Giving Twins a Sense of Self
June 18th, 2008 by admin
In Joan Friedman’s book Emotionally Healthy Twins: A New Philosophy for Parenting Two Unique Children, she discusses how to give each twin a sense of self in their lives. She suggests having individual birthday parties, their own friends and having alone time with parents. She believes that some competition between twins is healthy, but that parents need to be aware if it becomes an issue and give them tools to get it handled. She gives seven guidelines to follow; Think of them as unique individuals, expect to have different feelings for each child, give them alone time with you, don’t try to maintain and equal or fair childhood, don’t compare them, encourage them to make their own friends and have their own interests, and don’t rely on them to be each other’s constant companion. This book is a great resource for those struggling with how to raise their twins.