Reviewed by Heather Laird

Ok ladies. I’ll admit it. I am a huge fan of TLC’s John and Kate Plus 8. The idea of navigating a word with twins, let alone sextuplets, hold great mystery and intrigue for me. Diapers. Feedings. Cleaning the toilet. Laundry. I am barely able to manage my tiny brood of two girls who are four years apart in age. How do these courageous families adapt? Do they sleep? Do they shower? Do they ever have a moment to grab a latte and read a book? Ugh. And so, with great anticipation I read Cheryl Lage’s new book, Twinspiration.

Cheryl draws on her own experience with her set of twins to provide a very real worldview of raising twins. Bonus, she also gives great advice on everything from breastfeeding to involving Daddy in the routine. Cheryl found that when she looked to the Barnes and Noble family/children rack that there were virtually no books on twins that really gave the nitty-gritty.

This book is concise and well written. The chapters are setup in the same way that your college textbook outlined the complete history of Europe. Information is easy to find. It is like have the super encyclopedia of twins at your fingertips but with more humor and pizazz. Finances. Swing sets. Pediatricians. Air travel. Persona Hygiene (yours, not the babies). All covered. And what a relief, you will find that Cheryl is abhorrent to the “mommy police”. All the information is present with compassion and understand. She’s been there, done that, and has made the same mistakes that all leave us wondering, “What was I thinking?”.

This is a must have gift for a parents who have just found out that they are having multiples. And really, don’t you thing that the ultrasound technician should give this book to families who have just “seen” their twins for the first time? Sounds like a good idea to me.