Spartan Profiles: Susan Heim

TWINS PARENTING

            From all the books, blogs and essays she has written about parenting twins, you would think she spent a lifetime studying twins.  Not true, demurs Susan (Kazenko)  Heim, ’86, a Florida-based writer and editor who has published three books about raising twins, and is working on two others (see susanheim.com). 

            A native of Lansing, Heim majored in business administration.  In 2000, she landed a job with Health Communications, Inc., and edited a series of Chicken Soup books.  Already the mother of two boys, Susan had twin boys in 2003 and discovered a whole new universe.  “It’s very different raising twins,” explains Susan, whose latest book is It’s Twins! Parent-to-Parent Advice from Infancy Through Adolescence (Hampton Roads, 2007).  “One premise in my books is that no one knows that until they actually have twins and are immersed in the chaos of raising twins.” 

            And chaos is not a bad word, according to Susan, who says twins (and multiples) seem to connive with each other.  “When they are very young,” she notes, “they seem to play tag team and take turns in keeping you awake, so whatever sleep deprivation you experience the parent of a singleton is doubled.” 

            According to Twins magazine, about 132,000 twins are born every year in the U.S. and there are more than 4 million twins worldwide. “It’s a big market and it’s getting bigger because of the increased use of fertility drugs, which increase the odds of multiples,” Susan explains. 

            Well-known twins include Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen and the late Abigail Van Buren (“Dear Abby”) and Ann Landers.  Little known is that Elvis Presley, Ashton Kutcher and Mario Andretti are all twins. 

             Although Susan is a fulltime mother, she is working on two new books on twins, building a web site (TwinTalk) where parents of twins can share information, and continuing to work as a freelance editor.  “A lot of the parenting of twins is learned by trial and error, like all parenting,” she notes.  What is her advice to new parents of twins?  “Get some help,” she says.  “When someone offers to help, be sure to accept it and establish when.”