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Welcome to Double Takes! We're 64 families in the Sacramento area with twins, triplets and
quads, from moms who are still expecting to moms whose twins just left for college. (Hi, Dolores. We
know you're crying.) We get together once a month, run two big resale sales a year, match every
new mom with a mentor, and keep a lot of playgroups going. Mostly, though, we're the people who
understand when you show up with one sock on and spit-up in your hair and say you've had a good
day.
I'm Valarie Alejandro, and I write our newsletter and this page. I was a loan officer at a
credit union until the day the ultrasound tech said "Oh! There's another one," and now I'm home with
our twin boys, Tony and Brandon, who are four, and our daughter Charlotte, who is nine and the most
patient big sister in California. My husband Curtis says I spend more time on this club than I did
at the credit union. He is right. The club pays worse and I like it better.
Meetings
Second Thursday of every month, 7:00 p.m., in the fellowship hall of a Methodist church in east
Sacramento (call or e-mail for directions; it's right off the freeway). Programs, door prizes,
coffee and an awful lot of cookies. New moms and expectant moms especially welcome.
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Babysitting
Down the hall in the church nursery, every meeting. Teenagers from the church youth group watch
the kids with two of our moms on rotation. $2 a child, $5 most per family, no matter how many you
brought. Yes, triplets get the family rate. Bring a labeled snack and a diaper or two.
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| October 14 | "Together or Apart?" A kindergarten teacher who's had eleven sets of twins in her room talks about school placement. |
| November 11 | Holiday survival, and the swap table: bring the matching outfits your kids outgrew. |
| December 9 | Family holiday party. Santa comes, and he's been briefed on who is who. |
FALL CLOTHING & EQUIPMENT SALE
Saturday, October 9 · 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Kids' clothes, double strollers, cribs, toys, books and everything else you need two of.
Half price from 11:30. Details for shoppers and consignors
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Expecting Twins?
First, breathe. Then call us. Every expectant mom who joins gets a mentor mom, someone who
has been where you are, to answer questions at two in the afternoon or two in the morning, take you
to a meeting, and tell you the truth about how much you'll need. Our lending closet has twin
nursing pillows, bouncy seats and baby gates to borrow. Expectant moms' dues are waived until the
babies arrive.
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Just Had Them?
Congratulations! When your babies come home, the club brings dinner three nights a week for a
month. Michele Holcomb sets up the schedule, so you don't have to do a thing but open the door, and
the moms who bring it will hold a baby while you eat with both hands. When Tony and Brandon came
home, my mentor, Carolyn Dufrene, brought lasagna and folded two loads of laundry. I'll never
forget it.
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Playgroups
Playgroups meet weekly at members' homes and parks, by age, so the kids have friends and the moms have
grown-ups to talk to. Lesley Ritchie keeps the list and will put you in one.
| Babies (under 1) | Tuesday mornings, rotating homes. Mostly the moms, honestly. |
| Toddlers (1 and 2) | Wednesday mornings at a park with a fenced playground. Fenced. Trust us. |
| Threes and Fours | Friday mornings. Tony and Brandon's group. Eleven sets and one set of triplets. |
| School-Age | A Saturday outing every month: the zoo, the train museum, pumpkin patch in October. |
Halloween Party
Saturday, October 30, 3:00 to 5:00 in the fellowship hall. Costume parade, a cake walk, apple
bobbing for the brave, and a trick-or-treat hallway. Bring one dozen treats per child, which for
most of us means two dozen. Robin Moore is in charge.
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Best Pair Costume
The prize everybody wants. Past winners: salt and pepper, ketchup and mustard, a peanut butter and a
jelly, two halves of a cow, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 (three different years). Tony and Brandon are
going as a fire truck this year: Tony's the front and Brandon's the back, and Brandon is not happy
about it.
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The Questions Strangers Ask at the Grocery Store
Every mom of multiples has heard every one of these, usually in the cereal aisle, usually while one
child is trying to climb out of the cart. Here is what we'd like to say, and what we actually say.
| "Are they twins?" | No, they just happen to be the same age, the same size and in the same cart. (Actually: "Yes!") |
"Are they identical?"
(asked of a boy and a girl) | Not in the ways that count. (Actually: "No, a boy and a girl are always fraternal.") |
| "Do twins run in your family?" | They do now. |
| "Were they natural?" | They're as natural as your kids, and that's all the cereal aisle needs to know. |
| "Better you than me!" | You're right. It is better me. |
| "Double trouble!" | Double fun. Most days. Ask me again at bedtime. |
| "Which one is the good one?" | They take turns. (Today it's Brandon.) |
| "How do you tell them apart?" | Tony is the one standing up in the cart. Tony, sit down. |
| "You sure have your hands full." | And my heart. (We all say this one. We mean it.) |
And to the big sisters and brothers who stand there while everyone fusses over the twins: we see
you. Charlotte's answer, when a lady at the checkout asked if she was a twin too: "No. I'm the
original."
Identical
One fertilized egg splits in two early on, so the babies share the same genes and are the same sex.
They can still look a little different and they certainly act different. And one placenta or two
doesn't settle it: if the egg splits very early, identical twins can have two. Identical twins
happen at about the same rate everywhere and don't run in families.
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Fraternal
Two eggs, released at the same time, each fertilized separately. Fraternal twins are as alike as
any brothers and sisters, and can be a boy and a girl. The tendency to release two eggs can run in
families, on the mother's side, and it goes up as mothers get older.
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Why are there so many of us now? Twin births in this country have gone up by about half since
1980, and triplets and more have gone up even faster. Two reasons, mostly: more women are having
babies in their thirties, when the odds of releasing two eggs are higher, and fertility treatments
have helped a lot of families who couldn't have children before. Our club had 23 families in 1985.
We have 64 today, and four more are due by Christmas.
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1999-2000 Officers
| President | Andrea Leib |
| Vice President, Programs | Evelyn Terrell |
| Secretary | Lena Rounds |
| Treasurer | Ingrid Platt |
| Sale Co-Chairs (two, naturally) | Karla Scotto & Joan Francis |
| Expectant Moms & Mentors | Carolyn Dufrene |
| Meals | Michele Holcomb |
| Playgroups | Lesley Ritchie |
| Membership | Danielle Lawson |
| Newsletter & Web Page | Valarie Alejandro |
Joining: Dues are $25 a year per family (not per child, thank goodness) and include our
monthly newsletter, Two by Two. Danielle will send you a membership form, or just come to a
meeting.
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