Into the breach.

Today being a special day the kids went to school at 8am instead of the their normal time at 12pm.
Let me tell you that is was an eye opening experience.

It was like storming the beaches of Normandy, you had to be fast and aggressive and constantly look for cover. There were cars zipping back and forth and cutting people off, there was gestures and yelling from the parents fighting the surging tide of manic P.T.A. officers attempting to direct the madness. There was the administration out in their winter gear overlooking the battle field and the cries of the children as they worm there way to their daily duty.

I can only assume this is normal daily operation at every school across the country when the morning bell rings. It's the little things that age you.

The first fire of the season.

We have a fireplace in the house and my wife and I really like a fire and now our kids do too. When we get one up and going they will sit there for at least thirty minutes watching it grow and become a large fire. Sometimes my wife and I will just sit in front of the fire and the kids will come and sit in our laps. The weird thing is that no one really speaks or fights or fusses, we all just sit and watch the fire burn. It's very relaxing.

The weather children

Since the kids were very young I have noticed that are subject to the changes in weather better than any barometer. By the way they act I can tell when it's going to rain or get cold or be really dry. It's funny how no one bothered to tell me that kids were capable of such things. It's crazy, it's not like the watch the news or have weather apps on their imaginary smart phones. It's just that they seem to know as dictated by their behavior.

If it's going to rain the kids get really fussy and despondent until the rain hits then it's all bets off as they go crazy like a bubble popped. When it gets cold they get real sleepy like a bear getting ready for hibernation. Which makes for easy mornings since they don't want to get out of their warm beds.

Does anyone else notice how the weather affects their children or do I just have weirdos?

Rambunctious is the watch word.

My kids when separate are angelic wonderful delights of all that parents hope for and see through rose colored glasses. When together it's party time 24/7. You parents of singletons have the grace to go home after a play date you get to go wind down and get into a rhythm with your precious little angel. Where as here it's a play date during every waking minute.

In some ways it's wonderful because my children don't solely depend on me for entertainment but on the other hand it's NEVER quiet. At least they don't constantly fight. If their play habits are any indication, then I can only assume that when puberty hits the fights will start in earnest between the kids for privacy and bathroom time or etc. I am going to loose my mind.

I'm going to confess something now. When my kids were born I was so excited and proud that I couldn't wait to help them explore the world. When they walked I cheered. When they said dad the first time I got choked up. When they went to school the first time it was heartbreaking. Now though I cringe when I here the word "Daddy"

The word "Daddy" is very rarely followed but "I love you"
 or "Thank you."
 It's normally followed by "I want you to buy this."
"Somebody hit me."
"Why does....." etc. etc.

It's a constant stream of consciousness pouring out of three four year olds.

Kids are bad for your nerves.

It is amazing how often my wife or I will walk into a room and see something that just makes the heart stop. Like Bobby standing on top of his bunk bed about to do a flying clothesline on Cooper. Funny that they don't watch wrestling. Or when Cooper is playing leap frog with the kitchen furniture and falls and splits his lip.

But so far my daughter Iris has the best scare technique of the three. You see the boys are fear by association of the dangerous activities that they get into Iris is the stealthy one, the quiet one, the one you never see coming. As to hear my wife tell it.

When I was working nights my wife thought it wise to leave the bedroom door open so as to hear the kids in case of trouble. Well one night while dead asleep she feels something brushing her leg. assuming its the dog she doesn't really come full wakefulness. The brushing continued up her leg until she could make out the impression of a little hand. She described it as like a little ghost hand since my daughter has a light touch. At this point Maureen still didn't know is was Iris. Maureen's eyes open and she was on her side facing the inside of the bed and saw the dog that she had previously thought was the one touching her. Needless to say she flipped over pretty quick to see what was touching her in the dead of night. And there looming not a foot away was the earnest stare of Iris saying "Mommy is it morning?"

Maureen almost had a heart attack and now she keeps the bedroom door closed and have taught the kids to knock before the enter.

Triplets and the paper work.

