What Are Little Girls Made Of & Do They All Come Pre-Programmed That Way?

I've always heard that little girls are so much different than having little boys around.

Being a little girl, I always just ignored folks who said this, thinking that it couldn't be all that different.

I am learning, though. Boy, am I learning! Christmas clued us into a few differences that were very surprising.

On Christmas morning, everyone was very excited to see that Santa had left lots of neat and interesting things under the Christmas tree.

Vivienne sat in my lap as she demanded that her big brother, Bregon, place her new ruby slippers on her tiny little girl feet.

Then I handed her the new dollie that had been sleeping in Vivie's new cradle. The dollie said, "Mama" then began to cry.

That's when it happened. Vivienne snatched the dollie out of my hands and gave her a huge hug.

She leaned in close and laid her cheek against her dollie's, saying, "Okay, okay...alright," in an effort to "Comfort" her new baby.

She then placed baby back in its cradle, covered her with the purple satin blankie, and ran to get the bottle that was sticking out of her stocking on the fireplace.

After feeding baby, she rocked her, burped her, and put her back down for a nap.

While baby napped, Vivienne finished opening the rest of her presents. She was very stoic and almost looked upset when made to tear into her gifts.

Apparently, she didn't understand why we wanted her to tear up something so pretty. Each time we helped her get started, she gave us the funniest little face that showed slight disapproval.

Her brothers each tore into everything if for no other reason than curiosity over what was inside.

Vivienne received a total of three new babies for Christmas. Her brothers each received one boy baby each.

Every time Vivienne thought she had the new babies all fed, burped and placed for a nap, it seemed that she was tripping over another one.

She would put her hands on her hips, size up her new charge, and set about finding the new baby something to eat and place to sleep.

She seemed very tired and almost overwhelmed by the amount of new orphans that she and her brothers had just taken in, but she handled it all like a pro.

It's been almost a full week now, and she has managed to keep everyone fed and in their little baby spots.

Vivie can even manage to climb the stairs while holding her big baby who is almost as long as she is!

If baby should cry or fret along the way, Vivie will talk to her to soothe her. The bigger babies each get little sandwiches or a stuffed drumstick from the play picnic baskets for dinner now.

All the babies get bottles wherever they are, whether it be in the stroller, their high chair, or the cradle!

I don't know where Vivienne learned to be such a good, caring and attentive Mum, but she is doing such a good job.

It's amazing how my baby girl just knew what to do with all of her babies without being taught!

You Mean Bedtime Isn't Supposed To Be Fun?

Over the past week, I have had many visitors over to my home that are normally not around for the babies' everyday routine.

I am finding out that I am a very lucky Mum, too! Everyone seems to be so amazed over how good and happy my tiny trio are.

Both my sister and my in-law's were over at bedtime earlier this week, and each marveled over how it was laid back and tear-free.

Apparently, they always had trouble getting their kids to go to bed when they were little, or something.

After thinking about it, I suppose it isn't every day that you find three one year olds who can tell you when they are ready to go to sleep whether it's nap time or bedtime.

Our normal routine involves dinner at 5 each night. Everyone eats until they are finished (however long that may take) and each are allowed down to play until bedtime.

Bedtime is usually at six unless the babies are super tired, then they can head out earlier if they choose to do so.

All I have to do is ask them if they are ready to go to sleep, or to go, "Night night."

They will each drop whatever it is that they are playing with, and make a mad dash for the baby gate in the hallway.

It often looks like a bunch of horses lined up at the track, waiting for the bell or buzzer to signal the start of the race!

Sometimes, I don't even have to say anything. There are days when they decide that it's time, and they will go to the gate without having to be asked.

One of us always has to make sure that they are on the OTHER side of the gate so that our bedroom door gets closed.

Otherwise, the babies will sometimes get sidetracked and end up playing hide and seek in the bedroom bay window curtains!

Once we open the gate for them, they all three will make a bee-line for the stairway.

It's an actual race for them to climb the stairs and see who will get to the top first. The funny thing is, that they each are climbing and trying to sing their little "Upstairs feet" song on the way up.

It's not easy, either. Kaiden does NOT like to be anything but first, so he will try and push past whoever is in his way.

Just recently, Vivienne has realized that the banister must be there for a reason, and she has started trying to use it, even if she is much too short to reach the top!

Vivienne also has become very adept at making her climb while wearing her little nightgown and carrying her very big baby-doll that cries for "Mama."

She will even stop to try and soothe her baby should she start crying on the way up.

Kian starts saying his, "Hi Daddee's" at the bottom landing just in case he has to rush up the stairs to try and beat his brother to the top, just so he doesn't forget!

Now that the babies go upstairs on their own, we have to keep the bathroom door shut as well as the door to Bregon's room, too.

When they get to the top, they each head to their own little beds and gather their bed-babies while they wait for us to put them to sleep for the night.

My in-law's especially are amazed at how quiet and happy bedtime is at my house. Instead of crying coming through the monitor, all they could hear was happy baby bedtime chatter.

Who say's bedtime isn't supposed to be any fun?

Dawning Realizations

I have figured out a lot of weird yet interesting things over the past few weeks. Who knew one could learn so much from Christmas?

First off, I have discovered that while every toy has a preferred age range or is marked for age appropriateness, the packaging of that toy is FAR from being acceptable for a child.

Letting a child try and open his own present, even if it is an age appropriate toy, could actually endanger your child.

A relative sent the coolest toy to my triplets for Christmas. They very painstakingly chose something that was colorful and educational yet fun for my kids.

But, when I went to try and free the cute and very wonderful toy from its seemingly innocent box, I met with a flurry of wiring, zip ties and very strange, opaque, almost tape-like (just not sticky) packing straps.

These weird straps almost looked like the 6-pack ring sort of packaging that you would find binding a 6-pack of Coca-Cola together.

You know, the stuff that we are supposed to painstakingly cut each ring apart to keep the ducks and other birds from getting caught in it when it goes to landfills.

This toy is about the size of a large butter carton. It doesn't even seem like it be the sort to try and escape or run away from its packaging, but the manufacturer must have found it very feisty.

I must have spent a good thirty minutes trying to untangle, untie, and un-stick that poor little ladybug pull toy from its wrappings.

I had to resort to attempting to use scissors, a pocket knife, and even some weird tool that came in my husband's dremel set in some attempt to free this ladybug.

The entire time I was performing the extraction surgery for the toy, I was having to be extremely careful because little bits of wiring and other dangerous, tempting, ingestables were flying all over the living room from my efforts.

We did finally get the toy free, and all of its toy restraints gathered and safely discarded AWAY from my little people so that they didn't choke or anything.

Oh my goodness, that toy was well packaged. It was almost parent-proofed, too!

Another weird thing that I discovered this holiday season, is that there is a very good reason that they advise you NOT to do your baking while you have guests over.

I had my sister, father and nieces and nephew over on Christmas Eve for dinner and a few presents.

I had thought it would be nice if the kids could help drop the cookies before I baked them, since I had the forethought to go ahead and make the cookie dough earlier that day for that night's usual baking tradition.

It seemed so easy, to. All I had to do was hand Bregon the large pot of dough, a foil lined cookie sheet, and three spoons and the kids did the rest.

I popped the first batch into the electric oven, and got a little sidetracked talking to my baby sister for a while.

You also have to understand, that my oven has this weird trick that it does when one attempts to use its timer.

It has a shut-off button for some weird reason that decides to turn off the top oven (which was the one I have to use while the kids are awake) so I wasn't up to trying to use that timer!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I managed to over-cook those cookies. Sister realized what was happening, too, and actually attempted to help me time the next batch.

7 batches later, we had quite a collection of hockey puck cookies to leave out for Santa. Poor Santa, I hope he found it as funny as we did!

Christmas Day, when one has a rather large family, can also resemble moving day, once the garbage has been taken outside and set on the trash pile.

We thought we were doing so well, unboxing everything on Sunday night so that the cartons would get picked up with Monday's trash collection.

It was a great idea. It forced us to make sure that our assembly was all complete, and that we had all of the pieces and hardware for everything.

Monday, we would have still had time to get replacements or switch everything out if there had been any problems (in theory anyways!)

Then Christmas Day came, and we unwrapped everything under our tree. This left us with diaper boxes and shirt boxes EVERYWHERE, all of which eventually found their way to this pile in between the recliner and the sofa.

That pile was a tall as I am! Husband very valiantly took it all outside while the kids were having their nap.

Now, I am all sorts of anxious that we will get fined for having trash on the trash pile on a non-pick-up day because it looks like we just moved in, there is so much garbage out there!

Over all, I have really learned quite a bit this past Christmas season. Unfortunately, it will be a whole year before I have to try and recollect what those lessons were, exactly.

Hopefully, I will have managed to learn from my mistakes and fix them for NEXT year...if my memory will allow!

Boxing Day...The Aftermath!

