Making time for ALL our kids

One of the biggest challenges of having triplets in addition to older children is ensuring that all our kids are getting enough mommy and daddy time.  The needs of our 3 and 5 year old are vastly different than the needs of the babies.  The older girls love playing with the babies and it would be convenient to stay inside and put a pause on life outside the home, but my husband and I have made it a priority to set aside time each week to spend quality time with them individually and together as a family.  This weekend we were lucky enough to be given 4 tickets to the Red Sox game for Friday night and Monday afternoon.  And even luckier that our babysitter and my mother can watch the babies so we are able to take advantage of the opportunity and treat our older girls to mommy daddy time at the ballpark.  Maybe, unlike in prior years, the girls won't be scared if they see Wally!

A more average weekend is spent balancing baby time with giving the girls one-on-one time either at the grocery store, at the playground, library, playing games or doing crafts while babies nap or even heading to the car wash.  They enjoy getting our undivided attention and we enjoy the break from the babycare.  (we love heading to Art for Kids Hub to help create origami with our 5 year old!).  I would say that building and creating a support network of family, friends and/or babysitters is one of the most important tasks when you find out you are having multiples.  Especially if you have older kids ... the amount of time I've saved by not having to drag the babies around for rides to school, sports or birthday parties has been crucial for our quality of life.  If you don't already have a network in place, actively try and find one.  My local multiples groups and my church have been a great resource for me (particularly through the Mom To Mom Ministry  but I'll go more in detail about that at another time).  Now that the babies are getting older and will soon be walking I hope to do more activities outside the home with all of my kids, like playing at the park, but that's all in due time.  I have only begun to imagine the chaos that comes with chasing around 3 little ones at a playground but I know my older girls will relish in their roles as Big Sister and help do the chasing, corralling and pushing of the baby swings.

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