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Twins in Kindergarten – Same Class or Different Classes?

I never expected to be a mother to twins. Twin boys even less so. Yes, they run in my family. But after two singleton pregnancies, it had fallen off of my radar.

Finding out we were expecting twins after two singleton pregnancies

Twins seemed to amplify everything – pregnancy became high risk, followed by a scary hospital stay and preterm delivery. Caring for premature twins – the first year we were followed so closely by a medical team, everything was much more medicalized and full of questions and protocol. It wasn’t until their 4th birthday, when we were officially discharged, that we started to feel like we “got through it”, the hardest part was over.

Except that it isn’t really over. Old challenges appear to be continually replaced by new ones. And one of those new ones came in the form of Kindergarten Registration.

kindergarten registration decision for twins, same class or different class?

Like most parents, I had done my research. I spent time researching area-schools, even reaching out and asking questions. At the end of it all, they had one question for me – “same class or different classes?” that left me thinking.

If you happen to be trying to make a similar decision, here are 4 things that dictated our decision-making…

1. Independent or Dependent?

That unique connection shared by twins can create an extra level of support in the classroom enviable by most. But, if this sibling support prevents our kids from being able to navigate their day at school independently or prevents our kids from establishing peer relationships with children other than their sibling, we may want to rethink it.

2. Sibling Rivalry

In this age of parenting we are slowly reintroducing the idea of “friendly competition”. We know that our kids have their own unique set of strengths – but it’s oh so easy to keep comparing our twins. Even more, how do we navigate this as they begin to notice disparities between themselves? Do they raise each other up or fight for the top? If one twin seems to always be struggling to keep up with the other, it may be worth looking into separating them.

3. For Your Convenience

Think about your family dynamic for a second. It’s not hard to find families with two working parents, siblings to think about, meals to plan and extracurriculars to attend. Making ourselves available to have the relationship with our kids school that we want to have – sometimes the convenience of having one teacher, with one newsletter and one set of field trip dates to keep track of, is enough of a win to keep your twins together.

4. Extraneous Circumstances

Sometimes it’s not about what is happening inside the classroom at all. If they are going through any kind of transition – like moving to a new home, navigating divorce, experiencing grief/loss – then it may be worth thinking about whether or not having them undergo the stress of being separated as a necessary one.

We’ve ultimately decided to keep our twins together for their kindergarten year. But this decision, but that’s just what will work best for our family this year. We’ve transitioned to a new city, and as our boys attended the same preschool class, it was clear that their interests couldn’t be more different, resulting in different peer groups for the two.

Still not sure? The way our kids act at home isn’t necessarily how they are going to act at school. Do they attend daycare or preschool? Speak to someone who has supervised them in an unparented capacity, they will have some good insights into how they will behave in a classroom setting.

Keep an open mind and speak up, having open and ongoing communication with your school and kindergarten classroom teacher will ultimately be the best approach. Know that your decision doesn’t have to be the ultimate one. Decisions CAN change and so will your kids – what works this year may not work for next year.

A pro/con list will always be my favourite pathway towards a decision. Sit down with your thoughts and maybe take a deep breath or two, as the next challenge waits for us just around the corner.

Twin boys on their first day of kindergarten

Lindsay Fricker is a mom of four – two plus twins. Kindergarten teacher by day, Lindsay enjoys helping others find ways to navigate the ugly parts of parenting, while keeping their sanity and positively supporting their children. You can read more from Lindsay here or follow her on Instagram @serendipity.six.

Our Family Almost Didn’t Make It To Summer Break

We just crawled to the finish line. Our last month before summer break was a doozy! We had such a healthy year and then crashed and burned in June. On top of our family having one illness after another, we were forced to face some big time parenting problem solving.

Having four kids… you can always expect a wobbly plate. You focus on that kid and get them sorted, then triage the family and move onto the next wobbly plate and so on. Well, somehow, some way we had four wobbly plates for an entire month before summer break.

It was so draining for me mentally and emotionally that it began to have a physical affect on my body. Phew. Despite the stress we pushed through and I am happy to say we have restored the peace in our home in time for the summer break. Watch as I share our journey and then implemented a system that helped us changed the narrative in our home and created a positive atmosphere…

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A Day In The Life with Four Kids

It’s been a while since I shared a “day in the life” video with you, but I am so glad I took the time to film one this week. I began creating these types of videos way back when I first started dabbling in YouTube as a way to give you a fly-on-the-wall look into our busy life and how I do things with four kids, including twins.