It's Boxing Day, and all of the babies toys that we sorted out on Monday must now be taken to the Salvation Army and donated.

Yes, I know we aren't British, but we might as well follow through with tradition, seeing as we have this rather large garbage bag full of toys in the garage, blocking the walkway!

Today, we will all find out how the aftermath of Christmas affects my little people.

This morning, Kaiden IMMEDIATELY ran for his tricycle and climbed up onto it to ensure that NOBODY else could touch it.

Kian attached himself to his Backyardigan Circus toy and began setting up his little circus performer people for a Big Top performance.

Vivienne just looked at her charges, sighed, grabbed a bottle for each hand, and went to work caring for the new brood that has taken up residence in front of the fire place.

I think she may be almost done feeding everyone, but I cannot be certain! She hasn't even noticed that some of them have gravitated to the play corner yet!

All of the boxes are now out on the street in the trash pile. Both trash bins are overflowing as well.

Our trash pile looks like something that might be found behind a major retail store or something, it's so large!

The trampoline is currently still in its carton on our back porch. Husband has very valiantly decided to attempt assembly by clamp-light after work each evening.

The assembly of the trampoline should make for an interesting tale once it is said and done!

Bregon finally managed to figure out how to free his keyboard from the very large, very tall box that it came in.

He wasn't thinking all that much, so he set it up on the homework table in the living room.

This is the very same table that Kaiden so nimbly can climb in spite of the chair that is over there being much to close to the wall for him to actually fit up into it!

No matter, I suppose, since he cannot get off of the tricycle without running risk of someone else attempting to give it a go.

He sits there and stares longingly at his two new trucks- one a shiny yellow dump truck just screaming to be filled with blocks, another is a car transport truck complete with ramps for loading and three little interchangeable race cars for it to carry!

He would love to try those new trucks out, but he just cannot bring himself to relinquish the tricycle just yet.

Eek. One of the triplets just found Bregon's Burp-o-matic and is apparently chewing on it from the rapid assortment of sounds that it is emitting.

It would appear that Kian is attempting to burp his ABC's 'cept that I know better. He doesn't even KNOW them yet!

But the Burp-o-matic machine does, and it's currently burping away from between Kian's teeth.

Excuse me please, I must go and try to salvage some of Bregon's rather exposed and infiltrated Christmas presents.

I suppose he is going to find that he has learned the hard way not to leave ANYTHING out where the little people can get it!

My Merry Christmas!

Ssshhhh....

The babies are napping, and justly so. Everyone woke up at a normal hour this year.

I figure this is probably the last year that we will get so very lucky!!!

We were up 'til three in the morning chatting with our friends on the living room floor in front of our fireplace, wrapping presents and all.

We finally gave up when we ran out of diaper boxes big enough to fit everything into, so we opted to put a few wrapped presents into the bin part of the boy's dump trucks and call it a night.

This morning, the babies went into overload almost from the moment they were brought into the living room.

Kian had his lower lip out all through out his breakfast, trying to eat and whimper at the same time because he wanted to go and check out his new stuff.

Kaiden laid claim to the tricycle almost immediately, and figured out that since he was too short to use the pedals, that he could just sit behind the seat and use his feet to make it go.

If anyone comes near it or looks at it longingly, he will run up to them and try and divert them away from HIS tricycle (even though it's for everyone!)

Vivienne is on overload as well. She adores her new ruby slippers, and made Bregon adorn her pretty piddy's with them almost immediately.

She then set to work mommying her new dolly that calls her, "Mama" and really cries and giggles.

Poor Vivie is a bit overwhelmed, though. She went around the living room, collecting everyones dolls (the boys have boy ones too) and each time she would shrug her shoulders, pick them up, and pat them on the back to comfort them.

Then she would try and find a place for them in either her new cradle, high chair, or the stroller. When she ran out of baby room, she started sighing each time she found another baby to take care of.

I can only imagine what is going through her head over the many orphaned babies that have taken up residence in our living room!

Currently, the babies are all asleep in their little beds, exhausted from all of the excitement.

Soon, it will all start back up again, and we will run over to my father's to have a late lunch and say, "Merry Christmas."

A Christmas Shopping Surprise

Today, after we had our portraits taken with Santa at the mall, Bregon and I headed down to the opposite end to get Icee's.

I had promised him one if he would help me wrangle the babies for an impromptu Christmas portrait.

We had all three babies calmed down from the excitement of seeing Santa (most had cried.)

They were happily "Reading" their little Santa coloring books. So we decided, upon a whim, to turn off into the toy store.

I should have known better. After all, I know that this one is closing down soon and coincidentally is having a huge sale.

But this store literally looked wiped out. It was as if a tornado had gone through it or worse. There were blank shelves in front and merchandise strewn all over the floor.

It wasn't terribly crowded, so Bregon and I went ahead and decided to turn in, limo-sized stroller and all, and see if we could find any last minute bargains.

We somehow managed to find a path that we, stroller included, would fit through without any problems.

I started to navigate into the store. Well, no sooner had we made it to the first set of end caps, was this employee loudly telling us to," WATCH WHERE WE ARE GOING'" and that I "Really did not need to be in here with all of those kids like that."

I could not believe my ears. You have to keep in mind that, at this point, I had four very placid and seemingly innocent children here, and this woman was trying to talk to us from across the store!

I had Bregon, my 13 year old, who was only helping me navigate our limo and was also on Santa book falling watch.

And then there were my three little people, who were being surprisingly quiet and chewing on their little books.

Well, save for Kai, who was busy trying to read his book upside down, page turning included.

This woman actually had her panties in a wad over us daring to come into the toy store with my very contained and extremely well-restrained, QUIET children in tow.

You would have thought from the way she was acting, that I was allowing them all to run rampant and free, climbing all over everything and tearing up whatever lay in their paths instead of sitting quietly in their stroller.

But, this woman apparently had been having a very bad day, because she did NOT want us , or my little savages, shopping in her store.

Before I could even figure out how to get the stroller turned around, she had started turning beet red and was at a sputtering point.

All I could do was look at her and smile, and say, "Merry Christmas" in the most cheerful voice that I could muster.

I might as well have said a string of expletives for what it was worth. It seemed to only make her even madder.

Ah well, at least we were a nice diversion for someone else's little kids who had taken the opportunity to get all of the shiny whirly gig looking things out of the display box and had commenced to twirling them about madly in the aisles at this point.

I don't know what else the woman said, but I could hear her going on and on as we rolled our way through the mess of merchandise, back out into the mall.

It's a good thing that I didn't really need to shop for any toys this afternoon (or anything else for that matter because by this point, my babies were frightened and crying.)

Then again, even if I had, I don't think that I would have purchased them from this lady.

I suppose if it were a necessity, Santa might take up our plight for us and take care of anything that I may have forgotten in my shock!

Christmas Countdown

It's time for the annual Christmas countdown. We are in the final stretch and have about four and a half shopping days left!

Somehow, the tree has survived and is still standing tall in our living room on its antique steamer trunk base, surrounded by the play-yard that was once designed to contain the very children it aims to now keep out!

My tree has been the recipient of many a Kaiden and Kian hug, and Vivie greeting.

It has endured through Kaiden and his many attempts at storming the play-yard gate by repeatedly ramming the weak joints with his push-me-pull-me.

It has even weathered the babies latest attempts at full contact Christmas tree jousting where it has been subjected to the babies running full tilt at it and attempting to poke it with wrapping paper tubing.

My Christmas tree is a trooper, with its new stand and all. I think it is safe to say that, but we do have to make it five more days...

I think that I have most of the Christmas shopping finished. I say that I think so, because you can never really tell when it is that you are finished until the stores actually close down for Christmas and that last battery and tidbit of candy has been purchased.

I even have most of the presents wrapped and under the tree. It's odd for me to have presents under the tree because usually, I have to wait 'til Christmas Eve to wrap them, for fear of the animals UNWRAPPING them to see what is inside.

Nobody has figured out how to get to the presents enough to even attempt an unwrapping. I have been so very fortunate!

I have only two gift purchases that MUST be made before Christmas and one of them must wait until Monday afternoon (my hermit crab has a friend on hold for him at Petco.)

The other purchase is something small that I just haven't been able to get out to do, yet.

Last night, in some vain attempt at avoiding the crowd, I ran out on a whim to do the Christmas grocery shopping.

Apparently, the crowd all had the same idea that I had, and they were there too...

Or, rather, I appear to have just missed them in some cases as the Dollar Store appeared to have been ransacked and had complete aisles that were totally void of anything, fixtures and all.

Did you know that Kroger's really doesn't have any sort of poultry seasoning for sale?

If they do, I couldn't even find a blank spot that could prove that they ever even had some to begin with!

I even ran by Sam's to grab the necessary 48 pack of double A batteries that every household should keep in stock for powering all of those chattering baby toys and even teen toys too!

