Yikes! Brandon’s Twin Sisters Turn Four
The twins are turning four and their passion for life’s many adventures continue to inspire me and challenge my energy. We just had our twin granddaughters stay with us for four days. I have always dreamed what it would be like to have twins party all night. I finally had the opportunity to watch this lively celebration. Our first night together was spent at a beach motel with the twins sharing a double bed. They loved the adventure so much that they would not relax and just kept playing. After 30 minutes of fun, I finally informed them that I would lay down between them to help them focus on sleep. Thankfully, Anna fell asleep immediately. Maria continued to wiggle another 30 minutes and then dozed off. All was well until 1:30 a.m. when both requested a cup of water. One cup of water was dropped on one side of the bed. I quickly plopped down a towel and reassured the twins the bed would be fine for sleeping. Thankfully, all was dry in the morning
Love Adventures
The next day, we took the girls to the amusement rides at the beach boardwalk. They were ready to take on any ride that they were tall enough to ride. They screamed and giggled on their first racing car ride, roller coaster ride, and log ride where they became drenched with water. Thankfully, we waited until it was hot before becoming drenched as changing two kids in the middle of an amusement park is challenging. We used their very worn twin umbrella stroller to walk almost three miles from our car through the park.
Create Humorous Situational Play
Once we returned to our house, the twins fully engaged themselves in elaborate play with their bunny family playhouses. Our home soon became an obstacle course as the twins created situational play centers throughout the house. Their enthusiastic storytelling was filled with silly situations about daily life.
Ask for Endless Book Reading
At night, they loved reading three to five books and debated for more if I only read two longer books. They also loved a book with scary Halloween stories. Water play activities dominated their four-day visit. We even took the twins to a town square fountain for water play.
Want to Know the Rules
We visited a local toy store to have the twins show us what they would like for their birthday gifts. Both girls were very disciplined in only playing with the display toys. They love to follow rules and ask what the rules are before engaging in a new play activity. The twins also try to eat with the correct utensil, even if they can only pick up one corn kernel at a time with a fork.
Are Full of Endless Energy
I am still recovering from their energetic visit as they definitely light up our home with their endless antics and glee.
Happy birthday to our twin granddaughters!
Mary Ann
Copyright © 2019 by GenParenting
Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.