Carol, all my best wishes for Polly and Alice.
Mary Poppins, I have twin grandaughters who are now 8 years old. As Carol says, we helped lots in the first two years as my daughter also had a 14 month old son when the girls were born - so lots of hard work for her and the husband. We babysat as often as we could (we live two hours away) and I always went down to her home for a whole day every two weeks or they came to us for a weekend. We also supplied lots of disposable nappies, wipes, etc.etc. as they ran out so quickly and are very expensive (Daughter tried traditional nappies but the washing machine was on constantly so electric was more expensive in the end!).
Grace and Florence are also as different as chalk and cheese and we always had to be prepared to cater for their differing interests. in terms of them arguing etc. we always found the best policy was "Group" banishment!!! That means, that if someone made a mess, or started a scrabble, then all three (their older brother) or both of them had to leave the room and "make-up"! This sounds silly to some people - but you know it definitely works - they soon make up if you do not intervene, blaming each other can't work because we would not listen and they soon sorted out their troubles between them! I used this method with my three children when they were little (three under the age of 5 years) and I was told to try this by a renowned child psychologist who spoke to our "National Housewives Register" (anyone remember this group in the 70's?) - I didn't believe it would work but I tried it and it worked a miracle and peace nearly always reigned in our house and disputes were always resolved quickly and without my intervention!!!!!!
CBeebies is a godsend and I used it for one hour each morning. Also had masses of paper (buy the paper rolls from the Early Learning Centre) and kept all the cardboard leftovers etc to make and paste lots of things. Baking, as already mentioned is a great success and the mess will be worth it.
As everyone else has mentioned - the twins have been a real joy and it is so rewarding to see them grow up so well and so happy. The years really do fly by and although it is tiring in the end, they will appreciate all the time you spend with them and you will be loved so much for all your efforts.
