Parent to Parent: Twins

5-year-old fraternal twins Annie and Lucy may have the same birthday, but they don’t have everything in common.

Lori Jimenez, mom
"Annie is a sports fan, wants to wear her Patriots shirt all the time, and Lucy loves to color and pays attention to detail and likes little things. They're definitely are different."

Parenting experts say it’s important to encourage twins to have their own identities.

Maureen O'Brien, PhD, Parenting Expert
"Always use their names; don't call them 'the twins.' I think dressing them alike is kind of a slippery slope because then you're encouraging people to treat them that way, and it sort of points out the twinness."

Parents should also try to spend one-on-one time with each twin.

Maureen O’Brien, PhD, Parenting Expert
"Instead of lets look at the report cards at the same time or lets look at your homework at the same time, the more you can, if you're a two parent family, divide and conquer, the better."

Lori Jimenez, mom
"We definitely do try to spend individual time, whether it’s on the weekends taking one kid to the supermarket instead of another, or instead of all of them."

And when its time to start school, it’s often easier if twins are in the same classes at first, but ultimately it's good for them to be on their own.

Maureen O’Brien, PhD, Parenting Expert
"They have richer conversations at the end of the day because they've had different days. They can compare notes and talk about who they sat next to on the bus, and their world got bigger the moment they got separated."

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