Quad cuts!

If you had identical quadruplets, how far would you go to tell them apart? Would you shave their respective birth order number on the tops of their heads? That’s what one family in China did for their 6 year old identical quadruplet boys.

I guess that is one way for teachers, to tell them apart, especially since they have to wear identical uniforms to school. Even their own parents have a hard time telling them apart. Do you think this is a good solution? What would you do to tell your kids apart if in a similar situation? Share your thoughts.

Use color coding to organize your life!

Is raising twins disrupting your organization? Have you considered a color code system? Many parentsfind assigning each child a color helps restore order to the household.
I started color coding my kids with their baby bottles. One child was receiving special medication and I didn’t want to mix it up and give it to the wrong baby. And as a tired new mom, after putting the medicine in the bottle and walking to the other room to give it to them I would forget which bottle I had put the medicine in!
My babies are now toddlers and I still use color coding with their sippy cups. I have one twin who is very assertive and if he dropped his cup he will swipe his brothers. But this way I know who lost their cup and I can restore order quickly!
At first I thought this was something we would eventually grow out of, but some families have continued to color code their school aged children thus teaching accountability, lessening arguments,and just simply keeping track of who needs to put their stuff away! So where can you color code to help you keep organized? Here are some ideas to you get started!

• School items – Back packs, lunch boxes, notebooks, folders, pencil pouches. One mother even said she “buys paperclips in her child’s colors so that she can keep track of her kid’s homework and notes from school.”
• Kitchen – Baby bottles, sippy cups, plates, place mats.
• Bathroom – Buy tooth brushes, wash rags and bath towels in each person’s color or easily add a ribbon tag onto bath towels. Now you can know who left their wet towel on the floor!
• Laundry – Sort and fold each child’s clothing in their own color of basket. This will help everyone to pitch in and put up their own laundry.
• Play stuff – Bikes, helmets and swimming goggles.
• Personal items – Pacifiers, pacifier clips, blankets, shoes, coats, sleeping bags.
• Medicine bottles – It is important not to mix up medicines. Color code your families medicine bottle cap with a marker or sticker. Or Target Pharmacy will do it for you with color code rings!
• Calendars – Do your kids have a bunch of after school activities to keep track of? Use colored markers or highlighters to see at a glance who needs to go where.
• Milk Bands – These are breastfeeding bracelets that help you keep track of when and for how long your baby was last fed as well as what side they fed on. But instead of changing the arm your bracelet is on you just flip it over; one side says left and the other says right.
• Mothers Ring – These usually have the stone of the month the children were born, since it would be the same color stones for multiples; why not instead use the color you assigned to each child.This would make each stone uniquely theirs!

Here is what some mom’s had to say:
Amanda T. “We do pink and blue. I loved when they started to recognize ‘their color’ and there was less fighting.”
Kasie P. – “Twin A is blue, twin B is green and big brother is orange! I color code EVERYTHING….cups,bowls, plates, utensils, toothbrushes, blankets, toys….anything and everything! Has made life so mucheasier when someone’s cup is missing if it’s your color that’s gone, you find it, no fighting or saying ‘it’snot mine!’ It has worked very well for us!”
Eve D. “I did pink and purple to help out family and friends. I’m so glad I did as 11 years later I can tellwho is who in pictures as I finally start finding some time to do some organizing.”
Diana L. “We don’t do it for clothes but we started when they were infants color coding bottles thensippy cups. We use blue and green and they are now almost 3 and very territorial about their colors. Ithink it has worked very well for us.”
Emily H. “We did and still try but it seems they always pick the opposite color to wear. My poor extendedfamily, just when they think they have them figured out!“
Jill M. “The infant car seats I had were identical and my boys were different sizes so I looped a toy ring in their color around the handle to know which seat to put each baby into so I didn’t have to readjust the strapsevery time. This also helped others to know who was who when they were in the seats.”

Written by contributing editor Jill Marcum.