection - any version - just pick one that you like
• Where’s Spot? - Eric Hill - fun first flap book
• Anything from Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classics (a compilation she helped put together) including Goodnight Moon, Harold and the Purple Crayon, George Shrinks, Caps for Sale, and more.

She read from a large selection of newer and older books - too many to list here. But if you go into Hicklebees Bookstore, they can always give you lots of suggestions. Valerie was such an engaging speaker - you just wish you could have her come over every night and read to your whole family! I would definitely recommend that you hear her speak if you get the opportunity.

Posted by Nora K. (March 21, 2008)

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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The only thing I ever won, I won at a Gemini Crickets auction fundraiser. There were the silent auctions, the live auctions, and of course, my fave, the good old-fashioned raffle drawings. I love the excitement of plunking my tickets into the bags, rubbing each one between my fingers for good luck. But I almost never win. I used to plop my business card into those fish bowls at various local eateries, hoping to win a complimentary burrito or something, but it never happened. I just don’t win things. I leave comments on mommy blogs, describing my ill-fitting wardrobe, or the bags under my eyes, in hopes that the blog owner will pick my name and give me a free t-shirt or a makeover, or something. But I’ve yet to win anything. No free t-shirts, no makeover, zilch. Nada.

Last year was not my year as far as Gemini Crickets auction winnings go. But the year before that? That was my golden year. I actually won something! One thing, actually. My name alone was plunked out of a bag that read, “Hiller Aviation Museum” - yes! I won! I won! For a whole year, my family got to go check out planes. Ok, so that’s really not my type of thing, but still, I’d won something, hadn’t I? Finally, a winning ticket! And my two boys had fun toddling about this small but wonderful museum.

I should mention that the auction is a fun way to socialize with other members of the club and their friends and families (it’s open to the public), while helping to raise funds for educational and philanthropic club events. I’ve learned that a lot of hard work and time goes into planning this event, and this donation of work and time is given by parents of multiples who, as you can guess, don’t exactly have a lot of spare time on their hands. Oh, and don’t forget about the potential to win things! They do win things, by the armful, they do, these lucky people. I’ve watched them jump up and claim their prizes, returning to their tables with a heck of a lot of loot. I console myself by hanging around the dessert table. Dessert is a great consolation prize.

I can’t wait to take a look at this year’s potential winnings. What won’t I win this year?

Want to attend?

Gemini Crickets Parents of Multiples of Silicon Valley Auction Fundraiser
Thursday, May 15th
Multi-Purpose Room @ Camden Community Center
Hawaiian Luau theme
Pot luck for appetizers, side dishes, appetizers
Club provides main course

Have an item to donate to the Auction? We are actively seeking donations. Contact us if you would like more information.

**** Visit the Gemini Crickets auction web page to learn more **** 

Posted by Akemi (March 17, 2008). Original Gemini Crickets Blog post.

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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I never thought about this particular aspect of having boy-girls twins until last year at a Gemini Crickets general meeting on kindergarten readiness - the tendency for the girl in the boy-girl twin relationship to “mother” her twin brother. Being a twin myself (I have an identical twin sister), I have sort of counted myself lucky in having boy-girl twins, because my sister and I definitely dealt with identity issues growing up. Being called “the twins” or “the girls,” our aunts and uncles not knowing which one was which, being compared by family and friends (which one is smarter, prettier, a better eater, more coordinated, etc.) - despite everyone’s best intentions, some of this is kind of inevitable. My sister and I are very, very close now, but went through a period of time where we consciously tried to be very different from each other to sort of find our own identities. This was, of course, during high school - when everyone tries to figure themselves out!

Anyway, I thought that the identity and dependency issues that twins often face would be less, if not non-existent, for boy-girl twins. After all, boys and girls can be so different from each other. They certainly look and dress differently, are often interested in different activities, naturally gravitate to having different friends, etc. So when the kindergarten readiness speaker was discussing whether or not and when to separate twins into different classes in school, I was surprised to hear that sometimes boy-girl twins do better being separated because the girl will tend to mother the boy, such that the boy really lets her do the bulk of the work and take care of him.

Looking at my own 4-year-old twins, I can certainly see that this is happening and has been happening for a while. My daughter loves to be a “little mommy” to her twin brother (and to her little sister too). And my son is perfectly happy to let her do all sorts of stuff for him. Take, for instance, today, when it was time to get dressed. My daughter got herself all undressed and dressed. Easy. Done. My son….sat on the couch and let his sister pick out his clothes, and start dressing him. He happily soaked this in. She happily played the mommy, parroting all the things I usually say during this process - “Do you want to pick your clothes today or should I?” “Pants down, please.” “Arms up, please.” “Go pee-pee in the potty, please.” “Try to put your clothes on yourself, please.” “Ok….all set! Good job.” Although I want my son to learn how to dress himself - someday…please? - it sure is cute watching the little mommy in action. Luckily, the mothering hasn’t gotten out of control, but I’ll definitely be watching for it.

