The Parenting of Triplet Girls, Part 2

GUEST BLOGGER:  Cindy R.

My triplet ballerinas are my daughters, Abbie, Brynn and Claire.

People who find out the girls are triplets simply lose all sense of modesty or boundary – the questions that we have been asked by complete strangers is beyond belief.  Back in the days where the girls were less mobile and bound to a stroller a simple visit to a home store would turn into a circus.  We quickly learned that it was sometimes easier to keep two girls separate from the other and deal with some less intrusive questions about twins versus the gawking of the triplet crowd.

We haven’t raised our daughters as a unit – they are unique individuals that happen to share a birthday.  I hope, as their parent, that they have a strong bond with each other and find solidarity and support as they grow into adulthood.  Like any parent, I teach them the importance of kindness and being a helper – doing for others is our focus. 

Seeing them today at almost 9-years old it seems like the years have flown by in a blink.  We are half-way to college now and tonight I will hold onto the little hand and cuddle them a little longer and know how honored I am to be their mom.

Beverly's Facebook Page:  The Triplet Ballerinas

The Parenting of Triplet Girls, Part 1

GUEST BLOGGER:  Cindy R.

My triplet ballerinas are my daughters, Abbie, Brynn and Claire.

In January 2008, our family was completed by the arrival of our three amazing daughters, Abbie, Brynn and Claire.  We were instantly transformed from an easy-going couple who knew absolutely nothing about being parents to an even stronger and more determined duo – after all, God had entrusted us with the task of raising a trio of world changers!

The girls are as different as can be – they look like sisters but they are not identical (this confounds people as surely they must be the same).  Brynn is blond with tawny skin while Abbie and Claire are brunette with rosy complexions – people will argue outright that “where did that one come from?” as if she doesn’t belong.  You learn fairly quick how to dodge the most invasive and often rude comments. 

Being a triplet parent is something I am unsure I can speak to – it is the only type of parenting that I know so I do not know how different it is from “normal” – but three girls and three girls all at once?  I don’t think it was an accident that these are the children we were given to be our family.

Next week:  Part 2 of The Parenting of Triplet Girls

Beverly's Facebook Page:  The Triplet Ballerinas

Jaeli Jo: The Reading Triplet

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli Jo and Maysie. This week's blog is about Jaeli, the middle triplet, who sometimes seems to get lost in the middle. The character Jamie (Jaeli) in my story, (see Facebook page:  The Triplet Ballerinas), seems to be lost in the middle too. I never had to worry if I should make "Jamie" the main character or worry "Jamie" didn't have enough of a love of dancing to even be that main character. She was always just one of the triplets. We don't know much about "Jamie", but we do know that Jaeli loves to read, just like her favorite princess, Belle. Her favorite color is even yellow just like Belle's dress. Jaeli is the triplet most likely to be found reading a book or anything she can find to read. I was so proud of Jaeli reading "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss over and over again when she was in first grade. That was her favorite book for a long time. So, even though Jaeli may seem to be sometimes "lost" in the middle, at least she can read a good book while she is there.  Beverly

Makenna: The Sporty Triplet

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli Jo and Maysie.
This week's blog is about Makenna, the "oldest" triplet (by one minute) and, technically, my first grandchild. As mentioned before, Makenna is very sporty (likes to play many sports and is good at them). Makenna is also very smart.  And, when she is not having symptoms of the food disorder that can make her very challenging to deal with at times, she is the sweetest as can be, very affectionate, very inquisitive and willing to help with anything. So, when I ask her to read my manuscript (she is the best reader of the triplets and knows most of the words), she does it, but not without an eye roll or two since I have asked her to read it so many times. I haven't had her read the manuscript (and I should probably do that soon) since I changed the main character from "Annie" (Makenna) to "Macie" (Maysie), but I have the feeling she won't mind I "demoted" her character. I think she realized before I did that I had the wrong person as the main dancing character in my story. After all, she is the sporty triplet not the dancing triplet.     Beverly          
Facebook page:  The Triplet Ballerinas

Maysie: The Dancing Triplet

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli Jo and Maysie.   
This week I want to blog about my littlest (although she is not so little anymore) triplet granddaughter, Maysie. As has been mentioned before, Maysie loves to dance. She loves to dance so much, whenever she hears music, she starts dancing. It is just a coincidence that my picture book story (See my Facebook page: The Triplet Ballerinas ) is about a triplet girl, Annie (Makenna), who loves ballet more than her triplet sisters, Jamie (Jaeli) and Macie (Maysie) do.  When I started out writing this book as "The Triplet Girl", I wanted one feminine name, Annie, and two boyish names, which at the time were Jamie and Maxie.  Once the story became "The Triplet Ballerinas", I changed the character "Maxie" to "Macie" since it was not as important anymore for two boyish names, and I liked Macie better. At the time, it didn't occur to me that I could change the main character from Annie to one of the other triplets.  I recently realized, though, that I was not portraying very well the main character, Annie, as the triplet who loves ballet the most.  I firmly believe this is because I was not capturing the spirit of a girl who loves to dance because in my mind "Annie" is Makenna who is a bit of a tomboy who likes sports and has no interest in dancing. So, I changed my main character to Macie and I am now trying to infuse my story with Maysie's love of dancing. All I need to do, though, is visualize Maysie when she is dancing to make my story of Macie's love of ballet come alive.     Beverly