More than 3,500 twins, triplets and quads attended Twins Days, the annual twins festival in Twinsburg, Ohio.
Check out this news story, and don’t forget to watch this video too.
TwinWatch: NPR ‘Storycorps’ features identical twins sharing their story
Identical twins Janice Morris and Caroline Satchell Morris talk about silly questions people ask twins, identical childhoods and twin pranks on NPR’s Storycorps.
TwinWatch: Survey shows that many would love to have twins or triplets
The British expo The Baby Shows conducted a survey to see what people thought about the idea of having multiples. A whopping 74 percent of respondents said liked the idea!
Read the article to see why they felt this way.
TwinWatch: Convention offers triplet families a chance to connect
Nearly 100 families attended a recent convention held by the Triplet Connection in Phoenix, Arizona.
Parents had the opportunity to talk with veteran parents and to learn parenting tips and time and money management.
If you missed the convention this year, don’t fret — check out the Triplet Connection website for information about next year’s event.
Toy Review: Twist ‘N Fold Big Yellow Bus by Playhut
Photo from Playhut.com
by Jane Day Rasmussen
Name: Twist ‘N Fold Big Yellow Bus
Manufacturer: Playhut
Category: Pretend Play
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: 3 years and up
Our tested age range: 1 year – 4 years
Learning Components: Creative Play
Price Value (on a scale of 1 to 4 honeys): 
We inherited Playhut’s Big Yellow Bus when my friend’s son outgrew it. It became an instant favorite in our house!
The bus includes a blow-up steering wheel, three side windows, a roll-up flap door, two sunroofs and a tunnel flap for crawl-through play. This toy really inspired imaginative play as we’d go around and pick up our passengers for many different destinations.
The nylon bus sets up instantly with patented EZ Twist Technology – just take it out of the bag, and it literally snaps into place. It is lightweight & portable and can be packed away as easily as it comes out. (It comes with a storage bag; getting it back in takes a little practice.)
Once open, it is plenty roomy: 50 inches tall, 36 inches long, and 25 inches wide – we’ve fit two grandmas, one child and a kitty cat in ours! The bus can be connected to other Playhut Collect ‘N Connect structures – if you have the room in your house. You can spot clean the bus if necessary and allow to air dry.
I bought this for my twin nieces because the dual-area allows for one to drive and the other to ride!
The Big Yellow Bus is a 1999 Parents’ Choice® Approved winner. It retails for about $30 and is worth the money – the toy is virtually indestructible and will provide entertainment for the whole family for a long time. Visit www.playhut.com for all of their other tent contraptions.
Safety Information (from Amazon.com)
“This product uses a spring steel loop that will quickly pop open. Caution must be used in the handling this product. Small children should never be allowed to fold or unfold this product without adult supervision. Discard if steel loop is broken or if this product is damaged. It is not fireproof. The fabric will burn if left in continuous contact with any flame source. Keep all flame and heat sources away from this product. The application of any foreign substance to this product may render the flame resistant properties ineffective. Please thoroughly read instruction sheet before using this product.”
TwinWatch: Why identical twins don’t have identical fingerprints
At last, I’ve seen the answer to an interesting question I’ve often wondered about. Read the first item in this Q & A from Northeastern Pennsylvania’s TimesLeader.com to see the explanation of why identical twins don’t share the same fingerprints.
I interpret this doctor’s response to mean that even though identical twins are created from identical genetic material, differences — like fingerprints — occur as that material interacts with the environment and within each individual.
TwinWatch: Canadian twin girls want to play on the boys’ team
The Manitoba Human Rights Commission has decided it will hear the complaints of twin Canadian teens who want to play hockey with the boys.
Check out the most recent news & video and the news from May when the story first broke.
And check out this news item about twin British teens who have qualified as soccer referrees. Be sure to scroll down the page to see the sweet picture of the girls in their uniforms.
