The Lynns:

Loretta Lynn's twins are grateful their mom taught them how to sing honky-tonk harmonies -- and how to be loving working parents.

In this story:
Advice from the Lynns
Ask the Lynns for advice

Peggy, left, and Patsy Lynn. Patsy's namesake is her mom's mentor, Patsy Cline.

hen Twins Peggy and Patsy Lynn were 6 years old, a teacher asked, "Don't you miss your mama?" Their mother, country music legend Loretta Lynn, was on the road 250 days a year, and the teacher's question stung young Peggy. She took a breath and replied, "My mama has always been gone. I don't know anything different."

The Lynns, 34, now have a flourishing career as a duo and four kids between them. Often away from home themselves, they know what their children are going through. "My little girl said, 'You're going out on the road again? I hate your record deal!' " says Patsy. "It's very difficult."

As working moms and musicians, the Lynns say, they're lucky to have a good role model in Loretta Lynn. Says Peggy: "You have to let your children know, 'This is what I do.' My mother did that. I never felt my mom was gone because she didn't love me, or for any reason except that's what she did."

The Lynns were brought up in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., mostly by their father, Oliver "Mooney" Lynn. Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of him in their mother's biopic, Coal Miner's Daughter, was dead-on, the twins say. "My parents fought as passionately as they loved," says Peggy. They had been married 47 years when Mooney died in 1996.

Never "star babies," the twins attended public schools, worked on the family ranch and played with the children of fans who came to the front gate looking for Loretta.

Billboard called The Lynns' self-titled debut album "the first taste of something very special." On it they sing about the romantic night they were conceived, and about how their father died looking into their mother's eyes.

"We knew our mom loved us, and we knew our dad was there for us," says Peggy. "As long as you know that, you're OK."

Twins are two people:
"Parents and outsiders often think of you as one individual," says Patsy. "But if you start treating us like we're the same, look out! There's going to be trouble."

"Whether you're up or down," says Patsy, "there's a country music song you'll find relates to your life."

To bond with a sibling:
"Look for something you can do well together," says Peggy. "We found singing, which separately we're good at and together we're great at."

Don't let your head swell:
"A lot of artists start making it and get an ego," says Patsy. "They need Loretta Lynn for 10 minutes. She'd say, 'Honey, once you're at the top, it's a long way to the bottom. And it's a fast fall.'"

Loretta Lynn's words for working moms like her twins:
"Do as I did. Learn through experience, but don't be afraid to fail."

The Lynns will write or call a reader who seeks advice. By Aug. 30, write to "Straight Talk," P.O. Box 3455, Chicago, Ill. 60654 (fax: 312-661-0375; e-mail: talk@usaweekend.com).

Photo Credit: TAMARA REYNOLDS FOR USA WEEKEND
Zaslow is an advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.