I think that I have everything...I have extra wrapping paper, a spare bag of bows, a box of sharpie markers that will just have to suffice in place of gift tags, and even a box of tape.

There are marshmallows for hot cocoa, and some for our Christmas fire, there is flour for baking Christmas cookies and even pie ready for any visitors that may come by!

My turkey is in the refrigerator along with the ham, and the Christmas fudge is sitting on the shelf right next to them.

The only thing that I simply cannot locate, is an extra huge bar of Hershey's Chocolate for S'mores for our Christmas fire.

It's quite perplexing, really. I think I may have upset this little girl last night at Kroger, too, because I had been trying desperately to rummage through the rather large chocolate bar section that is kept high up on a shelf for safe-keeping.

I finally did give up, but the cute little girl came over to ask if she could help me. She must have been about 8, and was a few heads shorter than I.

I did smile and tell her that we were much to short to try and see what was high up on that shelf and that I would just wait until later and look again!

She was soo very cute and sweet, I wanted to give her a huge hug, but I didn't. I did remember to say, "Thank you" and she smiled as she went on her way.

I suppose I am not doing too badly if all I lack is poultry seasoning and a rather large bar of chocolate (no nuts!)

Now, all I have to do is remember where the rest of the presents are hidden, and hope that the last few arrive by parcel post in time to make it under our tree!

I wish I knew that things would slow down, now that the majority of the shopping is done.

Alas, but 'tis Christmas week, and the real work is really only just now begun!

Upstairs Feet, Downstairs Feet Revisited

One of the first things that happened when we moved into our new house back in September was an incident involving the stairs, before we were able to get our baby gate installed.

It had happened after reading Dr. Seuss's "The Foot Book," and I had made up a song for the babies for going upstairs using our, "Upstairs feet," and one for coming down the stairs using their, "Downstairs feet."

I had run into a problem where they needed to all three come downstairs because they could not sleep, and I had one baby, Kaiden, downstairs while I was forced to run upstairs and grab the other two babies to bring them down as well.

Kaiden had basically climbed the bottom two stairs in a gleeful attempt to meet me on the bottom landing with his siblings, and had managed to sidestep off of the landing and fall on his head.

Kian had amused us all by telling his brother that he should not have, "Used his upstairs feet to go downstairs."

Fast forward a few months later, and we are at a point where our doctor had asked us why I haven't taught them to climb the staircase yet.

So, after much procrastinating, I decided to let them try it one night. Husband and I set the babies down at the foot of the stairs, and let them, well try climbing them.

Kaiden, who was with his big brother, had already been carried to the top, but when he saw the other two siblings coming up, he decided to demonstrate his ability to go DOWN the stairs backwards for all to see.

I have to admit that he did it well. He managed to not even disturb his brother or sister who happened to be going up the stairs instead of down.

So, now, every time it is time for the babies to either take a nap, or go to bed for the night, all we have to do is ask them, "Who is ready to go to sleep?"

All three babies will make this mad dash for the baby gate in the hallway and they actually try to burst through it in anticipation of us actually opening the darn thing.

They actually all three LOVE to go upstairs to go to sleep now. They no longer take detours into our bedroom to say, "Night night" to the baby Christmas tree in the bay window, and nobody gets sidetracked.

Everyone clamors over and around each other in an attempt to be the first baby up the stairs.

We still have to sing them their song, don't think for a minute that we can skip that part!

Only now, the part about reaching the top of the stairs "Safely" is a big deal to the winner of that race!

"We go upstairs, with our upstairs feet...and Vivie twinkle, twinkle, twinkles all the way. Up, up, up to say, "Good night" to our Daddee, and she twinkle, twinkle, twinkles all the way. Up, up, up to the nursery as she twinkle, twinkle, twinkles and we're safe!"

"We go downstairs, with our downstairs feet, and she twinkle, twinkle, twinkles all the way. Down, down, down to go get something to eat, and she twinkle, twinkle, twinkles all the way. Down, down, down to say, "Good morning" to our Daddee, and we twinkle, twinkle, twinkle and we're safe!"

Oh, the things we create for our children! But, at least this is teaching them a little something about the difference between going up and going down the stairs!

Plus, they have become quite familiar with the different family members in the pictures that hang in the staircase!

I am so very lucky that they have taken to this new routine the way that they have. It has made nap and bedtime so much easier on everyone.

Plus, it gets everyone up and down the stairs at the same time instead of someone always having to be last!

Should Cell Phones Be Banned From Public Schools?

As I was reading the paper this morning, I stumbled upon a piece that concerns the Caddo Parish School Board.

It is an article that reports that the local School Board is thinking of proposing a ban on students having cell phones at school.

There are a myriad of reasons out there both for and against this proposal, however the main reason given by the Board really does bother me.

I do have a 13 year old son in the local school system, and although he does not currently have a cell phone, I really have considered getting him one recently.

But now, our School Board has decided that they do not like the idea of students having cell phones, "After student's cell phone video that showed Huntington High School Principal Jerry Davis and a student in a physical altercation garnered local media attention and subsequently forced the system to place Davis on paid administrative leave."

Now, I am a bit biased on this particular issue, I will admit.

I have a relative that actually attends Huntington High and was there when all of this happened and has had many a story to tell about what actually goes on at that school.

There is a very good and valid reason that so many students thought to try and document what was supposed to be labeled as a normal run of the mill school fight.

I also managed to catch the news bit when that video footage aired on channel 12, and I still cannot believe what was depicted on that child's cell phone's footage.

So, because somebody (and there were many folks actually who were able to capture the fight on film so to say) filmed the altercation, and it portrayed the issue in a less than positive manner than what the School Board would have us believe, all children should be banned from having in their possession a means to contact their parents or help should a need arise?

Yes, in the old days, we used the office phone if we needed to contact our parents in emergency cases.

This was often tedious if there was a real problem such as snow accumulation and ice on the streets forming, or if there was a problem on campus and we needed to leave (yes those types of problems do arise more often than one would think.)

In fact, when I was in High School, I was very glad to have access to the pay phone out by our cafeteria for just such reasons.

Now a days, we as parents have the option and security of being able to provide our children with a constant link to us in case of emergency or need in the form of a cell phone.

We have use of this technology found in cell phones. If our kids are sick and need to call us to come and check them out, they can.

If something happens, God forbid, such as a school shooting, a stabbing incident, or maybe something larger such as an act of terrorism that warrants school letting out on an emergency basis, we can have the luxury and really the peace of mind that a cell phone in our children's possession affords us.

I know that when I was little, my mother often preferred that she come and pick me up in cases of ice on the roads or snow accumulation rather than risk something happening to us while riding home in our school buses that did not have seat belts.

It would have been nice to have had a cell phone in such cases, but alas they were the about the size of a cinder block at this point and were too large for a child to carry.

I also often participated in after school activities where the times would often not be specific as to when to when rehearsal would be over. Such technology would have been helpful then as well.

But, our School Board has decided that because children were able to film a fight on their camera phones that showed a side of school discipline that they did not want portrayed in the media, that we should not have the security and connection to our children and their safety anymore.

Does this not bother you as a parent? I know that I really would prefer that my child be able to call me in cases of any emergency.

I know that this past week at my son's school has been one where many kids just are not attending because of yet another supposed threat that has yet to be contained or the source discovered.

I received one of those we-are-upping-the-security-on-campus-and-within-our-halls letter this past week, again.

Students are frightened. In this day and age, you just never know what might happen at school. It's not the safe place it used to be for our kids (as a generality.)

I know that I want to be connected to my child in just such cases.

The question is, are our School Board members about to pull the plug on our communication with our kids over an incident where students felt it necessary that they document an altercation to avoid possible implication of those non-guilty party's being punished?

There is a precedent within that particular school where children having nothing to do with altercations but being in the general area of them, are being punished and severely so.

Are we as parents going to accept this proposal as necessary on the Board's part, and for the teacher's well being and thus necessary for our children?

Is possession of a cell phone on a child's person at school such a bad thing that it needs to be banned? What are your thoughts on the subject?

Clap Your Hands If You Believe in Fairies!

I am sure that by now, everyone is quite familiar with my latest toddler trio problem - CLIMBING!

Why, it was just last week that I discovered Kian hanging out inside the bottom oven, Kaiden swinging from the dining room chandelier and Vivienne swinging her legs as they dangled from the back of my sofa where she had perched herself.

I thought that I had figured out a way to stop the climbing from happening for the most part.

I have moved every chair away from the dining room table and positioned them along the walls of the dining room and living room.

I even moved the one that was supposed to be designated for the homework table that is in the living room corner.

I had thought that the one that was basically useless unless you pull the table away from the wall would be safe and immune to baby-climbing.

Oh, boy was I mistaken! I heard crying coming from the living room while I was in the bedroom trying to fold laundry and put it away in the dresser drawers.

I ran into the living room to see what the matter was, only to find Kaiden sitting in the center of the homework table, stuck as can be.

