Don’t let the title of this book fool you. While Stephanie Woo is the mother of twins, hence her title, Raising Your Twins, this book applies to raising any child, be it one or more. His real-life parenting tips, as well as tips on how to maintain your relationship with your spouse (your husband even chimes in with his own section on this topic) will give you more than enough advice to keep you busy being a better parent, part of That includes learning not to be busy by finding some time for yourself after teaching your children how to entertain themselves.
Throughout the book, Stephanie uses her twin daughters, Brooke and Mackenzie, as her prime examples, including numerous photos of them demonstrating her abilities to eat, play with mobile phones, and how she set up play and nap areas for them. But raising your twins is more than just a mother’s parenting experiences. Stephanie comes from a family of child care educators. Her mother is a Montessori method teacher, operating five Montessori schools in Taiwan, and Stephanie is AMI Montessori certified, so Stephanie includes a lot of Montessori advice, as well as her mother’s own advice on parenting.
What really amazed me about Raising Your Twins is the common sense, offbeat, and forward thinking Stephanie displays when talking about raising her twins, especially in terms of teaching them entertainment.
Stephanie divides the book into several chapters, including: eating, sleeping, moving, and keeping babies occupied by themselves, and then these chapters are divided into sections according to the ages or stages of development of the children, such as 0- 3 months, 3- 10 months or more than 11 months, depending on the topic. This division is useful because it allows parents to anticipate their child’s next stage. As a bonus, Stephanie includes a shopping list at the end of each chapter so parents know what they will need to buy as their children grow, covering ages birth to three.
All the tips in this book are tried and true. Stephanie herself states that “I experienced extraordinary results. My daughters began to sleep twelve hours a night at ten weeks of age. They have not been afraid of water and always have been. They drank from a normal glass cup at eight months. and they could eat meals alone at twelve months. “
The aspect of Raising Your Twins that struck me most was its focus on helping children become self-reliant. Stephanie points out that such self-reliance is the purpose of the Montessori method, saying, “If we wanted to answer the question, ‘What is Montessori?’ In a single sentence, we could look at the experience of Dr. María Montessori herself. One day, while working with children, a child said to her: ‘Help me to do it myself.’ THAT is Montessori. A Montessori child is not only he gives fish, he is taught to fish “. Stephanie goes on to explain that some parents may not want to teach their children to eat at such a young age because they realize that over time children will learn on their own, but Stephanie states:
“Personally, I don’t want to feed my children until they are six years old. I had children so that I could enjoy them, not to become their slave! And with twins, the point is even more relevant because there are two children, not just one! Consequently, the attitude in our home is one that encourages independence in every possible way. “
Another point about self-reliance that I appreciated was Stephanie’s focus on teaching children to be self-occupied. Such self-occupation can be achieved through simple methods such as you, the parent, changing the mobile in the child’s room every fifteen minutes or so to keep your child entertained and give him fifteen minutes to yourself. Stephanie has also learned how important it is not to interrupt children during playtime or independent activities.
Although I do not have children, I have seen many friends raise their children and have babysat for many hours to see how effective the tips and methods in this book are and how easily they can be implemented if a parent is willing to put in the time. and be consistent. A little extra time now will free up time for parents in the long run. More importantly, it will help your children to be happier, less dependent, increase their self-confidence, and get them interested in continuous learning as they grow.
Raising Your Twins is an innovative book on childcare. I hope for the sake of all parents that Stephanie continues to write more books as her daughters grow older. He is already blogging about his daughters as they grow, capturing their development in words and photos on a regular basis.