Although our twins aren’t crawling around and in diapers like when I first began creating these day in the life videos, today with all four kids in school I face new challenges. So grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up, or… let’s be real, pop your AirPods in and watch while you do the dishes, or put it on for your kids too. Regardless of how you watch it, I hope you enjoy!

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Four kids and the logistics, tips and tricks on how I get out the door to school/daycare safely with them 

When I was pregnant with our twins, and caring for our two older kids as best I could with a massive belly in the way, I would think about every logistical complication that could possibly come with having four kids, and make plans.

I made plans for solo tandem feeding our twins at night, (you can watch my tutorial here.) I made plans for where I would place our babies during the day so our big kids wouldn’t trample them, (I utilized bouncy chairs, high chairs and swings all over our house). I also made plans for how I would safely get everyone out the door in the morning.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, but I think that most parents would agree that getting your kids out of the house in the morning is particularly tricky and chaotic. Sometimes just hearing what another mom has found worked can be extremely helpful. Here is our family’s evolution of getting out the door and buckled into our car each day safely…

When our twins were babies, it was pretty easy. I would use their portable bucket car seats, which they couldn’t escape from, and escort everyone out to our car together. Once they grew out of their bucket car seats, I would roll our active twins to the door each safely buckled in their highchairs, and then escort my big kids, and finally each twin out to our car, which was parked closely within view.

Today, as I get our four kids out the door to school and daycare each day, ages 3 – 8, I have a new system. Everyone gets ready in our mudroom, which is sandwiched between our kitchen and our garage. Our big kids get ready first, and to free up some space in our mudroom, I send them out to our garage, which I like to call “our holding room.”

Once all four kids are ready and in our garage, I grab all of the bags, (I prefer to be in charge of the bags), and open the big garage door. This is the part that our large family has become a bit of neighborhood spectacle. But do you see me caring? Not one bit. Some days we are a spectacle because my neighbors might hear me yelling, “get off the parked bike, you are not wearing a helmet,” or “can whoever threw the basketballs all over the garage put them away?”

But most days we are a spectacle because as that garage door loudly rises, my kids automatically know to line up at the threshold of our driveway and wait. That’s right, I have totally taught my kids to line up Von Trapp style, just call me Maria.

All right, some days one kid is climbing our basketball net while another is looking for worms in puddles on a rainy day, but you get the gist.

I then announce that whoever is waiting patiently will get their name called first to get into the car. Although this system isn’t always perfect, it sets a standard for what I expect of my kids, and makes the morning a little less chaotic.

Before driving off to school and our twins’ Kids & Company daycare, I often take a minute (or few) while everyone is buckled and sit in the parked car in our driveway. I do this to collect myself and praise my kids on what a great job they did getting out the door. It is a practical way to set a positive tone for the rest of the day.

I’d love to know, what does your morning routine look like? What are your tips and tricks to get out the door safely?

This post was created in partnership with Kids & Company.

Finding a childcare that not only gives me time to build my career, but that my kids also love, has been such a wonderful aspect to having more of a work/life balance. Kids & Company has the flexibility I need with my schedule, but also the unique programming, learning opportunities, from-scratch meals and sense of community they provide fills me with such confidence in my choice in childcare.

With locations all across Canada, Kids & Company is a high-quality care and early development centre that parents can trust and kids will love. It started under the leadership of two moms (one with 8 children!), who felt there was a need for flexible care options in a setting with amazing teachers, community, proven development programs and an understanding of today’s families.

Whether it’s their Grab ‘n’Go snacks, parent workshops, or their complimentary care for date nights and shopping days outside of regular hours, nothing has been forgotten.

Here’s where it gets exciting… right now Kids &Company is waiving the registration fee (a $150 value) for Nesting Story readers! Just email amcnaught@kidsandcompany.com to access this exclusive offer.
One waved registration per family for a newly registering child before December 31, 2018. Subject to availability.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Kids & Company. While compensation was provided, all opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily indicative of the opinions of Kids & Company.

Organize Your Kids’ School Clothes With This Stress-free Solution

Every morning, before school, I was scrambling to pick out clothes for my kids to wear. It was a constant source of stress. That is until one of my friends showed me this genius idea she found on Pinterest.

It’s such a simple idea, but solves so many problems. Simply find a unit of drawers (I found mine at Walmart) and label them with the days of the week. Labels shown are from Sticky Monkey Labels. This post is not sponsored.
I now do all of my family’s laundry on the weekends and make sure it is put away into their drawers before Monday morning. This clever solution has not only helped keep me organized in the mornings, but my kids have stopped complaining about what I have picked out. Maybe they feel more independent, so there is no need to challenge me. Whatever the reason, I am a happy mom!

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