Raising Kids – Put Them To Work!
For years my wife and I have been cleaning up after our kids. While this is, of course, part of raising kids, it got to the point where it was taking up so much time that it was affecting our ability to parent 
well. We no longer had as much time to spend with our children – read to them, play catch, discipline…etc. These struggles are doubled of course when raising twins. The solution – and this is age-old parenting advice – we began training them to do their own house work.
We took this beyond typical chores (like setting the table) that are easy and often superfluous. Instead, we taught our kids to serve themselves dinner, wash windows, vacuum, and clean the kitchen after each meal. I was skeptical at first, as I wasn’t sure they would do a good enough job. In the beginning they often didn’t. However, our kids learned quickly, and they actually now enjoy their new responsibilities.
For this to work we had to structure the environment. For example, with dinner, we couldn’t just let them eat what they wanted. Instead, we set the food on the table, and allow them to serve themselves from the four major food groups. Their eyes are often bigger than the bellies, but they know when they’re full. If they eat something from every group, they can have dessert – after they clean up the kitchen.
With general clean up (e.g., bedrooms, playroom…etc) we had to limit the number of toys. As you know, kids can destroy a room in less than a minute. They seem to have a knack for finding the games and toys that have thousands of pieces. Cleaning it all up can take an hour. By limiting the toys we made it easier for them to take charge of this.
Allowing our kids to help with the house work is building their self-esteem and fostering responsibility. It also allows my wife and I more quality time to enjoy our children and each other. We all work together, as a family, to keep our house in order. It’s far from a perfect system, but it’s a vast improvement.
Final Parenting Tip. If you think it’s just easier to do all the chores yourself, it may be, but only at first. The reality is that it’s not sustainable and will make you miserable long-term. Do you really want to be cleaning up after your 15-year-old TWINS!
Hope this helps!
Raising Twins – 5 First Year Survival Tips
Having twins is super exciting! The excitement fades very quickly however after the sleepless nights, crying (oh the crying), fighting with your spouse, and never being 
able to meet all the demands on you. As parents, how are we to survive? The following 5 tips should help you maintain at least a little sanity. Read more
Raising Twins – And Getting Out the Door
It can be hell getting out the door with toddler twins – coats, hats, shoes, potty – you know the story. Just when they’re dressed somebody starts teasing, crying, fussing. Or, one gets completely undressed while you take the other to the potty. Sometimes they must just be dangling off the deck! In short, you end up frustrated, angry, and late. Here’s a parenting tip used by a mom raising her three-year-old twins. Read more
Parenting Twins – Keep Them Unique
As parents of twins we are the first to recognize that regardless of DNA similarities, they’re different. Each 
child is unique. We get bombarded by well-meaning folks bent on asking “are they identical, how do you tell them apart, it must be so fun to dress them up!” While all this is indeed part of the joy of raising twins it’s important to recognize and highlight them as individuals. Doing so will do little to quell the questions from well-meaning friends, but will do wonders to build the self-esteem in each twin. Read more
Having Twins and Toddler Sleep
(Please note that since this was posted – we are now co-sleeping with our kids. This is way better than anything – check out www.unschoolers.org for more. We no longer subscribe to what is written below, but leave it there as a reminder of the struggles we have overcome with the wonderful bonding time and sacredness of co-sleeping).
Getting kids to sleep through the night is difficult enough, but having twins presents unique challenges. Besides waking and keeping each other up, they work together to do the craziest things! I’ll never forget the first time, we put our twins in “big kid” beds. At just under three years old, they worked together to take the mattress off one of the beds and position it against the wall to make a slide. They then proceeded to climb up and slide down, climb up and slide down.
My Twins Are Driving Me Crazy!
I love my kids, BUT! A common refrain – I suspect you know the feelings of frustration behind it. That’s why this site was created. We want to help others by sharing (and venting) our thoughts and experiences. We encourage both moms and dads of multiples to share. Why? Because one kid is easy! Read more
