DOUBLE TIME
How I Survived—And Mostly Thrived—Through the First Three Years of Mothering Twins
(St. Martin’s Press, 2012)
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When Jane Roper found out she was pregnant with twins, she searched high and low for a memoir of the first years with multiples, but came up empty-handed. Four years later, she wrote the book she wished she’d had as a new mother of twins.Double Time is an entertaining, up-close and very personal look at Jane Roper’s first three years raising twin daughters. From trying to get pregnant to processing the idea of twins, from round the clock feedings and diaper changes to the joy of watching “twinteractions” between her girls as their (very different!) personalities emerge, Jane tells all. Meanwhile, she struggles to keep a history of depression under control—and find answers when her symptoms get worse. All this while falling steadily in love with her duo as they grow from sleepy newborns to mischievous toddlers with a penchant for potty talk.
Full of warmth, honesty, occasional advice, and more than a little humor, Double Time is a smart and engaging account of the first three years with multiples, as well as a refreshingly candid and vulnerable look at parenting, clinical depression, and the quest for work-family balance. It’s Jane Roper’s story, but it’s one that will resonate with countless women—especially those parenting in double time.
“Raising twins is maddening and masochistic yet worth every crazy moment. Jane Roper captures them all in her revealing, heart wrenching, hilarious memoir. As a mother of twins myself, I cackled and related on every page as Jane revealed the unvarnished truth about dealing with twins, depression and trying to ‘have it all.’” —Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, author of Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay: And Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom
At once immeasurably funny and deeply comforting; if you are expecting or have young twins, this is a must-read.” —Elizabeth Lyons, author of Ready or Not Here We Come!: The Real Experts’ Guide to the First Year With Twins
“With candor to spare, Jane Roper shares her twin-parenting tale with commitment, compassion and a generous dose of comedy. Whether you are expecting twins, parenting twins, dealing with depression, or simply want a great read from a great writer, read Double Time!” —Cheryl Lage, author of Twinspiration
“With humor and frankness, the author opens a private door into her life as a new mother of fraternal girls . . . A straightforward, honest look at how raising a child is difficult, but raising twins can be exponentially more demanding.” —Kirkus
“In addition to learning how to nurse two babies and function without sleep, Roper a woman who had battled depression before, was clobbered with the who-gives-a-damn-scourge and then, as if that weren’t enough, additionally diagnosed with Bipolar ll. She shares the highs and lows of a mood disorder and gets an A+ for chutzpah and candid (ouch) self-reflection. By the end of Double Time you will be in love with Jane’s family of four. You might shed a tear along the way (I did) and you will definitely laugh. Go buy the book, one for yourself, a dozen to hand out to unsuspecting pregnant women, five for your gynocologist’s office and ten to wrap for Christmas in July.” —Huffington Post Parents
“There are two babies, two states of mood, two career paths, two themes. In less capable hands, all this doubleness could swerve into the precious, but Roper handles it deftly with humor and warmth.” ⎯Brain, Child Magazine