Being a Mom to Irish Twins

(The names in this story are not the real names of the subjects, their real names are hidden for safety reasons.)

What is Irish Twins?

The term Irish Twins is used when you have a pair of siblings who are less than one year apart in age and born to the same mother.

My beautiful Irish Twins just 1 day after my youngest came home from the hospital.

The thought of giving birth to two babies less that 12 months apart baffles alot of people. Some don't understand how it's possible and others think it's the craziest idea ever. The truth is that it's very common these days. Some Irish Twins are planned, for example, Volleyball Star, Kerri Walsh,  had her 2nd son just 3 days before her other son's 1st birthday. Most mom's don't plan to have another child so close after giving birth, but getting pregnant just 3 months after you have a child is very possible and happens all the time. I, personally, didn't plan on giving birth to Irish Twins but I wouldn't trade my girls in for anything in the world. My daughters are 11 months apart. My oldest was born in June of 2006 and her sister came along in May of 2007, which makes for 2 weeks out of the year where my girls are the same age. I can't say much about having a boy and a girl so close in age but having my Irish Twins being both girls has many advantages along with disadvantages.

For starters, other than my kids being both girls, they're nothing alike. One has brown hair/brown eyes while the other use to have bleach blonde hair and blue eyes... she has now grew into sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes. My youngest is light as a feather and nothing but legs while her sister is a bit taller with a little meat on her bones. Loran (my oldest) looks just like her daddy and has been since the day she was born. While Jade (my youngest) started looking like noone in my family but grew up looking more and more like her mommy every day. For the most part, my girls have the same interest in toys and activities. They both have a dominate (favorite) color which separates most of their stuff but they love to trade and share to make each-other happy. My girls start to bump heads when it comes to their interest in movies/shows and food. When it's time to pick a movie, there's a 75% chance that a fight is gonna happen. My oldest seems to lean more toward shows like 'The Fresh Beat Band', 'Curious George', and 'Blue's Clues' while her little sister leans more for shows like 'She-Ra, He-Man , and Sky Dancers'. They most likely will end up agreeing on Barbie, Bratz, Caillou or My Little Pony.

All siblings fight, that's a given. I have younger brothers that are no where near my age and I fought with them daily, mainly demanding my own space. With my girls, they also fight daily. Demanding for their own space along with screaming for their sister's attention. Having one quiet loner child and one loud rambunctious child is gonna cause a few disagreements. A slap here, a scream there... All ending in lots of giggles and smiles.

Bring so close in age has helped my daughters more than it has hurt them. Some people claim that I didn't allow Loran to be an only child long enough before I gave her a sister. But truthfully, she may of been my 1st child but her father has 2 sons from previous relationships so Loran already had 2 older brothers but they didn't live with us. When Jade was born, it didn't take long for Loran to fall inlove with her new baby sister. The sweetest thing was when Jade cried... Loran would puff out her little bottom lip and start to pout along with her sister. She wouldn't stop crying until I got Jade to stop crying. She cried everytime her sister cried for the first month or two.

Most parents of more than one child go through the milestones of childhood at different times. With Irish Twins, the milestones wither happen at the same time or right after the other. For example, I had 2 kids both in diapers and bottles. I traded Loran's bottle for a sippy cup the day after her first birthday. Potty training is the milestone that I thought was never going to end! Once Loran started using pull-ups and trying the big girl potty, it didn't take long before Jade wanted pull-ups too. Potty training was NOT a piece of cake, it took forever for either one to become interested in throwing away the pull-ups for good. Once Loran decided she was 100% potty trained, here sister slowly inched to wearing only big-girl panties in the next few months. I potty trained 2 little girls at the same time. No year or two break in between. I learned that watching Loran helped Jade out alot and she seemed to hit the milestones quicker than her sister due to having someone to learn from. My daughters are both in school but in different grades. Loran is a first-grader while Jade is in kindergarten. The year where Jade was at home with me while her sister was at school was a very interesting time. Jade is my quiet one who likes being alone at times so she enjoyed her sister being gone most of the time. Yes she missed her and would ask what Loran was doing at school but for the most part is was a great time for me and my daughter to bond. When Loran had homework I would have to clone her homework page so Jade could do homework aswell. I tried making Jade a different homework page but she wouldn't have it, she wanted to do what her sister was doing. It helped Jade learn quicker and she was much more ready for school when it was her turn to start then her sister was when she started.

I'm sure having only one child would be alot easier that having 2 but I wouldn't trade in my Irish Twins for anything. They are best friends and are never alone. They support each other and take up for one another and they're is no dull moment in my house.

So some may say that I'm crazy for having my daughters so close together but I would say that I wouldn't have it any other way!

My Irish Twins ~ Loran and Jade ~ 2013