Skip to main content

Cheers and Cuddles

I was looking over past posts and noticing that while I'm using this as a place to vent about the real and difficult, I am, unfortunately, not giving a full picture of our home and the three toddlers, in particular.

The first thing anyone notices about them is how ridiculously happy they are. They cheer about everything. It's lunch time! Let's go outside! Read a book! I see the kitty! They are genuinely, ebulliently joyful over the tiniest details of life. All day long. It is remarkable.

Yes, having triplet toddlers is taxing...but it is also three times the discovery and wonder and joy and unrestrained affection.

About an hour ago Jane slipped and tumbled down our stairs in a very dramatic way. Luckily I happened to be standing at the bottom and caught her before she hit bottom (the stairs are carpeted, thankfully). I held her still while I let her catch her breath and assess what hurt. As I was holding her both James and Kate came over to sympathize. I realized they were patting both my and Jane's backs simultaneously. So there I was sitting on the floor at the bottom of the stairs with one toddler in my lap and two standing next to me. A little huddle of sympathy, so genuine and sincere, I think it could've healed any wound.

And as I write this they are playing outside. One of them found a dead stalk from last year's plant and brought it in to present the "flower" to me. So then the others needed to bring gifts. Little Kate looked all around her and finally scooped up a handful of dirt. She came to the door, opened her fingers to reveal a little muddy ball, and whisper-exclaimed, "wook, mama, duht!" I leaned over and oohed for a moment and then spotted some "worm food" that it was very important for Kate to return to the worms so they could have lunch. Her eyes went wide and she looked very important trotting back outside to feed the worms.

These are the moments that fill our days. Boo-boos and sympathy, wonder and gifts, imagination and playmates. And cheering every time the cat walks by...450 times per day.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I Lied.

For the very first time I lied to a birth family member. I've been brutally honest even when it caused an uproar. I've been honest because I was personally committed to always telling the truth. Until now. Because this lie may actually be the best way to preserve Jane's relationship with her birth family. At our last video call with Grandma Jane seemed uninterested, unengaged, not showing any real emotion. I struggled to find things to prompt her to talk about. Over the next two weeks I waited and she never asked for another call. In the third week I casually brought up the topic and she did not really respond, certainly didn't ask for another call. Finally, yesterday I point blank asked if she wanted to do a video call and she said the word yes but her whole body language said no. It was clear that she was saying yes because she thought she was supposed to, not because she wanted to. So, I took her body language rather than her words and made the decision that we...

Why She Pees...

 Last week the little sister, Kate, got in trouble for peeing herself and then lying about it. She's had a weak bladder her whole life and must be vigilant about going often or she has an accident. If she gets busy playing and nobody reminds her to go, it's inevitable.  I am annoyed at the hassle, but tolerant that it's a medical situation.  Then, tonight I realized Jane smelled like pee. There's no excuse. She can hold it for days if she wants to. She got in trouble (a cold shower to hose off her body). Then I realized her room stank and asked what was going on. She told me she'd been deliberately peeing herself each day for the last three days, "so that you'd smell it and think she did it and then she'd get in trouble."  She's a sociopath.  Who deliberately sits in their own pee for three days for the small thrill of getting their little sister yelled at?  Well, two can play at this manipulation fight. I called Kate into the room and then had...

What Chronic Lying Does to a Relationship

 We got through Christmas. It was fine. Jane held it together better than I thought she would. We went to an AirBnB for four days between Christmas and New Year. That was my gift to the rest of the family instead of presents. I gave Theo a break from everything--he did no meals or childcare. It was good. He got to rest and I took the kids to have fun experiences.  Now we're back to normal. The normal that is now our family. Everyone seems happy; content.  But then, two days ago, there was this tiny interaction between Jane and I that illustrates, for me, how broken our relationship is.  She's been complaining that her room is too hot. First, we closed the heat vent to her room. Then, I gave her several blankets so she has options for how warm she wants her bed to be. She has many types of pajamas and she can choose whatever she wants to wear. Her room is frigid compared to the rest of the house. Still, she complains. I think at this point it's just a thing with her--...