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Expert Q&A

	By David L. Fay, M.D. Family Physician Associate Director, Waukesha Family Practice Residency Program

I am the mother of 4-year-old twins (one boy, one girl). They are now in preschool, and we have been going through the infamous kindergarten search. Our son is bright, interested in letters, numbers, maps, planets and learning in general. Our daughter, on the other hand, has a much shorter attention span for those kinds of things. She'd rather play with toys and dolls. Their preschool teacher has said they are ready for kindergarten. We're concerned that she is not quite ready, because she doesn't seem interested, but don't want to hold him back if he is. At the same time we don't want to separate them. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.?

I think your first statement puts it very nicely: You have twins, but they are one boy and one girl. In other words, you have two individuals who happen to have the same birthday. While this may appear somewhat simplistic, it is an important point and one we ignore at our peril. I'm not sure why you don't want to separate them, but trying to make one decision which is satisfactory for both parties over the next 14 years will be difficult. My recommendation would be to make decisions based on what's best for each individual. Good luck!

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