Tag Archives: Twin

Stressful Day Saved with Twin Love


I woke yesterday with high expectations, in a good mood, thinking it was going to be a great day. Well, sometimes, the universe has other plans, despite out best intentions.

Work started out being very crazy and stressful, fires right and left, and a few hurtful jabs.  Then mid-way thru the day, there was a violent stabbing incident at a factory on the next street; the attacker was running away, helicopter overhead, cops everywhere, we were on lock down for a couple of hours.  It was a strange incident, but not really scary, just…I don’t know, weird and sad.

Towards the end of the day, I got two pieces of bad news: my real estate clients, and friends, did not get a house they wanted, and someone I love lost her brother at far too young of an age.  There will be other houses, obviously, but the death was gut wrenching.  Although it put my stressful, bad day in prospective, I was in such pain for that family.

So I went home to deal with cranky kids not wanting to do homework, the usual.  Doing homework with twins has it’s own special challenges!

Then two wonderful things happened: my husband brought home dinner so I wouldn’t have to cook and the twins had a wonderful evening.  They started joking during dinner, and laughed like crazy.  After dinner they quickly took their showers and then started playing together, so nicely, and laughed an giggled until bedtime.  Dad and I relaxed and just listened and watched, with big smiles on our faces.  This rare anymore, they fight a lot of this age, and like to do different things usually.  However, on this tough night, they gave us perspective and melted away our stress with their giggles.

I am thankful.

Maybe I’ll Call The Twins Coinkidinks…


Siblings born on the same day, but not identical, as I’ve said, should not be called twins.  The word twins conjures up so many things that often don’t apply to my coinkidinks.  Such as they are so alike, they think for each other, they can’t be apart, etc.  Although sometimes those things can be true to my twins, they really are SOOO different.

There is something to be said for sharing the same womb, growing up simultaneously in every way, etc., but identicals take those things to a whole other level.  I’m not sure that if my twins had been born as just siblings, they would not be exactly the same; this cannot be said for indenticals.  Fraternal twins are siblings that just happen to be born on the same day.  Some parents of franternals will argue, saying their twins have a special connection, and I’m not denying that there may be some slight special connection, but for the most part, I bet if those kids were born on separate days, there would be mostly the same connection.  My sister and I were born almost two years apart, however, we had a special language, we call it “speakin family.”  When you share a room with someone you’re whole childhood, you learn to read each other, you know that person better than anyone else knows them.  You don’t have to be twins to have that connection.

So I’m trying out the word “coinkidinks” for my kids, siblings that were coincidentally born on the same day.

If you’re a parent of multiples, I would love to hear what you think on the subject.  Even if you’re not a parent of multiples, can you think of another word that could be used for fraternal twins?

(Of course, this is for fun, I’m not really on a mission to change the scientific terminology used for siblings born on the same day.)

How Do You Handle Change?


Why can’t I fall asleep?  Geez, you’d think I was the one starting kindergarten tomorrow!  Then as I lay here listening to my husband’s gentle snore, I realize it because my life is about to change, again.  And yet his life will pretty much remain unchanged, except for the less frequent late nights with the kids.  Which, let’s face it, is not necessary a bad thing.  I’m talking the daily routine parts of our lives, for the most part.

I say again because since the twins were born, my “daily routine” has never been the same.  First I stopped working, which was a huge, and not always good, change for me. Then there’s the day-to-day craziness of raising twins.  Then, when I tried to find work, the economy had been turned on its ear, and again, more change for me, no job to be found.

Fast forward almost 6 years, with some other changes along the way (milestones, preschool, etc.), and after juggling the house, kids, and several part-time gigs, tomorrow my kids are going to be gone for 5 hours, every day! WTF?  It’s going to seem weird at first, and now I will fiercely be looking to work, even more pressure on the job hunt now.  Especially as I can finally look for different types of work, since little to no babysitting is required (see my earlier post to understand this, At what point does salary vs. babysitting costs make it worth taking the job?? ). Bam, another change!  I know so many moms are relating to this, the first step of many to the empty house syndrome.

Meanwhile, hubby is still going to the same job everyday.  Tomorrow, after we drop off the kids, his day will be the same, while mine will be forever changed.  Not to say that things didn’t change along the way for him, obviously, I realize having kids has forever changed his life, but aside from getting up a bit earlier in the morning, and his evening no longer being his own, it hasn’t much changed his daily routine.  I’m getting up earlier, no longer having my evenings, AND my daily routine is continually changing.

I don’t have any ill feelings about it, I don’t think one situation is better or worse than the other, it’s just the way our life has played out and I’m fine with it.  But I think it does explain why I’m much more emotional about tomorrow (or now, later today), than he probably is, why I’m still awake at 2:00 A.M!

Have you and your partner both experienced many changes over the course of your relationship?  If not, do you think the one with the more consistent daily routine recognizes the differences?