Tag: School Aged

Centrelink for twins and multiples explained

Centrelink and twins

Author:  Vanessa Cartledge

As a multi mum, I fully understand that Centrelink for twins and multiples can often seem complicated and overwhelming. So I thought I would share my knowledge to help other multi-parents navigate Centrelink’s system. As multi-parents, there are payments that we may be entitled too, but the Centrelink website can be confusing. If you know what you’re entitled to and how to apply, it makes everything easier and much less stressful. Please note that I do not work for Centrelink, and I am just sharing this information as a guide only.  Please check all information for yourself.

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Multi Mums who drink: is it a problem?

Mums who drink

All those Facebook memes about motherhood and parenting are very funny, mostly because they are completely true. But we’ve noticed a bit of a regular pattern when it comes to the familiar ‘mothers and wine’ memes; they are getting more and more common. Are all these memes just harmless fun, or should we be a bit more concerned about this increase in mums who drink?

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Twin relationship – Seven year old twins

seven year old twins

Our girl/boy twins are our only children, and they have always had a close twin relationship.  Sure they fight and annoy each other occasionally (and we had the odd biting incidents which you can read about HERE), but it’s never serious, or lasts long.  I’ve got friends whose twins fight ALL THE TIME, so I am grateful that ours enjoy being together. And let’s be honest, it’s not like they have much choice!!

They are now 7 years old, and are in year one at school.    And we have got to the point where it is starting to drive me a bit batty!

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Twinterview with 12 year old identical twins – Lauren and Charlotte

12 year old identical twins

Lauren and Charlotte are nearly 12 years old and have their own opinions on EVERYTHING!  As a parent of twins myself, I often wonder how their relationship will be when they are older.   So to find out, Twinfo conducted a Twinterview with Lauren and Charlotte separately and it is interesting to hear the similarities and differences in their answers.

 

Are you identical twins or fraternal twins?

C:  Identical

L:  Identical

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Twins starting school – a recap of our first year

Twins starting school

Author: Twinfo

About our twins

Our twins were born six weeks early, right in the middle of June. In QLD, the cut off for the school year is 30 June. We immediately made the decision that they were NOT going to school ‘the year they were meant to’. If they did they literally would have been the youngest in their year. I’m so pleased that we made this decision right from the start as it removed a lot of the angst later on. I saw so many of my friends struggle with this decision, but for us it was an easy decision. Of course there were some moments when I questioned if we were doing the right thing, but we stayed firm and stuck to our original decision. We have now completed our first year at school, and I am grateful for our decision.

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Why I kept my twins in the same class at school

twins same classes at school

Author: Twinfo

As published in Essential Baby – link here

When it comes to multiples starting school, the main question every parent has to consider is “should they be in the same class, or should they be separated”.   This obviously is only a point of consideration if your school has more than one class per year, and it is also worth checking your schools policy, as some schools may have a policy regarding multiple birth families.

As parents of girl/boy twins who started school this year, this was something that we discussed a lot.  In the end, we decided to keep them together for the first year, and then we will reply on teacher’s advice, the kid’s personal input and out thoughts to make the decision for next year.

These are the reasons that we decided to keep our twins together for the first year of school.

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Things to consider when having your twins in separate classes

separating twins at school

Author: Beth Pettrey

About our twins

Our girl/boy twins, Claire and Owen, have always had a disruptive relationship towards each other.  Prior to school we had not had an opportunity to trial splitting them up as neither our daycare nor our Kindy (or preschool in other states) had separate rooms to suit their age bracket.  At Kindy they managed their behaviour towards each other by making sure they never sat next to each other during group time (i.e. normally opposite sides of the circle) as they would distract each other. When it came to school we had already decided to spilt them into separate classes, however, this was reinforced when Owen told us directly that he didn’t want to be in the same class as Claire.  Considering this was literally the only comment he ever made about going to school we thought it was important to validate his comment!

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How to survive Christmas with twins or multiples

Christmas with triplets

Guest post for Families Magazine

Author:  Twinfo

 

It’s Christmas.  Again.  I am not sure why I am so surprised, seeming as it happens on the same day every year.  It just seems to come around faster every year!

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas.  Not many of our family live in the same city as us, so we usually travel to them.  I don’t mind, as it means that we can just sit and relax, and not try to do the endless jobs around the house that the extended time of work would usually lend itself to.  Plus there are often relatives who are happy to entertain your multiples, giving you an opportunity for a break for an hour or two.

Children make Christmas so much more fun.  And having twins, triplets, quads or more makes Christmas multiply more fun!  Christmas is a great time to relax and spend some time with your multiples.

Twinfo have put together some tips to help you survive the festive season with your multiples.

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We delayed our twins entry to school

About our twins

Our twins were born six weeks early, right in the middle of June. IN QLD, the cut off for the school year is 30 June. We immediately made the decision that they were NOT going to school ‘the year they were meant to’. If they did they literally would have been the youngest in their year. I’m so pleased that we made this decision right from the start as it removed a lot of the angst later on. I saw so many of my friends struggle with this decision, but for us it was an easy decision. Of course there were some moments when I questioned if we were doing the right thing, but we stayed firm and stuck to our original decision. We have now completed our first year at school, and I am grateful for our decision.

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