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Birthday Parties for Twins

When Twins Each Want to be Recognized Separately

By Gina Roberts-Grey, LCSW

Kim Renno of Elmhurst, Ill., is the mother of a 7-year-old daughter and twin 3-year-old girls. "Because of the expense, clean up and time needed to organize a birthday party, my twins will not have separate birthday parties," says Renno. Planning on hosting one small, combined celebration that includes one or two of each of their friends, Renno intends on keeping her twins' birthday parties low key as they get older.

This strategy is shared by many parents of twins and multiples. In an effort to prevent busy family members from finding time to attend two separate parties, parents opt for one combined celebration. "There's a lot of emotional energy and financial expense required to host two separate 'kid' parties," says Renno. "It's much easier to only have one day of festivities instead of two."

In an effort to be fair, Eva Bracher, mother of 11- and 3-year-old sons and identical twin 9-year-old girls from Stockholm, Sweden, refuses to combine celebrations of special occasions for her twins. "My sons have their own special days, and it's only fair that the girls do as well," says Bracher. By taking turns each year, one of Eva's twins has a birthday party with classmates and friends on the actual day and the other six months later on her half birthday. "Of course, they each receive gifts and acknowledgments from our family on their true birthday, but this gives them each the chance to celebrate with their specific friends, in their specific way," she adds.

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