A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2014.
Henry ~ Admiring his collection of treasures.
Wyatt ~ Making his own morning snack.
It’s been my experience that having twins necessitates some strategic planning when purchasing not only gifts but every single item that a child may require. This so called strategic planning might be self-imposed but it seems to work well at my house.
For instance, Henry and Wyatt have the exact same backpack but in different colors. They have the exact same coat but in different colors. They have the exact same bike but in different colors. You get the idea.
In order to promote a fair and equitable childhood, Henry and Wyatt often have to give up any personal identity. It’s strategic. And it usually prevents an argument or a meltdown unless, of course, they both want the red coat. But I have a strategy for that, too. It’s called you-don’t-get-a-choice-and-Mom-picks-all-the-colors!
Sometimes people ask me about gift giving or doling out basic necessities and how we decide who gets what. That’s when I explain the strategy.
I recently had to veer from my fool proof strategy after buying two identical pairs of the shittiest ever $9 winter boots from Sierra Trading Post. After the boots literally fell apart, I prepared myself to buy two identical pairs of $55 Kamit boots. But I could only find one pair, which went to Wyatt because it was his boot that fell literally apart. Nearly three weeks later I finally found a pair of boots for Henry in a completely different brand and color.
This might all sound ridiculously silly to those of you without twins but the whole experience kinda blew my mind. Not really. But I did appreciate that my plan to keep everything the same was an utter flop and resulted in two very different pairs of boots. Interestingly, there is now no fighting over whose identical boot belongs to who. Go figure.
Any other folks out there put this much thought into buying stuff for your kiddos?
For instance, Henry and Wyatt have the exact same backpack but in different colors. They have the exact same coat but in different colors. They have the exact same bike but in different colors. You get the idea.
In order to promote a fair and equitable childhood, Henry and Wyatt often have to give up any personal identity. It’s strategic. And it usually prevents an argument or a meltdown unless, of course, they both want the red coat. But I have a strategy for that, too. It’s called you-don’t-get-a-choice-and-Mom-picks-all-the-colors!
Sometimes people ask me about gift giving or doling out basic necessities and how we decide who gets what. That’s when I explain the strategy.
I recently had to veer from my fool proof strategy after buying two identical pairs of the shittiest ever $9 winter boots from Sierra Trading Post. After the boots literally fell apart, I prepared myself to buy two identical pairs of $55 Kamit boots. But I could only find one pair, which went to Wyatt because it was his boot that fell literally apart. Nearly three weeks later I finally found a pair of boots for Henry in a completely different brand and color.
This might all sound ridiculously silly to those of you without twins but the whole experience kinda blew my mind. Not really. But I did appreciate that my plan to keep everything the same was an utter flop and resulted in two very different pairs of boots. Interestingly, there is now no fighting over whose identical boot belongs to who. Go figure.
Any other folks out there put this much thought into buying stuff for your kiddos?
