Parenting School-Age Twins and Multiples » (1ST)

Christina Baglivi Tinglof is the mother of three sons, including school-age twins. She is also a contributing writer for Twins! magazine, founder and editor of www.talk-about-twins.com, and the author of Double Duty, The Organized Parent, and The Stay-at-Home Parent's Survival Guide. She lives in southern California.

Real-world advice for when your twins' and multiples' concerns go beyond "Should they dress alike?"

Should your twins be placed in the same homeroom at school? Does one of your kids have a harder time making friends than the other? How healthy is competition among your triplets? Christina Baglivi Tinglof, author of Double Duty and a mother of twins, expertly guides you through your kids' school years, from the first days of kindergarten to the always drama-filled years of high school.

Drawing from the latest cutting-edge research and hundreds of parent-tested tips, Tinglof offers proven advice to:

• Encourage individuality
• Foster positive sibling relationships
• Discipline effectively
• Deal with one child developing faster than the other
• Manage common speech and reading difficulties

Christina Baglivi Tinglof is the mother of three sons, including school-age twins. She is also a contributing writer for Twins! magazine, founder and editor of www.talk-about-twins.com, and the author of Double Duty, The Organized Parent, and The Stay-at-Home Parent's Survival Guide. She lives in southern California.

Foreword     ix
Acknowledgments     xv
Introduction     xvii
Understanding the Intratwin Relationship     1
The Six Subgroups of Twinning     2
The Twin Bond     10
Nature Versus Nurture: The Big Debate     15
The Twin Advantage: The Real Story     22
A Friend for Life     28
Developing Identity and Promoting Individuality     29
Identity Challenges for Twins and Multiples     30
Promoting Individuality     36
Multiples and Friendships     47
When One Twin Dominates the Other     59
Providing Privacy     64
Sometimes "I" and Sometimes "We"     69
Double Discipline     71
Managing Multiple Children     72
Tween and Teen Multiples: Are They Harder to Discipline?     81
You've Got It Under Control     86
Multiples and Education     89
Kindergarten Readiness     90
Separate or Together?     96
When Multiples Differ in Ability     115
Learning Difficulties     121
School Is Now in Session     127
Combating Competition and Promoting Cooperation     129
What Is Sibling Rivalry?     130
The Positive Side to Twin Competitiveness     145
And They All Lived Happily Ever After     149
Rethinking Fairness and Fighting Favoritism     151
I Just Want to Be Fair     152
Understanding Favoritism     158
All's Fair That's Not Fair     168
When They Reach Puberty: Multiples as Teenagers     169
The Advantages of Being a Teenage Multiple     170
The Challenges of Being a Teenage Multiple     173
The Twin Body     190
Two Times the Hormones and Two Times the Fun     195
Family Relationships: Mom, Dad, and the Single-Born Siblings     197
Family Dynamics 101     198
The Siblings     203
The Parents     212
One Big, Happy Family     219
Bibliography     221
Index     227