Guest Author - Susan Thompson

Emotionally Healthy Twins written by Joan A. Friedman, is a book that will answer prayers for parents and parents to be of twins.
The author, who is a twin herself and is the mother of twin boys, has covered all the bases with this book. The concept of the book is to raise each child as an individual and give them each their own identity while still enjoying the benefit that comes with being a twin. Starting before the babies are born, think of each child as an individual. The author suggests letting people know that although the babies are twins, you plan to have them "go through life unmatched" to celebrate the differences they will surely have. This makes sense since they are separate people.
The book starts with a chapter on how to prepare yourselves as parents of twins and the chapters continue all the way through young adulthood. The author left no stone unturned. There is even a chapter titled "Fathers and Babies, Fathers and Mothers" which explains emotional issues all parents go through and how to address these issues and support each other as parents. In my opinion, all new parents should read that chapter whether you have twins or not.
The chapters for the early childhood years address many common issues such as twin dependency, disciplining twins, and why they fight. These chapters also deal with issues unique to twins such as academic differences, rebelling against being a twin, physical differences, and separate fun with other friends. Not being a parent of twins myself, I have never thought of some of these issues.
At the end of every chapter the author has added some journaling questions. The idea is to start a journal at the end of the first chapter writing answers to the questions posed by the author and simply writing down thoughts you may have had while reading the chapter. There is also a short list of tips at the end of every chapter which kind of summarize the chapter you just read and make an easy reference tool when you want quick information.
This book is a "must have" for couples expecting twins and would make a great shower gift. Parents and grandparents of twins at any age will benefit from the advice given in this book.