I helped him get down off of the table and comforted him until he lost interest and ran to play with his brother in the play-corner.

I had thought it might be safe to go back to my laundry by this time. After all, they looked content to play with the books in the corner at the moment.

I barely had the time to put a few pair of socks away before I heard a crash and more crying coming from the living room, AGAIN.

This time, I knew what the matter was. Kaiden had climbed BACK up onto that table and had managed to knock the one thing that is actually ON the table, off of it.

This time, Kian was also trying desperately to fit into the tiny space that his brother had managed to fit into to try and climb up as well.

The babies were okay, but Vivienne was busy crying her tiny eyes out, pointing at the picture that her brother had knocked off of the table.

It is the very large, very tall painting of an angel playing a lyre. Vivienne calls it her "Fairy," and is very attached to it.

I removed Kaiden from the table, pryed a very stuck Kian out from between the table and the climbing chair where he was wedged, and picked up Vivienne to try and calm her down.

All she could do was cry and sniffle and say, "Fairy hurt" over and over again.

The bottom of the frame had come apart at its seam, but other than that the painting was fine. Vivienne just did not believe me, though.

The only way I could get her to stop crying, was to sit her on the edge of the chair facing the table, and tell her that we could "Save" the fairy by clapping our hands.

So, there we were, all three of my babies, sitting all in a row, with Vivienne in the middle, enthusiastically clapping our hands because we believe in our"Fairy."

Mother used to always tell us not to put our elbows on the table while we were eating because every time we did so, it would kill a fairy...

So, every time we accidentally did find our elbow's on the table, we would clap our hands to make that ailing fairy, "Better."

I couldn't think of anything else to do at the time, so I decided to give the old remedy a try.

Apparently, clapping our hands did the trick, because all of the babies seemed to feel better, and Vivienne stopped crying.

As for the Fairy in her frame, I am not sure how she feels as she appears to only "Talk" to Vivienne.

Who knew? I can assure you though, that tonight, after husband gets home from work, he will definitely be mending the "Fairy" frame so that Vivienne will find a mended picture and very well Fairy to say, "Good morning" to, when she gets up for her breakfast in the morning!

What Would You Do?

Do you stop and talk to people every time someone stops you or tries to stop you while out shopping or running errands?

We were talking about this over on the Triplet Connection Forum just now, and I thought that I would ask everyone and see what everyone else does in similar situations.

I know that when I am out doing things such as shopping, or taking my kids to doctor's
appointments, I will get stopped by people who want to talk about my multiples.

Some even only want to stare at my kids as if they were some sort of circus freak or sideshow attraction.

Then there are some people who really do have nice things to say and are pleasant. I don't mind stopping to talk to pleasant people.

But, there are some very unpleasant people and some that I just do not really want my kids to be around.

So...do you stop for these sorts of curious people always as a general rule, or do you smile, nod and keep going in hopes that they will understand.

I had an incident the other afternoon at a department store where someone just looked at my tiny trio and burst out laughing (it was nervous laughter, not funny ha ha.)

I checked my kids to make sure that nobody was picking anything out of any orifice of their body. or doing something that they perhaps may have learned from their big brother in error.

There were no silly faces, no bogeys being offered to strangers as peace offerings (yes this does happen!) I could not find anything weird or funny even.

They were all three just sitting there, hanging out, innocently strapped into their stroller.

I really did not know how to react to this one. I do worry that as my kids get older, that they will eventually figure out what is going on and get upset over the actions and things that other people do and say when they see them.

Then, there was the probably well-meaning people who stopped to ask if my kids were triplets while I was trying to get them all loaded into their car seats from the buggy in the grocery store parking lot.

These folks actually tried to peer into my mini-van door and ask me questions about my babies.

I couldn't tell you what they were saying, though, because Kian was screaming at the time.

I had accidentally pinched his leg in the buckle of his car seat after hearing a noise at the door and looking up to see find that we had an audience.

I tried to be nice, but at this point I was very frustrated and unhappy as I had just hurt my own baby all because of these people who were doing things that folks normally would not do to other people in a parking lot.

I don't know what it is about triplets or higher order multiples that make people react this way.

Normally, people do not corner other people in the stores or even in their own vehicles like what happened to us, just so they can talk about your kids and ask questions about them for their own curiosity.

Usually, I am pretty good about being tolerant of the well-meaning public, but sometimes, too much is too much.

If someone looked at your one child, and laughed at them (especially if that child wasn't doing anything to warrant it,) how would you feel?

How would it make you feel to be literally chased by people asking questions that range from things such as , "Are those twins" to, "Are they real?"

One lady was actually cornered by a group of older teen aged boys and their fathers in a store and she felt very intimidated by them.

Why is it that people feel that it is okay to treat us like this? What makes them feel compelled to be so ugly to us when we try and explain that we cannot stop and talk right now (because we do not have the time, are late for an appointment etc?)

You have to wonder if these people would treat us like this if we only had one baby, or even a handicapped child.

So, mothers of multiples, do you stop and talk to people when they try and stop you and ask questions or do you smile and keep forging ahead?

How do you handle this type of situation, and does it bother you sometimes?

Creepy Comments

Lately, I have been noticing some less than pleasant comments popping up here and there on several of the forums that I frequent.

It's odd, really, because many of those posting these comments do not seem to have any reason to do so other than just being cruel.

These sorts of folks do not appear to be Mommie's on the Mommie site, or involved parties on a breaking news comment, even.

A fellow blogger of mine received a rather awful comment that claimed that she was an awful Mum for trying to teach her child a lesson over a incident that occurred in her home.

Does this person commenting even know this Mum? Of course they don't. Not one of us who DOES would ever say something so awful about her.

Let's skip over to an incident that happened recently on another forum.

A very dear friend of mine's children were in a very serious car accident the other day.

Almost as soon as the traffic update was posted to the site, the vultures were busy posting awful comments implying that cell phones must have been the cause of the accident, or that these kids must be on something or were driving under the influence.

These folks seem to have nothing better to do with their time, than to say and speculate terrible things about people and incidences that they know NOTHING about.

Many of the times I do get a good giggle out of these posts as they do reflect the intellect of the person posting them, but these last few incidences have really gone a bit too far.

These children were hurt, and all these folks could do was accuse them of being on drugs, drinking or talking on their cell phones.

A Mum shares a funny incident that happened to her child and how she is handling the situation, and suddenly folks have decided to label her a bad Mum because they disagree with her parenting choices.

The accident, as it just so happens, occurred while the kids were on their way home from school. There weren't any drugs or alcohol or even cell phone use involved.

The driver stopped to pick up her friend's little brother and some other friends after the buss let them off.

She was trying to do something nice for them. She could not help that a medical condition of hers took over and the accident occurred.

It was only after my friend began posting the actual facts of the matter (first bulletins about accidents are often not accurate anyways,) that the vultures began to back off a bit.

These people did not know these kids, nor did they even care that they were real people who were hurt and had families and friends that cared about them.

All they cared about was talking a lot of nonsense about them and trying to stir up yet more trouble with out a care as to what the consequences would be.

Thankfully, these kids are going to be okay. Unfortunately, none of us really want them checking out the article that ran on them because of the ugly comments that were left behind.

We were going to print them copies for their scrap books so they can look back and see how lucky they really were in surviving such an accident without any major repercussions.

But now, none of us can figure out how to explain to them why anyone would say those awful things about them, so they probably won't get to see the article.

I suppose what I am trying to say is, that we do not mind if you disagree with the way we as parents handle our children.

We really do not mind that you have an opinion on a given issue have chosen to voice that in the forums.

Sharing of different and diverse opinion is a great way to learn new concepts and broaden your horizons.

I really do not mind people leaving me negative comments, but then again, I don't let things like that bother me.

You have to understand, that what we write about are our lives and our children.

Just because it's written in black and white, doesn't mean that it's any less real than your own families.

Many of us have family and friends that read our stories, and many of those who are in accidents have family and friends that will read those articles that are posted and ran about them as well.

I welcome comments from everyone, both positive and negative. But do please remember that the people that we write about in our blogs and in our postings and in these newspaper articles are real people.


I do believe that there is a nice way to present information and a rather rude way to go about it and that people should re-read anything that they hope to post in some effort to make sure that they aren't going to be taken the wrong way.

After all, those comments and postings may be the only things we know about you as a person and how would that make you appear to us?

DANGER! Climbing Toddler Zone!

Okay, we already have established that at least one of my tiny trio is a climber.

Remember the Spiderman climbing feats and the way Kai could walk on the top of the play-yard gate like a tight-rope walker?

I had been very relieved to find out that he had quite forgotten how it was that he used to climb that play-yard gate.

I discovered this when we put it up around our Christmas tree in hopes of preserving it and most of the breakable ornaments from harm.

Now, I know that there is something far worse than a toddler who can climb his play-yard gate and walk along the top of it.

