Two backpacks, two lunch boxes and double the notebooks and pencils is just the beginning for parents sending twins off to school.

In the Hawley household in Slippery Rock, back to school means a return to the clothes dresser for mom Sue.

"Basically it's always trying on the clothes to see what fits," sighed the mother of three growing boys. Twins Joe and Nic are 9 years old; their

brother

Ben is 11.

"Joe is taller than Nic; Joey starts to grow first - then Nic will catch up," Hawley said. "I used to save Ben's clothes but he's a different shape. Shirts are OK; pants are not. We spend most of the time trying on to see what's good for this year."

Fortunately for mixing and matching, and for the teachers who can't tell the identical twins apart, Joe and Nic don't dress alike.

"They never have wanted to dress alike," Hawley said. "They share, or if one likes a particular pair of pants, they claim it."

Nic chooses to dress up more, his mom said. For example, he wears more button-down shirts. Joey wants to dress down, like in a cool T-shirt. "Nic likes short hair and Joe likes his long," Hawley added.

New waves of what to wear arrive regularly at the Hawleys'. "We do the big family hand-me-down thing. I'm the last of 22 cousins," Hawley noted. "And I think there are people who when they see you with twins they think you need clothes. People just drop off clothes. If the kids don't like it, I just give it to someone else."

The boys got to pick out their own lunch packs and sneakers for school, said Hawley, who shares stories and support with other members of Butler Mothers of Twins and Triplets.

One of her back-to-school survival tricks is to buy the boys all the same socks, Ben in a bigger size, smaller ones for Joe and Nic. "That makes the sorting easier," she said. The kids appreciate it, too. "These guys have helped do laundry for a long time."

Beyond school supplies, parents of multiple-birth children monitor the classroom setting probably more closely than parents of single-birth children.

Rose McDonough of Fombell in Beaver County does. Her twins, Tyler and Maggie, are 7 years old and entering second grade. Their older brother Cole, 11, is going into fifth grade, all three in the Riverside School District.

"Separate or together" is an ongoing topic of discussion, said McDonough, who serves as vice president of the 45-member Cranberry Mothers of Multiples group and is active in the Pennsylvania Organization of Mothers of Twins Club.

A recent newsletter from the state club printed stories from both sides. "It brings really great discussion to your club," she said.

"It might be difficult for the teacher to separate them (when they're in the same classroom) when evaluating their skills," McDonough said.

"A lot of people did talk about how the school districts would try to force you to separate them. One woman said they told her it was the law!

"When you have multiples, you have to assert what's best for your children more than when you just have a singleton (single-birth child)."

Some parents choose to have their multiple-birth children in the same classroom.

Homework is just easier that way, McDonough said. "It's my choice to have them in separate classrooms. I wanted each to tell me about a separate day.

"When they first started school, they came home, threw their backpacks down and pulled all their papers out to show each other, not me.

"I end up doing two separate homework times anyway, so they each get some individual time."

The Hawley twins are placed in separate classrooms at their family's request as well.

"When one is relying on the other, I don't think they grow socially," Hawley said. "In high school, if they happen to have the same English or P.E. class, by then, oh well."

Find teachers who will work for both of your children, noted McDonough, who works as a substitute teacher.

"In kindergarten, Tyler and Maggie's teachers both agreed the two could do things like bring a snack on the same day so it wasn't 'You're getting to do something before I am' kind of thing. Any special occasions, field trips, they would go the same day. There's always a jealousy issue."

Twins can often cooperate, though, in extracurricular activities such as sports, McDonough noted. They can be pitcher and catcher or quarterback and receiver, she said.

"You really have to weigh academics as well as socialization. If they're academically competitive or at different ends, you have to avoid that," she said.

"I hear that when they hit a certain age, around fifth or sixth grade, they don't want to be in the same class. You have to make sure to make your kids individuals because no one else does."