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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Hello from your Secretary and Ways & Means Coordinator


Greetings from your note-taker and fundraiser! We have an exciting year ahead of us as we experiment with ways we, as a club, can raise funds for club activities as well as charitable groups. Coming up: a wine tasting event, a Make a Plate fundraiser, a club Skipolini's night, and an ongoing battery/printer cartridge recycling program!
Hope to see you at upcoming events -- and if you have any type of fundraiser you'd like to see, please don't hesitate in letting me know! Be well :)

Blog Editor Welcome

Hi my name is Heather and I am the newsletter/blog editor for 2009-2010. The first newsletter is a chance to introduce some of the CCPOM board and their activities. Please feel free add your comments.

In CCPOM you have a club that is full of members that have tons of knowledge and advice on many areas affecting multiple parents from multiples pregnancy, fertility treatments, sleep deprivation, fun places to go to twin sibling conflicts. We cover everything.

We will also post events and news on the blog which are all also available on our wonderful website ran by Tracy Williamson our Webmaster.


I am also Mum to Finn and Lachlan, now 3 - this is an old pic - and live in Concord. Any questions on the blog and getting post permissions feel free to contact me at brockwayh@hotmail.com

Social Activities Chair Welcome


Summer sure went out with a BANG!
Many were awakened by thunder, lightening and rain in the early morning hours on September 12, 2009, but it turned out to be a beautiful day for a picnic after all, and 25 CCPOM Families celebrated the End of Summer at Small World Park in Pittsburg. It was great to catch up with old friends, meet new members and enjoy our children as they experienced all that this wonderful little park has to offer. Thanks to Alison Padilla and other volunteers, the picnic was a great success. (Pictures below.)

If you missed the picnic, there will be plenty more opportunities this fall to get out and spend time with your fellow club members:
  • October 15th - General Meeting - Special Guest Speaker on Child Self-Esteem and Temperament in Concord
  • October 17th - Visit the Pumpkin Patch at Smith Family Farm in Brentwood
  • October 31st - Annual Halloween Costume Party in Martinez
  • November 7th - New Member Welcome Potluck in Concord
  • November 19th - Wine Merchants Fundraiser in Pleasant Hill
  • December 12th - Breakfast with Santa in Concord
  • December 18th - Mom's Holiday Dinner (Location to be announced)

CCPOM on Facebook


CCPOM is now on Facebook

We have created a page on Facebook for our members. This is a great way for members to share pictures, stories, and other information. If you do not have a Facebook account yet, it is easy to create one. Go to Facebook.com and follow the instructions for creating an account. To find our page, type in Contra Costa Parents of Multiples in the search field or follow the link here CCPOM on Facebook.

Email parentsofmultiples@yahoo.com if there are any questions.

Club Express Website Corner

Help! My child has stuck a pea up her nose, what should I do? Help! I'm expecting twins and don't know what I need. Help! I'm traveling with multiples and need advice. Don't worry. All of this information is available under Freq. Asked Questions in our Club Express website:
http://ccpom.net/

The categories listed under Freq. Asked Questions are Advice, Pregnant/Newborn Info, Angel Mom Program, Club Express, Disneyland, Local Parks and Indoor Parks, and Traveling with Multiples. There are several questions and answers under each category. So, if you want to find a fun indoor place for your toddler or want to find a night nanny for your newborn, check out the Freq. Asked Questions page.

End of Summer Picnic Small World Pittsburg
















Alison Padilla - picnic organiser !


News Article - 50% of babies born today will live to 100!

Fascinating article I found on BBC News Online: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8284574.stm

More than half of the babies born in wealthy nations in the last few years will reach their 100th birthday.
The study by Danish researchers - published in the medical journal The Lancet - concludes that even though more people are getting diseases such as cancer, the quality of life for older people is improving.

Trading Faces - reading for twins ages 8-13

Below is a letter received from twin authors, Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy. They recently published a book, “Trading Faces” about identical twins for readers ages 8 – 13.

Hello, C.C. Parents of Multiples:

We are identical twin authors who have teamed up to write the “Trading Faces” book series. It’s the first book about twins by twins. The book’s characters, Payton and Emma, deal with many of the problems twins face – whether identical or fraternal, girls or boys or boy/girl pairs. The questions of identity, comparisons, and the benefits and pitfalls of being multiples are best understood by family members and the kids themselves.

Who am I apart from my “other half”?
Julia and I did not plan to both be authors! I (Jen) got a Masters in Elementary Education and was a teacher. Julia was thinking about journalism; then went into publishing with her graduate degree.

Prior to that, we went to the same college – different dorms, pledged different sororities and always different boyfriends! So, we stayed close … but not too close.

And that was the best thing for us growing up. By trial and error, my parents discovered that having both of us in the same preschool class did not allow one of us enough independence, due to the other one’s clinginess/ unwillingness to play with others. (Okay, that was me. Apparently I used Julia as a safety net.)

So for Kindergarten through elementary school, we were split up. This worked usually only for one of us – the one with the better teacher. The rare years we were both happy with our teachers, we both had great years. So for us, the classroom environment determined whether we should have been separated. It would have worked well for both of us to have the “great” teacher.

It may be a year-to-year decision whether to separate multiples. They may thrive together, or it may be obvious that there is too much competition academically and socially. Finally, ask your twins! Their opinions may be worthwhile.

As adults, Julia and I have very little “twin envy.” We cheer on each other’s successes and support each other 100%. We talk long-distance every day and are each other’s best friends. Her children are vitally important to me, and she feels equally about my son.

Julia and I weren’t always so close. From age 3 – 6 we were at each other’s throats. Then, we grew into a truce and – after school – played together often. We did have our own friends and play dates where one of us would visit a friend, while the other twin had a friend over. We also were involved in different activities.

Different activities, more than anything, made us feel like individuals. I had talents in one area, Julia had enthusiasm in another. So we took separate lessons. Even if your children like the same sport or hobby, try to add on one that is just his/her own.

Our parents made us feel like a team. Please encourage your kids to vent and complain about being a twin. When people asked us, “What’s it like being a twins?”, we would respond: “We don’t know. We’ve never not been twins.” So allowing them to be open about their mixed feelings is helpful. But try to end on a positive note. Even if they “hate” each other, you can lighten up the mood by playing games together or “forcing” them to compliment the other. Instead of comparisons and envy, make it clear that each is unique and ultimately on the same team.

In our book, Payton and Emma go through the cycle of breaking free of each other, needing each other, and trying to become their own “selves”… while loving someone who looks exactly like them! In the back of the book we have the “Top Ten List of Stupid Twin Things People Say.” Most multiples have heard many of them and will hopefully take away from our series that they are not “alone” (figuratively) in dealing with twin stuff.