My toddler(S) can all pull the chairs back from the dining room table. They can all climb up into the dining room table chairs, even.

Heck, one of them can even pull his Houdini trick and escape FROM his feeding chair that is strapped TO the dining room chair, only to be found squatting in the center of the dining room table where the lazy susan USED to be, happily shredding napkins and wearing the napkin basket as a hat.

What, might you ask, could be worse than that? Let me tell ya, there is SOO much more where that came from!

Today, I innocently had to go potty, so I snuck away while the babies were all sitting in a row on the sofa, eyes glued to their Backyardigan's DVD.

I came back to find Kian sitting in the bottom oven, legs dangling over the edge of the door as if he was sitting on the tailgate of a truck at a party.

I couldn't figure out what it was that he was twirling. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be Mardi Gras beads, but I knew better.

I removed the two lengths of decorative chain from his hand, got him out of the bottom oven, and looked up through the kitchen pass-through in time to see Kaiden standing on my dining room table.

The chandelier was suspiciously swinging back and forth, a bit too violently for my taste at that.

Apparently, in the thirty seconds it had taken me to try to go to the bathroom, Kai had managed to pull out the chair, climb up on top of the table, and remove three of the decorative chains from the chandelier, and hand them off to his brother.

The whereabouts of the third chain are STILL unknown, but I expect to find them when I clean up their toys after they go to bed tonight.

Then, by the time I was able to walk around to the hallway and get to the dining room, Kaiden had commenced to literally SWINGING from the chandelier.

I did manage to pry him off if it and leave the chandelier in tact, in place, and still somehow miraculously working.

Oddly enough, Vivienne had climbed to the back of the couch and was sitting there watching the entire thing very quietly.

Everyone jokes that I have a hard time finding the time or a safe way to take a shower. Now it seems that I am going to have to give up going potty as well. Eek! What's a Mum to do?

A Christmas Goose

Friday night, I received an email from a friend thanking me for posting the NICU reunion Christmas party information on the forum page.

It's funny, because his email is what reminded ME that it was this Sunday. When you have three babies and a teen, planned events like that can often times fall by the wayside and go quite forgotten!

Anyways, Husband and I decided to try and take the kids and go to the NICU reunion party since we missed it last year because our babies were too sick to go.

Since all of the little newspaper blurbs and news station clips touted that this was a party that would be attended by miracle babies, many of them multiples, all dressed in their Christmas finest, I figured that we shouldn't disapoint and that the babies should wear their Christmas outfits to the party in spite of the weather.

So, the boys had to wear their turtle neck onesies with their sleeves rolled up. Lucky for Vivienne, her dressie is one of the shorter ones with the bloomers that are supposed to show, so her legs would at least be cool and hopefully keep her a bit cooler as well!

Husband and I managed to get everyone (even Bregon) dressed up and ready to go on time.

As an afterthought, Bregon and I sat everyone on the fireplace hearth while Husband was finishing up getting ready for the party.

Bregon made silly noises and faces while I grabbed the camera and took as MANY pictures as humanly possible of the babies in their little outfits.

I think we may have one good one of the 20 or so ones that were taken. After the pictures, we loaded up the van and headed for the party.

For once, we were on time and had everything together. We didn't anticipate any delays, because this party was supposed to be the one place where there would be a lot of multiples (or so the paper and the news had reported!)

Almost the second that the stroller was unfolded and locked into place, a man walked up to us and said, "Are those triplet? I have never seen triplets before!"

We were still in the parking lot, and I had yet to even strap one baby into the stroller yet! My husband took this one for me so that Bregon and I could get the kids out of the car and into their limo and the van locked up.

That man talked to Husband for the entire duration of the time it took for us to get loaded up, too! I wanted so badly to tell him that, if he were to go inside the hospital and check out the auditorium, that he might see a whole lot of triplets inside, but I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut (besides the other triplet Mums might shoot me over that one!)

We managed to get the babies across the street as we joined the throngs of people also dressed in their Christmas outfits, all headed towards the hospital auditorium.

The party was very crowded. We all signed in, and the babies were given name tags and stickers and coloring book favors. We tried to put the name tags out of their reach by attaching some to the hoods of the stroller, and Kai's on the front of his tray.

Kian almost immediatly began trying to get his off so he could eat it! Vivie just sat there and watched all of the people go by. Kaiden had a HUGE smile on his face and looked like he was ready to party (he is always ready for a party, though!) Little did I know that his smile was really some sort of warning!

We sent Bregon for some cookies and Husband found the coffee. I kept the limo out of the flow of traffic so that we weren't in the way. We decided to try and jump into the line to see Santa Claus, and headed into the cafeteria.

There, we ran into our friends who had sent me that reminder email! Their little girl is almost a year old and also a NICU graduate. We sat in the corner of the cafeteria and talked to our friends for awhile until the line to see Santa started dwindling down a bit.

The babies all enjoyed watching the little band that was providing the Christmas music. They all swayed back and forth to the music.

We ran into two other sets of triplets while we were sitting there. One set belonged to a lady that I had made friends with in the freezer section of Target a few months back!

I felt better, because she had her kids in the Choo Choo wagon, which is almost three times the length of our stroller and it doesn't appear to have any restraints to keep the kids inside it!

I know it sounds funny, but I always feel like we are in the way whenever we try and go anywhere because the stroller is so big and hard to drive. It's good to know that I am not alone out there and there is someone who has something even bigger and larger than what my kids ride in!

We all decided to hop into the Santa line together and we slowly inched our way towards the little Santa room.

The news camera was in the entryway to the cafeteria, and we seemed to be the camera man's favorite people to watch when the reporter wasn't interviewing anyone. Every time we looked up, it seemed that he was there.

Meanwhile, we were getting closer to Santa. The kids had been really super good up until this point, in spite of all of the loud party noise and all of the people.

Kaiden did get a little bored, or so it seemed, while waiting in line. It was in the doorway to the smaller room that I noticed that he was starting to reach out and touch things.

Nothing was immune to Kai if it was within his reach. There were people on both sides of us and in front and behind us. I couldn't move the stroller any direction but forward, and that was only if someone moved up a bit in line.

All of the sudden, I noticed that Kaiden had grabbed this lady's pants leg and was pulling on it.

The next thing I knew, he was rubbing the back of her leg. I guess he liked the feel of her trouser material or something. I think it might have been corduroy, but I was to horrified to look!

I tried to move the stroller sideways, but another stroller was coming towards us. There were people behind us who were talking and didn't see or hear me trying to excuse us as I tried to move the stroller out of the way to keep Kaiden from getting any more, um, friendly.

We were stuck. I tried distracting him verbally, but as he is in the front seat of the stroller, and I was standing at the back of it, and we were in the middle of a very crowded party, he couldn't hear anything I said over the noise.

I had to stand there and hope that this lady didn't mind that my one year old really liked her trousers. I was so embarrassed, but what's a Mum to do? He couldn't hear me, and I couldn't get to him to stop or redirect him. I couldn't even move the stroller out of the way to keep him from reaching her.

I watched in horror as he kept petting her trouser leg. Then the inevitable happened. His hand moved higher and higher and he did it. My one year old goosed that poor lady. I did not know what to do or say. Luckily, she didn't seem to mind and seemed to think it was funny.

I just kept smiling and talking to the kids. What could I do, really? I have an overly friendly child. Thankfully, it was our turn to see Santa. We each took a baby out of their stroller seat, and converged upon Santa. Poor Santa, he looked a bit overwhelmed, but quickly figured out the best way to tackle his tiny trio task.

Each of the boys took a knee, and Vivienne ended up in the center. The second I sat her down and took my arms away, her lower lip came out, and began its quiver. That quiver quickly gave way to a wail as she voiced her unhappiness to all. I quickly tried snapping pictures of the moment.

Unfortunately, they didn't take for whatever reason. But I still had the pictures from earlier of them on the fireplace in their Christmas outfits.

We decided after the Santa incident that it was time to leave. We bid our friends goodbye and Merry Christmas, and headed for the van.

It was an interesting first Christmas party for my tiny trio. I learned a lot that day. Even at a party where a lot of the kids are multiples, we can still draw a lot of attention (even if Kai keeps his hands to himself!)

And sometimes, even in the best of situations, you just have to grin and bear it and accept that there are some things that just cannot be avoided.

Reflections: Baby Bonding

One of the problems facing new mothers of multiples often goes un-addressed.

It’s a subject that is almost taboo in nature, yet it is one that is so pressing that something really needs to be done about the lack of support and available information.

I suppose the reasoning behind it is that most other mothers and the general public, even the subject’s own family, just will not understand where the new mother is coming from.

Most people will be quick to pass judgement on the mother based on the subject matter.

What I am referring to is the question in most new mothers of multiple’s minds, of when she will be able to bond with her children.

There, I’ve said it. It really doesn’t sound very good does it? I suppose that’s why so very few of us really will talk about it.

