Mothers of multiples...I need your advice!

[ranthony]

OK, here's my issue. I have twin DSs (they will be close to 3). They are fraternal and one will be over 40 inches when we go at Christmas and the other (most likely) will not. Now if it were just the 2 of them I would skip the thrillers since it's their first trip and they won't know what they are missing anyways. However, I also have a DS6 that loves all the coasters and such and can't wait to ride them again. The twins want to do anything their older brother does and are adventurous little daredevils so I doubt that if they were given the chance to ride anything they would chicken out.

I don't know how to handle this. If I let the twin that is tall enough ride the "bigger" kid rides then I'm sure the shorter twin would be upset. However, if they see big bother going on those rides and want to go, why should I hold back the twin that is tall enough? He's an individual and it's not his fault his brother isn't tall enough. I really don't want to spend the days split up (Me with the twins and DH with the 6 yo) just because I'm avoiding this issue.

WWYD?

 

[amyhughes]

I would do the child swap on those rides that your younger son cannot go on. This will allow your DH to go on with your older child then come back, and you can take your taller twin. How to make up for this? That's a toughie. What I would do in this instance if I were in your shoes is make his wait a BLAST by maybe going to meet a character, get an ice cream, play in the fountains (Epcot esp!), select a small souvenir from the rides gift shop (they usually have some that are less than $5).

I understand the predicament b/c in all reality my younger son is more daredevil than my older one who is actually tall enough to ride the headliner rides. But, kids at this age I think really just want to have fun. And if he doesn't know what he is missing until next time (and his memory may not be formed well enough yet to put two and two together as yet) you should be okay. Of course me may cry at first, the seperation from his twin, Dad, older sibling. But distractions can work wonders.

Best of luck and let us know what ends up happening!

 

[lizally]

Gosh, that is difficult. My girls are almost 3 also, and if one ever gets to do something and the other doesn't, its a terrible scene. Everything must be completely equal with those two! So my plan would be to not even let the taller boy know that he is tall enough for those rides, and let neither one ride. It would just be so awful to be the little boy who doesn't get to ride with the others.

 

[theparsons]

I agree....I wouldn't let either go on. They're young enough that you can fudge things and distract them from not going on. There is more than enough for that age to do without needing to do the other rides.

If this is a "once in a lifetime" trip....then honestly....I'd probably put it off for another year so that both can enjoy equally....and everything.

He's too young to read the signs probably, so unless you TELL him that this post here measures whether he's tall enough to ride....he'll just think it's a cool thing to know that he's as tall as a character or whatever. It's all in how you present it at this age.

If somehow he does realize it means he can go on a ride and the other can't.....then I'd appeal to his sense of fair play. It wouldn't be fair for him to get to go and brother not too.....even really young kids are usually able to get this.....my girls certainly understood it (not for rides, but we had some years that one was going through some health issues and couldn't eat certain things....the other of course wanted those and I'd seek out her compassion that it wasn't fair to her sister....she wasn't always happy with that reasoning, but she did understand it.)

But again....I don't think your kids are old enough to realize that the sign there means you're tall enough or not tall enough to ride....so if they ask to go on X ride, just tell them that they're not old enough this trip....but next year they will be...oh and look there's Goofy, let's go say Hi to him....or...wow, look here's this ride, let's go on that! Or....if you're kosher with a little lie....tell him we're on our way to "X" but we'll try to come back to that later.....he'll likely forget later with everything else going on! I usually fudge it with "we'll try to do such and such"....know I'm not really going to try.

Get used to this though....as there will always be something like this going on.

If you're still torn and want more responses....you might change your subject line....because I'm sure this question comes up with parents who have a 4 year old who is tall enough and a 3 year old sibling who isn't.....and I imagine that the hurt and tears would be just as strong even though they're not twins. Yes, twins have that bond of "we do everything together" where siblings might do things age appropriately....but in this situation the hurt will still be the same (speaking on that one as the younger sister, lol).

 

[Princess Roo]

Not a mom of multiples here, but you could use the argument that they aren't "old enough"... Many people disagree, and I'm not criticizing those who do, but I don't plan on letting my tall enough just-turning-3yo go on the height restricted rides next trip because I think they're a little too much force for him and he will have plenty of opportunities in the future to do so.

My sister and I were very close in age and it was always so tough when one of us was allowed to do something and the other wasn't. I don't know if it's better or worse to prevent those situations when you're able to in this case or not. Good luck figuring it out!

 

[stm61]

another mom of fraternal's with height differences here. My dd's8 are 3"-4" and at least 10 lbs different. Mine were 4 when they first went to WDW, so they knew what those signs meant. The shorter one is the braver one and was NOT happy that she couldn't go with the bigger kids. She got over it, she knew she was smaller, there was nothing anyone could do about it. I didn't want to buy her things since that would cause another scene when the bigger kids returned from their ride and found her with a new toy, plus I didn't want to spend that much on junk. She would wait with an adult, walk thru a store, play in the kiddie area if there was one. She wasn't happy but she knew there was nothing anyone could do and this is going to be an issue for many years to come. That said, she was 4, not 2. I don't know if I could of handled it the same way if they were 2. I think I'd probably just tell them both they weren't old enough to ride and deal with it the next trip. They already know their brother can do stuff they can't because he's older, they're used to that. I didn't want to deny the taller twin at 4, almost 5, because they are going to have this size difference forever, unless the smaller one suddenly catches up as a teen. They know they're different, they have their own likes/dislikes and strengths/weaknesses, they're not always happy about it, but they deal with it.

 

[reservations4five]

My girls are identical- they have a very firm idea that EVERYTHING must be equal- unless it comes in both purple and pink then it is ok to have it a little different. I know that this is my fault but hey it works for us. There would be a all out WAR if one of my twins got to ride and the other didn't- they are just grasping the fact that their big sister can do things and have things that they can't have.
I would just wait till they both could ride. The other posters had some good ideas on how to by pass certain rides.

 

[hipporina]

We have been in this exact situation.

We have a pair of twins - Juliana and Josiah. We also have a pair of boys that are 4 months apart - Joshua and Daniel. Joshua and Daniel have been together with us since they were 4, so they are incredibly close and do everything together. In fact, they are closer than the twins in a lot of ways.

Anyway, when we went in 2005, we only had 4 kids and Joshua was the only one under 44''. We decided that we would make Daniel wait until Joshua was tall enough to ride too. We explained it to them, and Daniel was completely fine with waiting with Joshua.

When we went last year, Joshua was still too short, but we now had 3 other kids that were too sort too. We decided to let Daniel ride last year since Joshua wouldn't be the only one left out and they were both okay with it.

I guess my point is that you know your family and how they will respond. I think that either way is fine. Just pick what you think will work best for your kids.