The following is an edited excerpt from the July Mag
Hi Everyone,
I don't know about you, but personally I can't believe it's almost half way through 2009! Our trio will start pre-entry kindy in a few weeks, then full-time Preschool in October. They will be four in August. Where have my babies gone?
I am looking forward to discovering how Noah, Zoe and Sophia will interact with each other while at Kindy Monday to Thursday. We're hoping they'll be distracted by other children and learning experiences, and will leave their sibling squabbles for home. At child care lately there have been a few reports of inappropriate behaviour amongst the three of them, just generally annoying each other. It is clearly a very unique situation having siblings together in the same class or child care -- and an interesting one for parents and teachers!
I know one mother of triplets who sent her trio to preschool for some of the same sessions, but also some different, meaning she often had one with her for individual time. We're starting them in the same sessions and will see how that goes. I am very keen for them to be seen as individuals rather than a "gang" who must always be together, so splitting them a bit while it's possible may be a good idea!
If you have a story to tell or some tips that worked for you, please let me know!
There are two new additions to our expectant HOM group, I will officially welcome them in the next Mag! We now have four expectant triplet families. It's getting busy! What an exciting time for these families, it seems like a lifetime ago when ours were born!
Until next time,
Bianca
Monday, July 13, 2009
President's Report July 2009
The following is an edited excerpt from the July Mag
Hi All,
Welcome to another issue of the Multiple Mag. This issue we have some stories about multiples in schools. This has always fascinated me, along with how the multiples feel about being multiple. I enjoyed reading these articles and hope you do too. Thank you to those who sent in articles, we'd still love to hear about other multiples (eg boy twins, girl twins, boy/girl twins, higher order multiples) and their stories and experiences with school. Please send to the Office.
It will also be Father's Day soon, and we'd love to have some sort of function for dads of multiples. Please let the Office know if you have any ideas and can get involved in the organisation of something.
Until next time,
Anne
Hi All,
Welcome to another issue of the Multiple Mag. This issue we have some stories about multiples in schools. This has always fascinated me, along with how the multiples feel about being multiple. I enjoyed reading these articles and hope you do too. Thank you to those who sent in articles, we'd still love to hear about other multiples (eg boy twins, girl twins, boy/girl twins, higher order multiples) and their stories and experiences with school. Please send to the Office.
It will also be Father's Day soon, and we'd love to have some sort of function for dads of multiples. Please let the Office know if you have any ideas and can get involved in the organisation of something.
Until next time,
Anne
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Birthday Parties with Multiples
Birthday’s create an unusual dilemma for multiples when one but not both/all are invited to a party.
We have had lots of birthday parties last year and this year where both of my twins Matthew and Lauren were invited to the party. I was often amazed when I rang up to rsvp for both of them that I’d often get a long pause on the other end of the phone which was followed up at the party by the parents saying “are they twins?” or “I didn’t know they were twins!”.
Recently though I had the instance where Matthew was invited to a birthday party for a boy from kindy but Lauren wasn’t. They both came home so excited that they’d been invited to a party but when I looked at the invitation it was only for Matthew. I wondered how I was going to explain this to Lauren. I tried but anyone who was tried to explain anything to a 4 ½ year old will know it can be quite a negotiation. When I explained that only Matthew was invited and perhaps it was a party for boys she replied with “But he said I could come!”
How could I argue with that! Kid’s do have a habit of inviting everyone to their party, my two even wanted their swimming teacher to come to their party last year. I wondered how I was going to approach this.
I didn’t want to rsvp and force them to invite Lauren. I am always so conscious that Matthew and Lauren are not a package deal. Most of the time, I try to focus on their individuality and always struggle to try and get some one on one time. How could I now turn around and treat them like a package. Lauren was so upset though, it was like she was facing social rejection at such a young age (a bit dramatic I know)!!
Anyway, when I did ring up to rsvp, after I had said Matthew would love to come the party the mother asked if Lauren would also be able to come.
What a relief! That being said we weren’t even given a weeks notice and that meant I now had to go shopping for not one but two presents. Yes that is the other dilemma …. the presents. I have now adopted a policy that family friends’ children get one present from the family and children from kindy and childcare get two presents, one from Matthew and one from Lauren. Hang on though what about our good friends that we’ve met through the two plus us group? On that logic we could end up taking 4 presents ….. a present for each of the other twins from each of my twins. Agghh!!!
That’s just going to other children’s parties. Then there are the questions about what to do for their party. Matthew and Lauren are turning 5 in November and will still have a combined party. I can’t quite fathom 2 whole parties yet. At this stage luckily most of their friends are the same. I’m not sure how many will be coming though when I start to think about the list it sounds a little overwhelming. Just adding up my 3 closest friends with twins (all also turning 5 in November!!) that’s 8 children, plus there’s kindy, childcare and family friends. Oh well, I still look forward to it and make sure every year they have a separate birthday cake each.
We have had lots of birthday parties last year and this year where both of my twins Matthew and Lauren were invited to the party. I was often amazed when I rang up to rsvp for both of them that I’d often get a long pause on the other end of the phone which was followed up at the party by the parents saying “are they twins?” or “I didn’t know they were twins!”.