I am sure this can happen the other way around in some cases, where the boy is more aggressive and the girl more shy, so that the boy takes the lead. I guess it always depends on the particular dynamic of your twins. Personally, my kids are doing just fine in preschool being in the same class - although they are in different group times - and I will be keeping them together in school as long as there isn’t a problem. The research into whether or not to separate twins in school covers many issues, but I basically believe that twins benefit from each other’s emotional support by being together in the early years of schooling. And I have learned that although many schools will have a policy of separating twins, you can often prevent this if you feel strongly about it. Things can - and will! - change over time, so I will see where my twins are at when it closer to the time for kindergarten. In the meantime, my “little mommy” will be helpful in all kinds of ways. Maybe she can start putting her brother to bed and making him breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack. Better yet, she can teach him how to cook for all of us!

Posted by Linsey (March 7, 2008). Linsey also blogs at Whereas and Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

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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A couple weeks ago, we had a guest speaker come to our club’s General Meeting to talk about Kindergarten Readiness. It’s part of a two-part series we offer our members every year. The second part is on Preschool readiness. One of these sessions includes a professional speaker from Parents Place and the other is a panel of parents from the club sharing their own perspectives and knowledge. For the first time this year, we had a professional speaker for the Kindergarten session and a panel of parents for the Preschool topic (switched from last year).

The Kindergarten session was not only eye-opening, it was somewhat of a relief. The speaker focused on the fact that the greatest preparation we could give our kids for Kindergarten is to make sure they attain the self-regulation (e.g., pays attention, controls impulses, follows directions), social expression (e.g., curiosity for learning, tells stories, social play) and self-help/motor skills to be successful at the Kindergarten level. School programs focus on the academics, so a Kindergarten teacher is confident a child can and will learn the academics.

Attaining the necessary social skills is of particular concern for parents of multiples, especially those with boy/girl twins. Often, the girls are more settled down than the boys at 3 and 4 years old. Do you split them up? Do you keep them both back? What are the ramifications on later development?

The Preschool session with a panel of parents representing different kinds of schools (e.g., parent participation, structured/academic, traditional/developmental, Montessori, religious, Explorer) demonstrated that there are several ways to attain the social, self-control and motor skills necessary. My girls were in a traditional/developmental school for a year and are now in a structured/academic one. Our motivation for moving our twins to a more structured program was our girls. They were displaying such a curiosity and desire to learn many things. We wanted to channel that desire to learn by putting them in a preschool environment that exposes them to many different areas be it math, art, dance, science, imaginative play and the like. Just as importantly, they had settled down tremendously over the last year – sitting in circle time, following directions, paying attention to the teachers, focusing on a project to completion, expressing their likes and dislikes in an acceptable, non-violent (whew!) way. Their new school presents many things that I would never have thought they could understand or handle at 3 years old…but they do. And they are both blossoming.

One of the questions I had when considering the potential preschools was whether there were other twins or multiples in the classrooms. If so, this gave me a small sense of relief that the teachers would not assume that the girls were alike. Additionally, they knew to split them up at circle time to give one twin more of a chance to work on her own without her sister “helping.” One of my girls is more outspoken and assertive than the other but also more emotionally dependent on her twin. The other is rather laid back and cautious but will quickly stand up for her twin if she thinks she’s being threatened in any way.

With twins, it’s difficult not to compare their development and achievement of certain goals. One twin typically catches on to certain activities or concepts faster than the other. The other is usually only about 3-4 weeks behind. So, the differences are usually not great. But I worry anyway. It’s hard not to. But now, with the enlightenment from the Kindergarten readiness session, I am no longer concerned. In my mind, for preschool, Kindergarten is the end game. So what if one of my girls is not writing her name perfectly every time – at 3 years old. She’s going to “get it.” They’re both going to “get” many things and now I know, much earlier than they really have to. And I am reassured.

Posted by Linda D (February 27, 2008) You can find more of Linda D’s stories of the ups and downs of raising twin preschoolers on It’s Never Easy But It’s Always Fun and as MommyTwinGirls on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

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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It’s birthday party season! The sweet aroma of cupcakes fill the air, colorful balloons decorate homes and party venues, children’s laughter and shrieks of delight can be heard miles away,  smooth wrapping paper and bows are quickly ripped into and the taste of sweet apple juice and creamy ice cream leave us with sugar highs. One set of twins in our playgroup of 8 sets of twins has already turned two and my twins are turning two this Friday. For the next few months, a set of twins will turn two every couple weeks. 

Where are you going to have their party?
What’s the theme?
What will they wear?
What kind of food are you serving?
Are you making the cake or buying one?

These are the questions that the moms in my playgroup have discussed at each play date. These are the questions that have kept me up at night since Christmas. 

Why does planning their second birthday party stress me out so much?  For me, my twins are my first kids and will be my last.  On the day of their first birthday, I cried while vacuuming the floor because I realized I am only going to plan a first birthday one time.  There will only be one first birthday, and one second birthday, etc., etc.  I suddenly felt the pressure to make every milestone and every event a really big deal because after all, I was only going to do it ONE time. 

