5 Lessons I’m Learning From Parenting Twins

If you are currently parenting twins, you may familiar with these nicknames:

“Double Trouble.” “Dynamic Duo.” “Thing One and Thing Two.”

When my wife and I were pregnant with twins, we had no idea what was in store for us. However, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’ve learned so much in my (almost) seven years of parenting twins. Today, I’m sharing with you the five lessons I’m learning from parenting twins.

1. I’m blessed to have my hands full

Have you ever been out to the grocery store? Cart full of groceries…and kids?

All of a sudden, a stranger passes by you and exclaims, “Wow. You sure have your hands full.”

How does that make you feel? My wife and I are not a fan of that saying. It makes us feel like we appear to be not handling the chaos well. While this might be true, we are blessed to have our hands full. Parenting twins is a gift and yes, the first few months are still a blur, but we are blessed. It’s fun, rewarding and a pleasure to be their dad.

2. Stick to a routine

When you have one baby, you can mix up your routine a little and skip nap time here and there. When you have twins, it’s now “man-to-man defense” and you better be sticking to a routine! This applies mainly to nap time and bed time. Our twins were born in July. When Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around that year, they were 4 and 5 months old, respectively.

We absolutely stuck to our routine, despite families in town for the holidays. This meant nap times in the middle of a family gathering, going home early to make sure they were in bed by 6:15 pm. (That may sound early, but thanks to the Peaceful Sleeper, this is how we ensured them sleeping through the night!).

By sticking to the routine, your twins will start to understand when it is nap time. As our twins got older, they would grab their favorite stuffed animal and start asking us for naps. It makes for a happy family and a well rested family. Sticking to a routine will make your life so much easier!

3. Go with the flow

This may seem strange. I literally just told you to stick to a routine. I still stick by that principle.

However, despite keeping to a strict schedule, things are bound to happen when you have twins.

Headed out the door to church on time? Think again. Two blowout diapers. Cleanup on aisle five.

Having your parents over for dinner tonight? Nope. One of your twins started with a fever. And now we wait for them to pass it to their sibling.

In that moment, when things don’t go your way, it may feel like a parenting failure. But just remember that having twins is a blessing. And you have to be easy on yourself and expect that things won’t always go as planned!

4. Play tag with your spouse

Yes, my kids love to play tag. But that’s not necessarily where I’m going here.

Parenting twins requires a lot of teamwork, as I have mentioned before. There may be times where you need to tag out to your wife and then tag back in. My twins are almost 7 years old and we will tag out during the night if they need us. If I know my wife is really tired, I’ll tag in and help my twins back to bed if they’re having trouble sleeping after a scary dream.

Working together as a team and playing tag when needed is really important in maintaining those relationships with your spouse and twins.

5. Enjoy the benefits of parenting twins

Listen, parenting twins is certainly no walk in the park. But even though it may not feel like it early on, these minutes, hours and days will start flying by. Cherish those moments when you’re up at 2 am trying to get both babies back to sleep. Cherish every single moment.

One of my favorite parts of having twins is watching them interact together at a very early age. They developed “twin speak” before they could even talk. They would make each other laugh just by looking at each other. And to this day, they are best friends. They literally do not like playing by themselves. They are lost without one another. What a great benefit! I pray that my twins will always be best friends and continue to love and adore each other.

Parenting twins isn’t easy, but there are many benefits that I have to be thankful for.

I am blessed to have my hands full.