So now that my kids are well versed in the alphabet and numbers the amount of paper work that they produce is maddening. Iris is not content to simply write a note in Iris language but must write copious amounts. Yesterday she wrote me a twenty five page note. Cooper really likes the math. He likes to count and add things up which I find a little weird but grateful and will support his love of math. Bobby on the other hand is not a writer or mathematician per say. It's not that he can't write his letters or do simple math it's just his interests lie more in the playing with his imagination and alone while the kids produce paper after paper of scribbles, letters, and numbers.

Now if Iris isn't writing she's drawing. The majority of her free time at home is either spent reading in her way or producing something at the point of a crayon. Which is great and wonderful except for the fact my house constantly looks like a ticker tape parade has just passed through. And don't even get me started on stickers.

Friday night Pizza nights.

On Fridays my wife started a new tradition while I was working the haunt. She started serving pizza in the living room and watching a movie allowing the kids to stay up late and eat in the living room.
Needless to say the kids love it. It allows the kids to really eat at their own pace. It took the entire movie for Iris to eat her pizza. The boys on the other hand tend to scarf their food down. The movie this last Friday was Monsters University and it was a hit in the house. The best thing about Friday movie night is that the kids stay up later and when it's over they go right to sleep with little or no problems. They still get up at six in the morning though.

Late night rescue

On Thursdays my wife has the night off. which means that she come homes late after the children have been put to bed. It was a trade off from when I used to go out on Friday nights for game night. Well last night as she was leaving a place about to head home for the evening she finds that her car won't start. At this point the kids were already asleep. So when my wife calls to tell me that the car is dead we talk over our options and settle on me coming to help out. I got the kids up having to carry Cooper and Iris individually to the van. Bobby got up and made it out on his own. The kids were super groggy as I got them fastened into their car seats. Then we backed out of the driveway. The kids commented on how scary our alley was since it was dark outside. Then it turned into a game of look at all the lights. We made it all the way to Mommy and she ended up only needing a jump for the battery, "Whew!" The kids did great, didn't get upset once and for being so good on the way to Mom and waiting while we jumped the car we watched SpongeBob Squarepants on the ride back home. And I only had to carry Iris back to bed.

Children strong like bull.

The kids have really come into their own now in the simple fact that they realize that they are not strong enough to move me around or take things away from me in play time. But together they can pin my arms or work to drag me. It started simply enough during rough housing with the boys. I would grab one and not let go unless they said please. It's turned into a game with us. Well a few weeks ago they started getting the idea that rather than say please they would call for help. Now when one is trapped and they yell the other two come running.

Last night is the perfect example of how this has progressed to create fear within me. Bobby thinks it's real funny to grab your noise and pinch it. Now it's mildly annoying but you can tolerate it for short periods of time. Last night though all three got into the act and I was fending off six little grabbing hands for my face. This amused the children to no end. But in order for them to be able to grab my nose they figured out that if they each grab an arm that leaves the third to grab my nose. It was difficult to resist them. Bobby is real good at wrapping himself around my arm and locking on. Where as Cooper will do everything he can to sit on my arm. And Iris tries to climb me like a spider monkey all the time.

It really comes down to this. I am alone in this house with three quickly growing children and so help me they are starting to figure out that not only do they outnumber me, but together they can overpower me.

Changes

One thing that you can really count on with triplets is change. Before the kids I was resistant to change and had a tendency to resist it. I would be lying if I said that my wife didn't drag me kicking and screaming into the wonderful life that I have now. And I am grateful for all that my wonderful wife has done to support me and the family through the past couple of years. The kids view her as their favorite. I have been blessed to be a stay at home dad for the past few years and would never have been able to do it with out her support.

The kids are in a constant state of change. The few constants are toy choices and wubbies all other things are subject to change at a moments notice. The worst is when they decide not to like a food that they had normally loved the previous day. Or when they no longer will tolerate a simple shower and must have a bath. I know this because I am told punctuated with tears and wails.

The most difficult change at this moment for me as a parent is the introduction of new TV shows but really the commercials that book end their favorite shows. Every commercial break the kids run into the other room to tell me what new product that they can't live without. I bet is was easier in the time with out TV telling us what we need to buy to be happy. How did kids decide what to ask Santa for Christmas before the invention of rampant commercialism.

