Mommy Maven: Planning a Baby Shower for Twins

Natalie Diaz, founder of Twiniversity, is back with her expert advice on parenting multiples.  This time, she’s discussing the challenges of planning a nursery for more than one baby – and all the wonderful solutions she’s seen.  

Twins? Let’s celebrate twice as hard!

So you found this site because you planning a twin baby shower! Well rest assured, we have many insider tips that are going to make your party TWICE as nice. (Hint: Feel free to send this link to anyone who might consider throwing a shower for you too. Hey, twins are expensive; we need all the help we can get!) What are we waiting for? Let’s jump right in!

Pick Your Date Wisely

First you need to take a few things into special consideration when planning a twin baby shower. The first one is the date! Typically folks celebrate as the mom to be is nearing her due date. With twins, because they often come early, you should plan your shower anytime between your 30^th and 34^th week. The 34^th week of your twin pregnancy is a great hurdle to get to but often parents deliver around this time (like I did) and you want to be sure that the mom to be gets to be there and actually enjoy the party thrown in her honor. So find out what her due date is and count backwards from there. Ta da, now you have a date.

Two Peas In a Pod

Next on our baby shower planning To Do list is to come up with a theme (if you’re going to have one). This is totally optional, but often with a baby shower theme it’s easier to pick decorations, games, etc. Twiniversity and Multiplicity Magazine have covered many themes throughout the years and we have a wonderful Pinterest board dedicated to just this very topic. Check it out and pick some of your favorite pins. Themes can be very simple, from  “It’s Girls” all the way to an elaborate “Noah’s Arc” themed baby shower. I suggest that you embrace a theme, then take advantage of the structure it provides and apply it to the invitations all the way through to the thank you cards, and everything in between.  Don’t be afraid to get creative and make the most of this exceptional celebration! Try one of these or see if they spark a new idea of your own.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 (from The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Suess)

Two Peas in a Pod

Noah’s Ark

“Wombmates”

Twice is Nice

My Water Broke!

Once you’ve chosen a theme and picked out cute corresponding invites, it’s time to come up with some entertainment that your guests will still be talking about when your twins are in college.  Remember to keep the games simple and easy enough for everyone to enjoy, and make sure you have lots of prizes on hand.  Five dollars at the ninety-nine cent store will go a long way, and you can focus on prizes that come in twos – earrings, gloves, socks, or even packs of double mint gum or double stuffed Oreos!  Here are a few of our favorite shower games:

My Water Broke

Freeze little toy babies in ice and then place a cube in everyone’s drink.  (Make sure that you warn everyone so that no one drinks the baby by accident.  That could really spoil a good party.)  As the party progresses, the ice will melt and the babies will “pop” to the top.  The guest whose ice melts first has to shout, “MY WATER BROKE!” and hand their baby to the party organizer.  Even though only the first guest to have her “water break” gets a prize, everyone will probably shout, “MY WATER BROKE!” when their baby floats to the top, creating a fun and raucous atmosphere.

How Many Kisses?

Fill a plastic baby bottle or any large container with Hershey’s Kisses and have your guests guess how many are in the container!  The person whose guess is closest to the real number wins a prize.  You can customize this by using blue and pink kisses if you’re having girl/boy twins or two bottles of blue kisses if you’re having identical boys.

T-W-I-N-S

            Forget B-I-N-G-O when you can play T-W-I-N-S.  Create bingo cards using twinnie related terms like, “double stroller,” “double trouble,” “double blessings,” “Twice as Nice,” “Baby A,” “Baby B,” “Two peas in a pod,” “dynamic duo,” “identical,” “fraternal,” etc.  Personalize this by adding your last name, your husband’s last name, the names you’re considering for your twins, and anything else you’d like to include.

What’s My Name?

Can’t decide what to name your twinnies?  Your shower is a great place to get some ideas.  What better focus group could you find?  Give every guest some paper to write down their name suggestions and why they are suggesting them.  When you get home, go over all the ideas.  You might just learn from your mother’s card that your great great grandfather was named Alexander, which is a name you were already considering!  This may just be the convincing you need to make that big decision for baby Alex!

Double Doodie!

Each guest gets a tiny little diaper crafted out of a triangular piece of white felt with a safety pin closing it up so that it looks like a tiny diaper.  Two guests’ diapers have a “bonus” in them – a Tootsie Roll out of its wrapper.  Yes, it looks like a tiny poop.  The guests with poop in their diapers win a prize.  Sure, this game is a little on the gross side, but if you have a wacky family like mine, the room will be filled with hoots and hollers!  At my shower, those hollers got louder when the winning guests ate the Tootsie Rolls after collecting their prizes. Yup, we are a classy bunch!

 Wishing Well

Ever go to a shower that has a “wishing well”?  It’s an additional gift that you ask each invited guest to bring. It’s often a personal gift or something that the mom would need a lot of.  Since twin parents do need a lot of stuff, here are some wishing well ideas if ya need ’em:

Diaper Wishing Well: Each guest brings a pack of closed diapers in different sizes

Book Wishing Well: Each guest brings their personal favorite children’s book and inscribes it to the twins

Bath Time Wishing Well: Each guest brings a bath related item. It could be baby shampoo to baby lotion.

Wrap it up

More and more folks are option to ask their guest to bring their gifts wrapped in clear paper to eliminate the need to “open” each gift. If you are planning a very large shower (such as 50 guests or more) then, first of all, lucky you!  But secondly, you might want to consider this option. With a large family the gift opening portion of the party can take hours and the mom to be will already be worn out.

If you are purchasing a bunch of clothing as a gift, you may want to even considering using them as decoration! It’s a tradition amongst our friends to create a clothing line with all the baby clothes on it. This gives all the guest a chance to “ooooh” and “ahhhh” over the cute tiny outfits and adds decoration to the room as well.

SASE

Odds are the mom to be will be sending out thank you cards to all in attendance. Why not help her out a bit and provide a stamped envelope to every guest for the to fill out their address on (SASE: Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)? This will save her some time and if she is suffering with carpel tunnel syndrome like many expectant twin moms do, she will be even more appreciative.

This was a real lifesaver for me personally. Since my twinnies came early (34w), I was very late with my thank you cards since I was in and out of the hospital after my shower.  Everyone told me it wasn’t necessary to send cards, but it was important for me to make sure that my friends and family knew how thankful I really was.  So instead of traditional thank you notes, I wrote this poem and sent it to each guest:

Surprise, we came early!

So our parents “thank you’s” are late

We hope you understand

That now they have a lot on their plate

They need to feed us and change us

At least a dozen times a day

And with two that takes a lot of time

We’re a lot of work they say

It’s actually 4 in the morning

As our mommy writes this poem

‘cause that’s the only time there’s peace

In our humble little home

So thank you very much,

For the gifts, good wishes, and prayers

We feel so blessed to have such great support

From our family and friends who truly care.

So what are you waiting for? Pick your date. Plan your guest list. Visit sites like Tinyprints, Vistaprint and Evite to create your invitation and get this party started.

If you liked the tips listed in this article, check out our website at www.Twiniversity.com and check Multiplicity Magazine quarterly for even more great ideas. Have fun and we wish your party a ton of success.

Natalie Diaz is the founder of Twiniversity.com, the world’s largest online support community for parents of twins.  Also, keep your eyes peeled for the new book “What To Do When You Are Having Two” written by Natalie Diaz herself. Live in the NYC metro area? Expecting Twins? Natalie also teaches classes exclusively for expectant and new parents of twins and speaks nationally on twin parenting issues.  For more information visit www.Twiniversity.com  or find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Twiniversity.

Tags: nursery design, pregnant with twins, twins