Toy Review: Musical Ice Cream Cart by Playskool
The author’s son with his Musical Ice Cream Cart
by Jane Day Rasmussen
Name: Musical Ice Cream Cart
Manufacturer: Playskool
Category: Push Toys
Manufacturer’s Suggested Age Range: n/a
Our tested age range: 1 – 3 years
Learning Components: Cooperative Play, Role Play
Price Value:
Wasn’t this around when we were kids? Maybe that’s the reason this toy immediately caught my eye.
I bought this musical ice cream cart for our son when he was just learning to walk. He loved to practice walking as he pushed the musical ice cream cart around. The cart is very sturdy and helped a lot with his balance when he was just getting started.
He learned to make us ice cream cones and collected money (a.k.a honeys) in return, but mostly he ate the treats for himself — see picture. Even today when I took out the toy again to write this review, he is running around filling the cart with treats to give us (now he’s nearly four years old).
The toy includes two ice cream cones, two different flavored ice cream scoops, two Popsicles and two coins. There are lots of places to store the ice cream – on the moveable arms out front, inside the cart — and the top opens up to reveal a shape sorter for an educational benefit! The coins slide into the money slot on the side, because, of course, nothing is for free! Kids can press a button to play the music – which isn’t too loud, plays lots of different songs, and turns off automatically.
This toy is perfect for twins, because there is two of everything and one can push the cart while the other sells, sells, sells.
Okay, so I’m not sure where you will find this anymore; my attempts to find this anywhere online were unsuccessful, but maybe your local toy store still has some in stock. If you see this at a thrift shop or yard sale, I’d grab it for your little one. It originally cost about $25 and was worth every penny. It takes two AA batteries, which last a really long time (the original ones are still working after 2 years).
Children’s Book Review: The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman
About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned
Review by Sandra Horning
The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marla Frazee
Photo from Amazon.com
Does your child go for days eating nothing but macaroni and cheese? If so, then you can easily identify with Mrs. Peters and her seven, picky-eater children in The Seven Silly Eaters.
First born is Peter, who likes his milk not hot and not cold, but only warm. Then comes little Lucy, who only likes pink lemonade, freshly squeezed of course. And the picky eaters continue to be born through to the twins, Fran and Flo, who like eggs, one poached and the other fried. As the children keep popping out, Mrs. Peters becomes more and more overwhelmed by her children’s culinary demands.
Finally, the children resolve the chaos when they attempt to make their mother a birthday cake combining their favorite foods. The satisfying ending gives every mom hope that the chaos will some day end and suggests that while you are in the midst of the chaos, at least you should have a sense of humor about it.
The wonderful and amusing illustrations supporting the fun rhyming text perfectly depict all that goes on in a home with seven children. Parents and children alike will enjoy this entertaining tale.
Ages 4-8
TwinWatch: Do take wooden nickels
by Diana Day
While nesting and neatening last night, I found two wooden nickels.
Just before going on a trip by myself, without my husband and our two-and-a-half-year old daughters, I tend to nest.
I think it’s a morbid impulse. I neaten and spruce things up so that if something tragic happens to me, I’ll leave behind a tranquil domestic scene as a reminder of me or as a comfort — I was here. Dwayne, I was your wife. Dinah and Djuna, I was your mother. I loved you all more than you’ll ever know.
I realize that a tranquil domestic scene is not typical when I am here, so I don’t know how my family will suddenly associate neatness and classy candle arrangements with me if I am gone. And I also realize that I have less chance of being tragically killed on an airplane than I do navigating the Los Angeles freeways like I do every day, but there I go, neatening anyway.
The wooden nickels I found during last night’s pre-trip domestic binge are souveniers from the “Train Ride to Santa” at Griffith Park’s Travel Town. We went for the first time this past year and loved it.
It was a nighttime event in a place we only ever go in the daytime, so that alone made it magical. We got to ride the little train to Santa’s Workshop through lights, fake snow and holiday music. Somehow the Travel Town staff had turned the desert into a winter wonderland.
We could redeem the wooden nickels for free train rides at Travel Town, but I don’t think we’ll ever use them for that. Not now, anyway. Finding them so suddenly made my heart leap into my throat.
I put them in my pocket, to take with me.