For their first birthday, it was easy to limit the guests to close friends and family.  The kids weren’t even walking yet and they were happy to have a balloon and dig into a mound of sugary birthday cake.   The idea of planning a second birthday where we could invite their toddler friends and let them run around and play together, share some snacks and eat cake felt like a wonderful task if a bit overwhelming.  Those questions haunted me again, “Where will we have the party?  Will we serve food?  How many kids should we invite?”   Even more importantly, I worry one or both kids will get sick right before their birthday or they won’t sleep well the night before their party and be cranky the entire time.  The party will be in the morning (aren’t all 2 year olds happiest in the mornings?)  How in the world are my husband and I going to get them fed and ready, get our selves ready and get to the party site on time while loading and unloading the car full of food and decorations?  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is what stresses me out these days!

It’s amazing how much all the kids in our play group have changed over the last year.  And what a big difference birthday parties will be from last year to this year.  The kids are running around, eating independently, singing, dancing, holding hands and learning new words at an amazing rate.  Birthday parties have taken on a whole new meaning.  When my son sees anything that resembles dessert, he shouts, “CAKE!”  He is quickly learning that birthday parties equal cake and he is loving that.  My daughter just wants to hold all the balloons and open all the presents – even if they are not hers.  In preparation for their own birthday, we have been practicing how to blow out candles.  And you should see their faces light up when my husband and I sing Happy Birthday – two times, of course!

So as we make our way through the birthday party circuit in the next few months, I will treasure each moment and each milestone not only for my own kids, but for all the kids we’ve come to know and love in our twins play group.  I know that we will be celebrating birthday parties together for years to come and every year we will be saying, “Can you believe how much they have changed?”  But tonight I won’t be thinking about how much they have changed, instead I will lay awake in bed wondering what to put in the goodie bags and did I buy enough Sesame Street plates and napkins?

Posted by Amy T. (February 21, 2008)

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I’m sure Charles Dickens didn’t have twin toddlers in mind when he wrote his novel A Tale of Two Cities, but this quote sure springs to mind when I’m dealing with my two little screaming banshees angels. The world of toddlerhood with twins is at the same time a wondrous, magical, and endearing experience and a frustrating, exasperating, and overwhelming one. My once sweet and predictable babies have turned into volatile, unpredictable imps and I have come to learn the “toddler mantra”: “NO!!!/I WANT!!!/I DON’T WANT!!!/I DO IT MYSELF!!!”

Our twins turned 2.5 last July, and since then (they are now 3) our house has been filled with invisible emotional landmines that, when stepped upon, unleash an explosion of three foot tall blond-headed fury, complete with high-pitched screams and flailing arms and legs. The problem is that you never know when you’re going to get hit with one of these landmines. For example, at the slightest (and I do mean slightest!) wrinkle/tear/ smudge/break to anything that comes within reach of my daughter’s little fingers, she unleashes her own specific brand of toddler tyranny fury, yelling over and over (and over and over and over) again: “IT’S BROKEN!!! FIX IT!!! I WANT ANOTHER ONE!!!” My son, on the other hand, explodes into a high voltage revolution the minute he doesn’t get his way, screaming at such a high pitch (morning, noon, middle-of-the-night, it doesn’t matter… he’s an equal opportunity screamer) that I am quite shocked the police haven’t come banging down our door to investigate the child torture we are so obviously inflicting upon him.

And then there are the hallmarks of toddlerhood: the hundreds of tiny playtime remnants strewn about the house like so many pieces of toy “shrapnel” (why can’t toy manufacturers glue all those little pieces together?), their resistance to just about anything we ask them to do, and their absolute INABILITY to stay focused on one thing making getting dressed, climbing into the car, or going into the house a one-hour extravaganza. Then there’s the clinginess, the sleep issues, the fears of the dark/monsters, and their fierce independence rivaling that of our forefathers and foremothers during their fight for independence from “Mother” England.

Okay, so where does the “best of times” come in? I’m glad you asked, for the toddler years are filled with them: whimsical smiles (it’s not a cliché, it’s really true!); sloppy, wet kisses from the sweetest lips you will ever have the privilege to kiss; warm hugs from tiny, vulnerable arms; a cuteness that is so adorable you can almost sense the angels in heaven smiling down at them; an intense curiosity and a strong desire to understand everything; a burgeoning self-pride spurred on by their fierce independence; an emerging sense of empathy; an amazing burst in language ability; and a well-spring of love and tenderness. Yes, toddlerhood can be difficult, but the difficult times will gradually pass (God Willing). The good times—the wonder of toddlers—“ripen” with age, giving us that sense of love and bonding—that sense of family—that we wanted when we made the decision to have children in the first place.

Posted by Cheryl W. (February 13, 2008)

When Cheryl is not busy with the worst of times and the best of times, she also blogs at New Mom Central and 50-Something Moms Blog.