Dawn

Being a stay at home dad makes it difficult to get any alone time in the morning. I try to be as quiet as possible as I wake up and get the breakfast cooking. I have to be as quiet as a church mouse because I believe that if I make a single sound the kids will hear it and come running. I believe this because it has been the matter of fact for the last two years.

You must understand that for me cooking breakfast is the brief moment of time everyday in which I have the house to myself. It's not that I'm alone per say but my wife is in the bathroom getting ready with her morning routine and I am in the kitchen doing my routine. And the kids are asleep.  It's the one time that I am not doing laundry or bathing the kids or doing any of the other million things that need to happen in the house. Just cooking breakfast.

Once a noise is made be it the sizzle of sausage or the coffee maker going off the sounds travel to the sleeping triplets ears as a clarion call to the children as succinct as any alarm clock known to man. Once the children rise from their slumber they stagger to the kitchen all bleary eyed and ask the same question. "What are you making for breakfast?"

The kids first play

We took the kids to a play yesterday at the Eisemann Center in Richardson. The play was "Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly."
 I and my wife have been to loads of theatrical productions and tend to have a critical eye when it comes to such things. The set was nice but the sound guy was awful.

The kids did great and we went with their grandparents formally called Nonnie and Poppie so it was a good family outing. The kids have had quite a lot of experience seeing films, during the summer I would take them every Thursday to studio movie grill for the summer kids movie series. The kids know how to sit still for a show and to be quiet during. After the production the kids all got to go meet the actors in the lobby while they were in costume and the actors would sign playbills and the book that the play was based off.

The play had some musical numbers and some slight action but as is the norm for children's entertainment, it was difficult for the adults. Poppie only slept through most of it. And I consider him the lucky one. But the kids loved it but not as much as SpongeBob.

Cleaning rituals

We have gotten into the habit of making the kids clean up their area of the house every day right before dinner. Which has been working out great except for the fact that I have to remind them every time. I have to remind them four to five times in rapid order. Then I have to go yell remind them and turn off the TV.

After the kids clean the playroom, is around the time that Momma gets home, followed by the eating of dinner. Which in it's self is a whole days worth of post so lets skip it for now.

After dinner the kids take the dishes and silverware and puts it all in the sink and goes to clean their bedrooms. The boys get it done pretty fast since the two of them work in tandem to get it done and the sweet thing is after they finish they go help Iris wrap up her room. They are motivated to clean their rooms because once their rooms are clean they get their wubbies. Wubbies are our triplets version of the blankie or comfort item that they sleep with.

Once the rooms are clean and they kiddos are changed into their PJ's. With wubbies in hand they gather at the foot of the parent reading the story for that night. And then off to bed.

All work and no play.

Yesterday due to unforeseen circumstances the children and I were trapped at home and my daughter freaked me out a little. I was watching TV while folding laundry and a promo for The Walking Dead came on. At this point Iris walked in to mumble ask me something as four year olds tend to do. Something about lunch and what they were having. However when she turned to leave she saw the title letters for the TV show and said "Look Daddy, The Walking Dead."

The reason this freaked me out was due to the fact that my children have never seen The Walking Dead, that is not appropriate content for the kiddos as I am sure everyone can agree. So my daughter looked at the title letters and was able to read The Walking Dead. When I asked her how she knew what that said she just shrugged and ran off laughing.

Triplets like the night life they like to boogie.

Last night the kids were going on about The Gummy Bear dance, which I can only assume is something that they learned in school. They went on and on about it and how they loved to dance it.
So my wife goes through our TV to youtube and looks up the dance. Not only did she find that little dance number but a whole slew of videos of kids dance video games. Since we don't have any dance video games for the Xbob this works out for the most part. The kids love it! they spent at least two hours doing dance numbers last night. And watching the triplets dance the Macarena once was funny and cute, by the fifth time it was less cute. But it did tire them out, and that is priceless.

The Field day at school.

The day after Halloween the kids school put on a field day in honor of the Olympics. Which I think was a brilliant idea seeing as how all the children were imbued with the power of a million candies. I had never really thought about the collateral damage of Halloween through the eyes of the education system. But now I see and all I can say is "those poor teachers."