Woolsey Family Chronicles

My life seems so busy taking care of the needs and schedules of all these little monkeys that sometimes I feel when we get to a holiday I feel dread. Rather than being excited about getting them all dressed up for Halloween and meeting all of our neighbor friends in the park before trick or treating, I felt this overwhelming desire for it all just to be over. Then I felt disappointed in myself. Of course we got them all dressed up and once we were at the park I poured myself a glass of wine and worked on enjoying the moment. Part of the problem is that the babies don’t really enjoy these things yet, so it feels a little like a waste of energy putting all of us through the process just to have crying clingy babies a the park.

Ava on the other hand, fully appreciates and enjoys every second of Halloween. Up until yesterday, she was Max from The Wild Things, which we borrowed from Angela. On Halloween she switched it up and decided to be a clown, which I had borrowed from my neighbor friend Gianna earlier in the month. While we were trick or treating all I could see from a distance was Ava in this bright colored clown costume and crazy wig zipping full speed from one house to the next with her friends. I am excited for when the babies are old enough to have fun trick or treating with their big sis.

The kids are starting to play very well with each other. Every night the girl’s rough house and I sit there watching in horror as they yank each other to the ground and dog pile and pull hair and laugh hysterically. Every night someone ends up crying, but they have so much fun together playing that I can’t stop them. Meanwhile, Preston takes refuge on my lap with his little froggie blanket and watches the girls going crazy screaming and running and jumping on each other. It is a little too much for them and he is going to leave all that wild behavior to his sisters. You can’t really blame him since right now he has a huge red welt on the side of his face where Violet bit him. It is sad because she didn’t even bite him out of anger, but rather just because she thought it was funny.

On a different note, Elsa is always up from her naps first. The other day I put Elsa down for her nap about 45 minutes earlier than the other two because she was just too grumpy. So, of course, she woke up earlier than them. While I was cleaning up the kitchen I heard this, “HI!” and then a second later I heard another “HI!”. I ran upstairs and found that Elsa had gone into Violets room and woke her up, and then she moved to Preston’s room and woke him up. They were both standing up in their cribs clutching their blankets looking at me with these sleepy groggy eyes. I grabbed Elsa and ran downstairs and had myself a little cry. This happened on Tuesday, the only day I don’t have any help; the day I really need them all to take a good nap. Despite my efforts, nobody continued sleeping. We all survived and I learned to always close the gate leading upstairs after I get Elsa up from her nap.

I continue to work hard at getting the triplets to do things for themselves - we are working toward self sufficiency each day. Ava is pretty good as she is able to get herself dressed, get her own drinks, wipe her own bottom, etc. I am in the process of transitioning her to a shower where she can soap her own body and wash her hair. Then we will work on her combing her own hair - oh that will be the day.

The babies are starting to try to put their own socks and shoes on. I got the potty seat out from under the house because I am going to try to get them potty trained ASAP. They are very interested in watching me go potty so maybe that means they want to try also. They are doing a great job eating with spoons and forks like big people. I try to always walk to and from the car holding their hands instead of carrying them so they learn that they must hold my hand and they have to walk with me until we get to our destination. We are setting up a pack n play in our dining room for time outs for them. I guess they aren't babies anymore so they need to have consequences for naughty behavior like biting their brother on his cheek and leaving him with a vampire like mark, or hitting each other over the head with hard objects.

Raising triplets is a lot of fun and also a huge game of strategy. It is constantly thinking and rethinking how we are doing things and if we are using techniques that will create an easier life for our family as well as kids. How soon can we get them to know what is expected of them and how to act appropriately in public. I don't expect perfect kids, but I do expect that they follow the rules so I don't have to end up institutionalized.

Until next time, the mothership is signing off.