It's because of the lack of information and support out there, that I feel that I need to give it a try.

It’s different when you have only one baby to bond with. I know, because I have a 12 year old in addition to my triplets.

It was very different the first time. I was able to see my first child as they were taking him to the nursery, shortly after he was born.

This was allowed even in spite of the emergency c-section that it took to get him safely into the world.

My only worry and fret at the time was that it was a few hours between our first meeting and our next.

I was kept in recovery for a few hours after the surgery, and allowed to come down off of the epidural and recover from my emergency c-section before finally being released to a normal hospital room.

I was allowed to have my baby in my room as much as we could tolerate each other.

Of course, being a first time mom, I kept him at my side as much as possible.

It had been love at first sight and I was reluctant to let him out of my sight even for his bath!

Fast-forward eleven years and I found myself pregnant with triplets. That in itself is enough to show what a difference this pregnancy was going to be!

Almost immediately, I felt the difference between this and my first pregnancy.

For one, there was never a time when I knew for a fact that I would be able to successfully carry all three babies to term safely.

I had three times the raging hormones while pregnant, and three times the chance for post-partum depression from the drastic changes my body would go through after delivery.

That's not to mention the strain on myself mentally over having to handle my very high risk pregnancy along with trying to work as long as my body (and doctors) would allow!

I found myself micro-managing my body and my pregnancy, trying to gain some control over the changes that were taking place.

All of this was done in hopes that I would be able to give my babies a fighting chance at survival.

I had to come to terms with the fact that I had to remain cautiously optimistic for both them and myself in order for us all to get through this.

I spent a lot of time learning how to tell the babies apart just from seeing them on the ultra-sound screen and from the scant pictures I would glean from the ultra-sound techs.

I discovered their personalities even before they were born and became intimately familiar with their every known trait, good and not so great!

Nothing could have prepared me for what would happen once their birth date arrived.

I had been in as much control as anyone could hope for in my situation.

My doctor had set goals for me and my pregnancy. I had followed through with them to the best of my ability (for those of you who have been there, you know that we really cannot control what our bodies do at this point.)

I proudly walked from the Schumpert parking garage to the third floor labor & delivery to check in for my c-section.

I even was able to sit up and talk to the nurses and everyone in the operating room while I waited for the rest of the staff to arrive and my surgery to begin.

Once the anesthesiologist arrived, I realized that this wasn’t going to be anything close to like my first c-section was.

To begin with, they wanted to do a spinal instead of an epidural. And for some reason, they just couldn’t get it to work.

After about an hour, they finally decided to put me totally out, which meant I was supposed to be asleep for the entire procedure.

Neither my husband nor my father would be able to be there for the babies birth, and I wouldn’t know if the babies were okay until I woke up.

My body just didn’t do well during delivery, and I had to be resuscitated several times.

Each time they woke me up, I was able to hear exactly what was happening and exactly what was being done for me and my babies. It made the whole thing even scarier.

When I was officially allowed to wake up, I remember asking after my babies and being told that they were all okay.

That was it. I would spend the next 24 hours in recovery because of all of the complications and problems that I had.

I didn’t get to see my babies except when someone from the NICU sent me pictures of each of them in their little beds all taped up and wired to machines that weren't in the picture.

Those pictures made them look so very big, but they really weren't. My babies just didn’t seem real to me yet because I had yet to meet them.

Nobody could tell me how they were really doing, and I missed out on everything that a Mum normally gets to do and take part in during their babies first days.

The babies were born about 9a.m. Monday morning, and I wouldn’t get to see them for real until Tuesday night late.

I had finally had enough of hearing about everyone else getting to see them (before me,) and I made my husband go find a wheel chair and take me down to meet my tiny trio in spite of the late hour.

I have never felt so isolated or detached from my children. I had spent the past 8 months with them and those hours apart seemed like eternity.

I lay in my hospital bed with my pain button wondering if they would even know me. Would I know them?

Were they really okay or had they been telling me that because I was too sick to know the truth?

I just didn’t know what to expect, and NOTHING could have prepared me for how I felt now.

When my husband finally wheeled me into the NICU, I had to try and stand a bit just so I could see into their isolettes, which really hurt.

I was finally able to see them, though. I thought that would make everything better somehow, I really did.

The problem was, I couldn’t hold them yet because of all the wires and tubes attached them at that point.

Besides that, I could barely stand because I had spent the last day and a half in recovery hooked up to wires and machines of my own.

I had to leave them there, lying in their little beds alone, and return to my room, which was the saddest, most lonely feeling I think that I have ever had.

That night, I decided that my staples and breathing treatments and all were not going to keep me away from my babies any longer.

I vowed to find a way to get mobile again (my legs were still tingly from the surgery) and find some way to get to hold them and care for them, NICU. staples and wires or not.

After my family left for the night, and I was alone in my room, I spent nearly the entire night learning to move around, sit up and to stand.

It took a while, but I was finally able to walk the 10 feet from my hospital bed to the bathroom and back again.

I had those three pictures of my tiny trio lined up across the tray that was at the foot of my bed for motivation.

It had really bothered me that they looked so different in person than they had in those photographs.

I wanted nothing more than to actually get to hold them and meet them for real instead of having to peer through the glass/plastic of their little isolettes.

The next day, I had the nurse take me down to the NICU and leave me there.

I spent as much time as the nurses would allow with my babies. I even was finally able to hold both of my boys.

My daughter would be nearly a week old before I finally found a nurse who would let me hold her. It was a very frustrating and scary time for me.

All three babies had their own wires, some of which did different things.

Then the boys had to have their IV’s redone into the vein in their head because their arms just couldn't support them anymore.

Each of the boys also had to sun themselves under the heat lamps. It was very overwhelming for me and them, and all the while I was still recovering from their birth as well.

I did everything that I could think of to try and bond with them.

Because there were three of them, and we were all sick in our own ways, it felt very different from when I had my eldest son.

I worried that they babies wouldn’t need me or might even begin to prefer their nurses instead of me.

I worried that something would happen to one or all of them when I was released from the hospital.

Yes, they sent me home way before my babies. I went home the Friday after they were born.

The babies wouldn’t come home for another three weeks. I had to go home to an empty nursery.

I know it must sound silly, but is nothing sadder than an empty nursery. It is just depressing.

I would spend the next few weeks getting up each day and driving the three minutes down the street to the hospital to spend as much time as I was allowed with my babies.

I made sure that either myself or my family made it to as many feedings as possible.

I scheduled everything around the babies’ schedule, what I called “Lock-out” time which was really shift change in the NICU and pick-up time for my son’s school.

This was the only way I knew of to try and bond with them. I felt that they were getting slighted in that respect because of their extended hospital stay.

I still didn’t have that warm fuzzy feeling that I had with my eldest son.

I didn’t have the time to actually sit down and think about it having it, or rather I didn’t allow myself the time.

I felt that if I kept forging along, helping them reach their tiny milestones, that in time we would all get to be together and at home and all would fall into place.

I know it must sound awful, to say that the warm fuzzy feelings just weren’t there.

You have to understand that our bodies are literally pushed to the max to carry multiples and having the added stress of a complicated delivery made things much more difficult.

Then you have to add in the normal “Baby Blue’s” period of what has become labeled as post- partum depression that should have kicked in.

Did I have it? I honestly don’t know. I didn’t have time to stop and smell that sort of rose at the time.

I do know that Mums who have multiple deliveries are more prone to having it based on the extra amounts of hormones in their bodies.

I do know that my body had to adjust back to normal after all of that stress and all of the hormones.

I also know that my babies needed me and that I needed them.

And that if I stopped and allowed any sort of emotion to take over at the time, that I ran risk of losing my mind and that none of us could afford that!

I had my moments, don’t get me wrong. Nobody is perfect, and I of all people understood that I was far from it.

I had allowed myself to push all emotion out of the way to the point that I was surprised at my reaction to the possibility of something happening to one of the babies.

It was after we were all home together and I had been rocking my daughter to sleep in the glider.

I had gotten up to take her to the nursery, and my cat had decided that he was tired of being neglected and had taken to weaving in and out of my legs while I was trying to walk.

He tripped me, and I fell into the wall. I managed to keep my balance enough to prevent the baby from getting hurt, but it scared me so badly I couldn’t stop crying.

Afterwards, it really bothered me that I hadn’t realized how much I loved her before.

Somewhere in all the wires, feedings, NICU visits and carpool, I had managed to bond with my babies.

I had been so busy overcompensating for everything that I hadn’t even noticed.

It sounds odd, even callous maybe, but it’s the truth. In retrospect, I don’t know why it surprised me so, just that it did at the time.

I had been taught during my pregnancy to slow down and eliminate all sources of stress from my life in some attempt to try and keep my body from going into early labor.

After the babies were born, I had quite forgotten to follow that rule for whatever reason.