Recently though I had the instance where Matthew was invited to a birthday party for a boy from kindy but Lauren wasn’t. They both came home so excited that they’d been invited to a party but when I looked at the invitation it was only for Matthew. I wondered how I was going to explain this to Lauren. I tried but anyone who was tried to explain anything to a 4 ½ year old will know it can be quite a negotiation. When I explained that only Matthew was invited and perhaps it was a party for boys she replied with “But he said I could come!”
How could I argue with that! Kid’s do have a habit of inviting everyone to their party, my two even wanted their swimming teacher to come to their party last year. I wondered how I was going to approach this.
I didn’t want to rsvp and force them to invite Lauren. I am always so conscious that Matthew and Lauren are not a package deal. Most of the time, I try to focus on their individuality and always struggle to try and get some one on one time. How could I now turn around and treat them like a package. Lauren was so upset though, it was like she was facing social rejection at such a young age (a bit dramatic I know)!!
Anyway, when I did ring up to rsvp, after I had said Matthew would love to come the party the mother asked if Lauren would also be able to come.
What a relief! That being said we weren’t even given a weeks notice and that meant I now had to go shopping for not one but two presents. Yes that is the other dilemma …. the presents. I have now adopted a policy that family friends’ children get one present from the family and children from kindy and childcare get two presents, one from Matthew and one from Lauren. Hang on though what about our good friends that we’ve met through the two plus us group? On that logic we could end up taking 4 presents ….. a present for each of the other twins from each of my twins. Agghh!!!
That’s just going to other children’s parties. Then there are the questions about what to do for their party. Matthew and Lauren are turning 5 in November and will still have a combined party. I can’t quite fathom 2 whole parties yet. At this stage luckily most of their friends are the same. I’m not sure how many will be coming though when I start to think about the list it sounds a little overwhelming. Just adding up my 3 closest friends with twins (all also turning 5 in November!!) that’s 8 children, plus there’s kindy, childcare and family friends. Oh well, I still look forward to it and make sure every year they have a separate birthday cake each.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
In the Mag - "Multiples in School"
Our theme for July's Mag is "Multiples in School", with lots of stories from members about their school experiences - from preschool and kindy to starting high school as a multiple.
It's fascinating to read about how parents and multiples have found their school experiences, and we'd love to hear more!
Please add your comments to this post or, if you've registered on the blog, create your own post. Not sure how to get started? Email me and I can send you some easy to follow instructions!
It's fascinating to read about how parents and multiples have found their school experiences, and we'd love to hear more!
Please add your comments to this post or, if you've registered on the blog, create your own post. Not sure how to get started? Email me and I can send you some easy to follow instructions!
Multiples in School
Starting school is a huge milestone - for both parents and children! As with all things multiple, it can be especially stressful for families with two or more children taking this step at the same time. There is, of course, lots of information on the web - from anecdotal stories to academic research. To help navigate this maze, SAMBA has identified the following websites as being especially useful.
Top of the list has to be Two, Four, Six, Eight: Educating Twins, Triplets and More
This website is produced by well-known twin researchers David Hay and Pat Preedy. It "provides information, new knowledge and downloadable materials with regard to the educational needs of multiple birth children", and its breadth of material is fantastic. From Preschool to Secondary school, with lots of adjucnt topics too (eg Getting ready for school, Best practice and school policy), there is plenty of information for those looking for a research-oriented perspective. There are also many downloads available, including a "Checklist for parent/teacher discussion of twin separation" and a "Speech and Language Checklist".
How other parents of twins deal with school can be equally informative. For some anecodatal viewpoints, check out Twins in School: To Separate or Not to Separate, That is the Question, by Gail Jacobs. For a triplet mother's perspective, read the article Seperate Classes at the MOST (mothers of super-twins) website.
Finally, About.com's Parenting School-Aged Multiples has a plethora of school-related topics, including the perennial seperate/together classrooms issue, helping multiples with homework and back-to-school tips. Written by a twin mother in the U.S.
Have you found something of interest on the web that we haven't mentioned here? Share it by commenting below!
Top of the list has to be Two, Four, Six, Eight: Educating Twins, Triplets and More
This website is produced by well-known twin researchers David Hay and Pat Preedy. It "provides information, new knowledge and downloadable materials with regard to the educational needs of multiple birth children", and its breadth of material is fantastic. From Preschool to Secondary school, with lots of adjucnt topics too (eg Getting ready for school, Best practice and school policy), there is plenty of information for those looking for a research-oriented perspective. There are also many downloads available, including a "Checklist for parent/teacher discussion of twin separation" and a "Speech and Language Checklist".
How other parents of twins deal with school can be equally informative. For some anecodatal viewpoints, check out Twins in School: To Separate or Not to Separate, That is the Question, by Gail Jacobs. For a triplet mother's perspective, read the article Seperate Classes at the MOST (mothers of super-twins) website.
Finally, About.com's Parenting School-Aged Multiples has a plethora of school-related topics, including the perennial seperate/together classrooms issue, helping multiples with homework and back-to-school tips. Written by a twin mother in the U.S.
Have you found something of interest on the web that we haven't mentioned here? Share it by commenting below!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
More Fenced Playgrounds
We have added some new entries to our list of fenced playgrounds over on the SAMBA website, in the Western suburbs. If you know of any other playgrounds that aren't on our list, please let me know (with a specific address, if possible) so I can add them!
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