Raising twins is double the fun — and double the work, say the parents of twins we spoke to. From never being able to get a babysitter to becoming a full-blown multi-tasking ninja, here are 25 reasons you know you’re raising twins.
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You Know You Are Raising Twins When…
#1. You can’t sign up for baby swim classes unless you bring a friend along to take one twin!
#2. You become obsessed with trolleys that hold two children, and you quietly judge (or outright stalk) anyone who takes one when they only have a single child — or, worse, no child at all!
Some of you have even arrived at the shops and had to leave empty-handed, hungry and grumpy because you couldn’t track down the elusive twin trolley!
#3. When you are seriously impressed by a parent of triplets.
#4. When you can do as much with your feet as you can with your hands! This includes everything from feeding, to holding one back while changing the other, to bouncing both in their chairs while you try to drink a cup of coffee to stay awake. You are officially a multitasking ninja.
#5. When you don’t — and can’t — just “pop out” anywhere, and every single journey requires a buggy.
#6. When you have a boy/girl twin combo and you end up dressing him in her clothes and her in his!
#7. You start calling non-multiple children “singletons.”
#8. When you’ve been asked a million times, “Is there a history of twins in your family?”
So, just to save you repeating yourself: fraternal (non-identical) twins tend to run in families, but identical twins don’t. And by the way, it’s a myth that twins skip a generation.
Recommended Reading: 15 Myths About Babies Every Parent Should Know
#9. Other questions you have to answer…
- No, they are not identical (particularly when they’re boy/girl twins).
- Yes, they’re natural.
- No, we didn’t plan them.
- Yes, I have my hands full.
- Did you have them yourself? How very personal!
#10. As they get older, you dread opening a party invitation in case only one of them has been invited.
#11. When you have eight car seats just for the twins — two for your car, two for your partner’s, two for your Mum and Dad’s, and two for the in-laws’.
#12. When you become pregnant again, and people ask if you want to know the sex of the baby — but your only real question now is how many.
#13. When nobody wants to babysit for you.
#14. When you can only talk in plural.
#15. When an industrial-size pack of wipes only lasts a day.
Recommended Reading: Positive Parenting Tips Every New Parent Should Know
#16. When you seriously consider buying a second washing machine.
#17. When you’re relieved when they start walking, because they’re getting too heavy to carry — and it’s easier to chase two toddlers than to carry both.
#18. When your buggy is needed for absolutely every task.
#19. When you choose your next car based on how big the boot is, and whether the buggy will fit in alongside the shopping.
#20. When you bring them to developmental checks and honestly can’t remember which twin rolled over first, or which one stood first.
#21. When dinnertime looks like a restaurant production line.
#22. When you can’t remember which twin you fed first last time.
Recommended Reading: Essential Guide to Baby Weaning
#23. When you have to ask who you’re actually talking to — whether it’s on the phone or from another room.
#24. When you have to run your home like an SAS soldier just to get through each day.
#25. When you realise you never wrote their names on the back of any photos, and now you genuinely can’t tell which twin is which.
Every parent of twins we’ve spoken to says the same thing: take individual photos too, and write the name on the back straight away. Future you will thank you.
Related Reading
If you enjoyed this, you might also like:
- 15 Myths About Babies Every Parent Should Know
- Positive Parenting Tips Every New Parent Should Know
- The Essential Guide to Baby Weaning
Recognise Yourself Here?
Are you raising twins? We’d love to hear your own “you know you’re raising twins” moments — share them in the comments below, and save this article to come back to on the hard days when you need a laugh.
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