I don’t even know if it would have been possible really to do so, but I wish I had tried it!

I thought of all of this last night, while holding my eldest triplet on my chest after he woke up during the night from a gas bubble.

He was snoring quietly, and I could have put him back into his little bed, but I just couldn’t do it.

I had that nice warm fuzzy feeling… the one that makes you never want to let your baby go.

And, as we lay there in my bed, I tried to remember the first time I had felt it with him and I couldn’t.

That, to me, is upsetting. I know that it’s not my fault really, but I honestly, really can’t remember.

I remember everything else. I remember insisting on hanging the only family portrait that we have of all three of us in their little beds (it’s of my husband, son and I at faire-we are all in our red yeoman outfits and are standing in the artillery garden on industrial row where the cannons are kept-Bregon is waving at the camera with his hankie and we are all laughing.)

I remember having to explain that it was the only family photo that we had and exactly why we were wearing renaissance era clothing to just about everyone who took care of the babies and some who didn't.

I remember us giving them their first bottles and how we had to teach them how to eat from it.

I remember having to demand that my daughter be taken off of her gavage feeding and be allowed to take a bottle only a week before she came home…

I remember the waking up in the middle of the night wondering if the babies were okay and my husband reminding me that while my kids are my happy thought, that we are the babies happy thoughts too and that everything was going to be alright.

Somewhere during all of that, I managed to bond with all three of my babies in spite of all of my fears and worries.

That warm fuzzy feeling crept in when I least expected it, and I missed it.

Somehow, I think it had always really been there, but that I had been too busy worrying to notice.

Looking back, I think it must have happened the first time I got a glimpse of my new family portrait on that ultra-sound screen.

I didn’t know it then, but that little fuzzy feeling wasn’t really shock or surprise.

It was the warm fuzzy feeling a mom get when they meet their babies for the first time and I had been too scared at the prospect of them not making it to allow myself to feel it.

I hope other mom’s out there understand that sometimes, it takes time to bond with your babies, especially if there are more than one involved.

It will come eventually and maybe, just maybe, you will find that it was always there from the beginning, no matter what anyone else will tell you.

The Unlikely Effects of Oreo Cookies On Toddlers

A few days ago, I learned an invaluable lesson. Never, ever EVER give your toddlers Oreo cookies as an afternoon snack.

No matter how small and innocent and tiny they may appear, they are NOT a toddler snack food and even the cute tiny ones that come in the little bags or cups are DANGEROUS when given to a toddler!

I repeat, even 2 or 3 little baby Oreo's can be BAD!!!! I mean, they do look innocent enough.

They come packaged deceptively in similar packaging as their less potent counterpart the Teddy Graham which has been a staple of our snack-time ever since that first tooth cracked through my tiny trio's gums.

I don't know what I was thinking. Kaiden had seen the advertisement on the back of his Teddy Graham package for several other cookies and had become quite excited at the prospect of there being more yummy tea-time treats out there in the world to try.

I very innocently catered to the whim of my 1 year old and tossed a package into my grocery cart the other day.

My tiny trio had their first Oreo's for tea-time about 3:30 the day before yesterday, and only Kian managed to make it to bed by 10p.m. (normally all three babies are more than ready for bed by 6.)

Vivienne and Kaiden both were up alternately ALL NIGHT LONG crying, and screaming.

They were soo tired that they just could not go to sleep. All of this from consuming no more than 3 tiny Oreo cookies each.

Vivie yawned a yawn that a mac truck would have fit through, yet she still could not go to sleep no matter how hard she tried.

Kaiden just ran around in circles in the living room, stopping every now and then to give the hearth Santa kissies and a hug before starting up his circles again.

I found myself switching out howling toddlers all night long. As soon as I had one calmed down and drowsy enough to put back into their bed, their sibling would start wailing again and upset the sleepy one back to full alert status.

At one point, I had Vivienne asleep next to me in bed and had to have Husband fetch Kaiden who was screaming himself silent (screaming so hard that no noise was coming out of his mouth-you can tell he is doing this by his breathing.)

I was actually able to get Vivienne into her bed with Kai out of the room and she only cried for about five minutes before finally settling down for the morning.

Kaiden would spend the rest of the morning laying on top of me literally while I tried to sleep.

He dozed off and on for the rest of the morning, but inevitably would wake up screaming periodically.

All of this because we had baby Oreo's for tea-time. Wow! Who would have thought that one tiny little cookie could contain so much sugar that an active toddler couldn't burn it off before bedtime!

I have learned an invaluable lesson. Oreo's, while yummy and quite addictive for both adults and tiny toddlers, are NOT all that good for you as they apparently have much way to much sugar in them for ANYBODY'S good!

ADHD Trouble & The Disapearance of The Much Coveted DS

Okay, after all these years, it's finally happened. And, from what I am reading from the reports of a fellow Mum, it may be becoming a growing trend.

I THINK I know what may have been the root of our problem here (I cannot vouch for the other incident, however.)

We have been on this roller coaster with Bregon's new ADHD Doctor and the way his office functions and the medication that we are being prescribed.

Initially, we were referred to him in the first place because our Adderall just was not doing the trick. In fact it had side effects that were quite scary.

Because his grades had fallen, and the reports from his teachers had been streaming in, I knew that Bregon was having problems with immunity to his medication as far as his mindset was concerned.

However, at home, the medicine was telling a whole different story. It was not totally without effect.

I had a very depressed and suddenly overly hormonal little boy who cried at the drop of a pin and couldn't listen to even the smallest bit of conversation without zoning out.

So, the last week of school, I had him stop taking his medication. I just could not let him go on being like that, especially if it was causing him to have personality problems.

He spent the entire summer off his medications while we waited for the new doctor to finally see him.

We had appointment after appointment with them, yet never seemed to get past the gate keepers.

It would be the second week of school before we met this doctor and were able to start a new medication.

He was started on a low dosage, that didn't do anything at all or so it seemed. The next month he graduated to the higher dosage.

Last month, he graduated to the highest dosage, still without us seeing real progress or results.

The only real difference that I could see (or his teachers for that matter) was that he did have an appetite and he could at least sleep through the night without being restless.

I had THOUGHT that we might be on to something as his grades had started creeping upward, so the doctor kept him on the high dose for this coming month.

That is when IT happened. Oh, he didn't tell me when it first happened. That should have been the clue, but it wasn't.

Then again, it was the week of his birthday party and big sleepover and also the week that school let out for Thanksgiving break, too.

Let me backtrack a little for you, now. Bregon had always had a Gameboy Advance. Ever since he was 7, we had this rule about it NOT going to school or daycare EVER.

The thing was oddly small for a children's toy, and could be fitted into even the most shallow pocket discreetly.

Each day, I would do a quick room check to ensure that it was still on its charger after he left for school.

The day came when it wasn't and I was prepared when I picked him up from daycare to begin my "Talk" with him.

I told him in the car that I had something very important to discuss with him when we got home and to meet me on the sofa after putting up his backpack.

It was the only time I had EVER seen him cry in advance of not knowing that he was truly in trouble.

He hadn't any clue as to how I could possibly know that his pocket was a bit heavier that day, but those tell-tale tears were a HUGE affirmation of his guilt.

He sat there in awe and full of amazement as I asked him to empty his pocket and hand me his GameBoy.

He was positive at that very moment that I was quite all-knowing and omniscient. He never did figure out how I knew, either.

Fast forward back to the present. It was the day that they returned to school from the holiday, and he walked into the house looking as if someone had run over his favorite pet or something.

It was definitely an "Or something" as I had it on good account that every animal was present and accounted for and hanging out in the sun in the backyard at the moment!

I let him put his books up and play with his siblings a while. I didn't even bother him about his obviously upset state until after his homework was completed and the babies were in bed.

He broke down at the dining room table, telling me that he had broken a very important rule by taking his Nintendo Ds to school and now it was GONE.

To make matters worse for him, he had several point sheets and progress reports that needing signing as well, but those weren't nearly as upsetting as the Ds being gone gone gone.

He assumed that it must have been stolen out of his backpack at school the week before they had gotten out for break.

Over the next few days, however, an entirely different story came to light. I first noticed it while looking for a pen in his nightstand where he normally keeps his Ds.

There was a note on top of his birthday game that affirmed that he would keep it until he found his Ds and got to enjoy his present... one day.

I then noticed that his room was rearranged and in some form of disarray (slight.)

When he got home, he dutifully did his homework. Then I heard all sorts of noises coming from his bedroom that sounded like he was moving some serious furniture.

I went upstairs to find him moving boxes from out of his closet and going through them systematically.

I asked him what he was doing, and he replied that he was looking for his Ds. I sat him down at that point, and asked him about it the idea that it had gotten stolen at school.

He said that he honestly doesn't know what happened. He knows that he had it, that he had been taking it to school with him to play in the mornings and after school on the bus, but that he thought that maybe he had lost it at home somewhere.

