Double Time

May 28, 2012
In this addition to the "momoir" subgenre, Roper recounts the ups and downs of raising twins while coping with depression. In 2011, Roperâauthor of the Baby Squared blog on the hip parenting website Babble.comâpublished her debut novel, Eden Lake, whose gestation also features prominently in the memoir. Her honest and funny take on an often frantic life with twins ("Outside the confines of your home, you will almost always need someone else with you, to play man-on-baby defense.") make the slog of raising babies amusing and memorable. Quotidian activities like grocery shopping, nursing, play dates and placating epic tantrumsâeach obfuscated by a factor of twoâbecome exercises in endurance for Roper and her singer/songwriter husband. Interspersed with the expected trials and triumphs are vivid descriptions of Roper's depression (of which she has a long history), and various attempts at treatment, providing a sobering contrast to her entertaining descriptions of her twin's antics. Though she occasionally lapses into lazy language (e.g., "And sure, a baby clips everyone's wings. But mine felt clipped-er."), Roper ultimately succeeds in making the story of a new mom feel fresh and engaging.

March 15, 2012
A new mother chronicles her adventures raising twins. "I worried that I might love one baby more than the other. I worried that I wouldn't have the time or energy to bond with them the way mothers bond with a single baby, because I'd be so busy juggling the two of them." These were just two of the many thoughts tumbling through Roper's (Eden Lake, 2011) head when she and her husband discovered they were having twins. With humor and frankness, the author opens a private door into her life as a new mother of fraternal girls. She elaborates on her struggles to combat depression while evolving into a good mother and continuing to work part-time. Roper illustrates the complexities of parenthood, times two, including pre-pregnancy fears, labor and learning how to juggle the needs of twins. Nursing strategies, diaper changes, feeding and sleeping routines, the complications of taking two children shopping--all are captured in Roper's matter-of-fact account. The author also holds nothing back when discussing her sudden drops into depression, a state that pushed her to scramble into bed, despite her children's needs. "I don't know one woman...who doesn't struggle at times with the push and pull of children and work and spouse and self," she writes, "not to mention the dreams and passions that fall outside the realm of simple logistic possibility." It was with this thought in mind that Roper made changes in her work and her medications so she could genuinely claim to be "doubly blessed." A straightforward, honest look at how raising a child is difficult, but raising twins can be exponentially more demanding.

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