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You’re in the ultrasound room with your partner. The nurse is rolling the scanner gadget over your bump. “Congratulations Mrs Smith”, she exclaims. “You are having twins!”.
This is a situation that occurs more often than you would expect in clinics all around the world. For parents of twins there is a whole world of challenges that lie ahead for them, and one of the biggest challenges they will encounter once the babies are born is the challenge of shopping with twins!
There are two parts to this challenge. The first being what you actually buy for them, the next challenge is the actual act of shopping!
In This Post:
Twins or Individuals
The first thing you will want to think about before the twins arrive is how you want to dress them. Some parents of twins like to have them dressed in exactly the same clothes, and looking almost identical in appearance, whilst others decide to deliberately dress them differently so they each have an individual appearance.
This choice is really an individual one, and there is not really a right or wrong answer. Some parents claim that dressing their twins exactly the same helps them develop a very strong powerful twin bond, whilst some say that doing this stifles the children’s ability to grow individual personalities which could cause them problems in later life.
Toys
You will cross a similar bridge when it comes to toys. do you buy exactly the same toys for both twins or different ones? A great piece of advice I once heard was that you should just buy one set of toys as this forces the twins to share from an early age. You may have to deal with some squabbles at first but they will learn very quickly.
This problem is sidestepped if you happen to have twins that are different sexes of course. The same of course would be true of the clothes challenge.
Taking The Plunge
Shopping with one child is a challenge, and shopping with two can border on extremely stressful! If you are lucky when the twins are very young they may even sleep while you shop. It is when your twins hit toddler age when the real fun begins.
At that point it becomes a good idea to have someone watch your children while you shop if you can. If you do take them with you then make sure you have plenty to entertain them as you go.
Make the trip interesting for them. Pointing various different things out to them, and getting them to say the names of things as you go round. A good thing to do is to get them working together, with one naming things and the other pointing the item out as they see it.
Generally shopping with twins is no different than shopping with two children that aren’t twins. The only difference being the odd admiring glance of people who recognize your children are twins.
The Future
Generally, whichever avenue you go down with your twins in regards to dressing them alike or not, you will find that as they get older they will decide how they want to dress. Some twins grow up liking the matching outfit idea, whilst other totally reject the very thought of being dressed in the same way as their twin.
In reality, as much as a challenge shopping with and for twins can be, as long as your children are cared for and loved just the same, they will grow up centered and happy individuals.