He honestly cannot remember the last time he had it and cannot remember if he put it up someplace in his room or if he lost it at school or if it was stolen.

Then the weekend came and that long awaited package that contained my new Christmas tree stand arrived as well.

Husband put it together for me and he and Bregon changed the stands out, but when it came time to start decorating the tree, Bregon was curled up in a ball on my sofa.

He said he was tired, but his eyes were all swollen and he looked like he had two black eyes. He wasn't crying, but he was extremely sad.

I thought it was over the Ds being gone (it had been a week since he fessed up) but I soon realized that it was something more than that.

Nothing I did cheered him up. I put off decorating the tree 'til he was in a better mood. I know he needed a little Christmas, but he was so mopey and depressed looking it scared me.

He didn't get better, either. Saturday rolled around, and he was STILL sad and walking around like a little zombie boy.

It finally dawned on me (sometimes I am a bit slow) that it might be his medicine causing this to happen.

It's supposed to make him concentrate and in the past has had some funny side effects like compelling him to super organize his room or closets and even once he decided to clean my air return vent.

I offered him a choice of fun dinner options and he turned me down saying he didn't care what we had that night.

I very playfully asked him if he wanted to run to Wal-mart (it was about 10 at night at the time) thinking he might find that fun-he usually is up for going out like that.

He didn't want to do that either. In fact, he didn't even want to mop with the real mop (usually he finds it some sort of a treat to use a real mop instead of a swiffer which he begged me to buy for some reason- I know my kids are odd!)

I told him whatever he did, NOT to take his medicine the next morning. In fact, I moved his little day of the week container to a place where he couldn't find it.

And, low and behold, come Sunday morning, he started becoming Bregon again. By the afternoon, he was joking and playing and doing silly Breglet things.

That night, we were able to even decorate the tree and he LIKED it and had FUN doing it.

We made S'mores in the fireplace and he admitted to having eaten all of the bar chocolate (I had a reserve for emergencies or so I had thought) so we ended up having to use chocolate chips instead.

He still cannot find his Ds anywhere. He honestly cannot remember what happened to it, either.

It's not like he is an irresponsible child or anything, this toy was over 2 years old and still had its original stylus and the micro-games that go with it.

If you have ever seen one of these, you will be familiar with the fact that NOBODY seems to be able to keep up with their stylus and the games are soo tiny that it would be easy to misplace them or even throw them away.

Somehow, my child has managed to keep up with all of this while living in a very tiny room full of loads of stuff, yet manages to lose it or get it stolen while living in a rather large sparse room that is fairly organized.

I really think it is the medication. I have talked to the doctor about something different, but he only wants to keep him on this same medication and add to it if it isn't working.

I really do not want him on any of it if it's not working at all in any fashion. Before, the medication worked and he could tell when it was and you could see results.

We haven't seen ANY positive result in this particular medication and I ended up with scary, depressed, crying, fetal position boy and it SCARED the heck out of me.

So, I have made an executive decision and Bregon is not taking his medication this week, PERIOD.

If the results seem better than we get while on any of the doses of the medication, then I am seriously going to consider letting him go without them and see what happens.

I am beginning to think that these medications are not working for a reason and that maybe he can do this on his own now.

I could be wrong, but the child is having blank spots in his memory. Very large blank spots that are very uncharacteristic of him.

I know that he broke a rule and he is really being punished for it. I have decided that he will be allowed to replace the Ds after Christmas and with his own money if that is what he decides to do.

As for the medication, I am beginning to think that this type isn't for us. He had a bad reaction to it last spring which is how we ended up where we are now with the new doctor and the new medication.

The doctor promises that the medication will work and doesn't want to change it out, but I am starting to think that amphetamine based medications just are not the way we need to go.

So, for the moment, Bregon remains un-medicated and is slowly returning to his old self.

Each day, I sit down with him and we talk about how he feels and his performance in school that day.

He actually is talking about feeling like a fog is being lifted which is sort of scary. I am currently awaiting a call-back from the doctor's office as to his next appointment.

We will wait until then to decide for certain which direction we are going to take.

In the meantime, Bregon's Christmas wish is to find his Ds...or at least remember what has become of it.

The Toddler Trio Tree Adventures, continued!

The tree has now been up since Thanksgiving night. Ever since then, it has stood in the corner, leaning in its cracked little stand, awaiting the arrival of its shiny new stand.

Friday evening, that new stand arrived. Thankfully, it is the same stand, just a little bit beefier which should make it much more sturdy than its predecessor.

That night, Husband, Bregon and I made THE SWITCH. I assembled the new stand and Husband picked up the tree while Bregon removed the old stand and slid the new one into place.

It was done. The tree now stood straight and tall in its new stand, firmly planted on top of the antique steamer trunk in the far corner of our living room.

All we had to do now, was decorate it. It was really too late to get everything out by the time everything was together on Friday night, so we decided to wait.

The babies didn't realize anything was different, and they treated it the same way they did each and every day.

Kaiden and Kian each gave it the requisite good morning hug and Vivienne stood her ground in the center of the living room and shouted her usual greeting in triplet-ese.

We ended up waiting until Sunday night to decorate that tree. As soon as the babies were in bed and squared away for the night, I began to unpack the cedar chest where the decorations are all kept.

I carefully unloaded the three bins of ornaments and the many little ornament boxes that contain Bregon's Star Wars ornament collection.

I never realized just how many Star Wars ornaments we really do have. I appear to have everything but the Death Star on my tree (and really we do have one in the form of a Darth Vader snow-globe that lives on Bregon's desk upstairs!)

Husband made us a fire in our fireplace as we sorted through and untangled everything from the boxes.

While Bregon unpacked his Star Wars stuff, I managed to amass the ingredients for S'mores and the coat hangers to cook them with.

In between hanging ornaments, we all made S'mores and watched one of our favorite Christmas movies, "Mixed Nuts."

Once we were finished with the tree, I wrapped its skirt around the base and we all stood back to admire it.

There was one last little touch. We had never tried this before, but because the babies are free-roaming toddling terrors, we had all agreed that we needed to put the play-yard around the tree in some effort to avoid disaster.

The play-yard just fit around everything enough to allow the tree to still spin without catching on the gate and hopefully left enough room in the front to keep the babies out of the tree. Only time would tell for certain!

As an extra added precaution, I zip-tied the gate to the leg of the piano in hopes of keeping the babies from being able to move the play-yard around enough to allow them to reach the tree itself.

The Day of Reckoning

Morning came all too soon for me. I made a quick run through the living room to check to ensure that everything was in its place and ready for my tiny trio to play.

I ran upstairs to get them all while the blueberry waffles cooked in the toaster oven.

I very trustingly sat Kian and Kai down just inside the hallway gate, fastened it into place, and ran back up to get Vivienne.

When I came back downstairs, I found both boys standing at the play-yard gate with their little arms outstretched as far as they could reach, trying to touch their tree.

There would be no good morning tree-hug this morning, unfortunately.

I managed to get them all changed and into their seats with little trouble.

It was after breakfast that the storm broke! Kai ran to the tree as soon as I let him out of his feeding chair. Kian was not too far behind.

Apparently, they had been plotting and planning in triplet-ese over breakfast as to how best to get to the tree.

Lucky for me, Kaiden has quite forgotten how to climb the play-yard gate itself (a feat that had earned him the nickname "Spiderman.")

Unfortunately, both boys remembered the gate being very pliable, and they had devised a plan to work together to get it reshaped to their advantage.

Kai was able to just barely reach the frog prince ornament. After Kian had pushed as far as he could on that gate, Kaiden realized that he just was not going to be able to play with that froggie and he began to cry.

Kaiden became sadder and sadder as his efforts to get to the toys hanging on that tree failed.

Kian was able to finally reach a SpongeBob ornament, but I quickly intervened and rehung it a bit hirer, much to the boy's chagrin.

By this point, Vivienne was standing in her usual center spot giving what appeared to be pointers to her brothers on how to accomplish the plan.

Kaiden had taken a new approach and was laying on the floor with both feet pressed against that play-yard gate, putting all his little weight into it in an effort to budge the fence.

It just was NOT working out for him and it made him very very sad.

This went on for about an hour for the three of them. Once the clock chimed ten, I knew it was time to take them upstairs for a nap.

The tree had survived its first morning decorated. I had only one casualty where Kai had managed to separate the ornament from the string attached to it.

The babies now had a new mantra, "Look, but don't touch!" They were NOT pleased with this, but were more than happy to get to have a nap, though!

After nap time, they seemed to be more acclimated to the idea that the gate was going to protect their tree at all costs.

Kaiden did stand at the gate and gaze sadly at the out of reach tree, but he didn't scream or cry this time.

Everyone appeared to be in agreement that the tree was off limits, and that playing with their actual toys was a much better way to spend their afternoon.

For the moment, the tree appears to be safe...for a time!