Bob and Sue Lewis were thrilled to discover that they were expecting twin girls who were due to arrive right around Thanksgiving time.
This of course put a crimp into the design of the nursery they were planning and necessitated the use of the largest bedroom in their cozy little three bedroom house.
Luckily for them, the upstairs was one large bedroom that with a little work became perfect for the little ones.
Once they made the decision that they wanted the babies to be viewed as individuals from the start, they had the game plan in place to start decorating.
Sue's mother made quilts for each of the girls and one was a Sunbonnet pattern quilted with predominantly green colors and the other was exactly the same but yellow colors were used to complete it.
This was the inspiration piece that Bob and Sue needed to begin their color scheme.
They started shopping for modular carpet tile that Bob could install himself and found that this was a very popular way to decorate.
Sue finally made the decision to use floor tile and use the large squares available to create unique areas for each girl in the colors she would designate.
This allowed her to make a distinctive separation of space starting from the floor up so that the girls would be together in their bedroom but from the beginning they would each learn to respect each other's right to privacy.
Sue and Bob painted the room using muted colors from the quilts and ended up with two walls that were green and two that were yellow.
The choice of white cribs and nursery furniture was adorable and the end result was a pleasing yet restful mix of colors and design for their little girls to enjoy.
While it was once thought acceptable and was almost expected that twins would be dressed alike with matching hairstyles, the new train of thought is that it is advantageous to think of each child as a unique individual right from the time of their birth.
Multiple births are much more commonplace than they were in part due to artificial insemination and in vitro procedures and it is very likely that all of us will come in contact with sets of identical twins on a regular basis.
Our attitudes determine how likely it is that we will view each child as their own person or whether we will see them as part of a set.
Most parents will opt for separate classrooms if there is a choice so each of their children can have their own set of activities and playmates.
This not only guarantees independence from their twin but it gives them opportunities for conversation about their day that will be fresh and new to their sibling.
When we experience everything together, we lose the motivation to put into words the activities of the day.
This becomes a practical way for a twin to connect with their sibling in an easy yet revealing way of describing time spent away from each other.