Triplet Friends

Guest Blogger:  Megan J.

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet daughters, Makenna Anne, Jaeli  Jo and Maysie Jailyn.

I can't believe the triplets will be entering third grade next year!  One of the biggest struggles we have dealt with this year is making friends outside of their "triplet circle". They each struggle in finding their own identity and connecting with other girls, or even boys, their age. Unfortunately, their school splits the classes up each year, so they don't usually move onto the next grade with any friends they did make the previous year. This is really hard on them socially because it takes them awhile to get close with someone, and then once they do, they are taken away.  Sometimes, even their sister who ends up in a class with their old friend will become that sister's new friend. On a positive note, when one of the girls from their class invites them to a birthday party, they almost always invite all three. Although I would prefer only the one who is friends with them go, this might be good as time goes on. Hopefully, they will eventually gain the confidence to be friends with most of the girls in their class. The one thing I have been trying to get them to appreciate is that friends will come and go, but they will always have each other. My hope for them when they are all grown up is that they will be the best of friends and always be there for each other.


Beverly's Facebook Page:  The Triplet Ballerinas

Different Triplet Characteristics

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli Jo and Maysie.
As I said before, these triplet ballerinas have different personalities. Makenna is stubborn and curious. Jaeli is shy and quiet. Maysie is dramatic and fun-loving. It is easy to state the characteristics of these girls because it is real-life and true. It is not so easy though to make up different characteristics for your pretend triplet ballerinas and then convey these characteristics through action and dialogue. (See my Facebook page: The Triplet Ballerinas). I am working on portraying one triplet ballerina as determined, one as confident and one as hopeful. This is all still a work-in-progress though, so these different characteristics of my pretend triplet ballerinas may end up changing before I am done. I hope they don't though because I like the characteristics that I have given these pretend triplet ballerinas.  Beverly

Triplet Friendships

Guest Blogger:  Megan J.

My triplet ballerinas are my daughters, Makenna Anne, Jaeli Jo and Maysie Jailyn.
One of the biggest struggles my triplet girls face is making friends outside of their "sister group". During their first couple years of school, it seemed very difficult for them to make new friends within their class. So, when Jaeli connected with a group of friends, we were thrilled and so excited for her. She developed a unique friendship with one of the girls in her group that was undeniably precious. They were very close and she talked about her every day. They would give each other hugs when they saw each other outside of school and had the occasional play date. Unfortunately, the decision to have the triplets repeat 1st grade was made due to them struggling academically. This was one of the toughest decisions we had to make. As they went through the next year, we knew it was the right decision based on their academic improvement. However, making new friends was still a big challenge. Two years later, they still struggle with it, and Jaeli seems to have the hardest time. She has yet to find that one friend she feels as close to as she did back then. Hopefully, over time, as they continue through the grades, they will develop stronger relationships outside of their "sister group" and become more social. We have been encouraging them to talk with others and simply ask if they will be their friend. It seems to be helping. But, in the long run, they will always have each other, which is something precious in itself.

Beverly's Facebook Page:  The Triplet Ballerinas

It's only fair....

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli Jo and Maysie.
I am sure it's probably like this with most siblings, but these triplets are all about fairness. It doesn't matter what it is, if one gets it, the other two need to get it too or you will hear about it. It doesn't matter if it is food (especially candy), toys or even new clothes, it has to be fair and equal. This can sometimes be challenging to find three of the same or similiar, especially with clothes. Lots of times though, as long as it is something new and for them, they are happy. I suppose this started when they were young and it was fun to give them each something and see their faces light up. They were never far apart then so if you gave to one of them, you had to give to all three. Even though they are not always together now, you still have to buy or give three. It's only fair.....  Beverly            My Facebook page:  The Triplet Ballerinas

From "The Triplet Girl" to "The Triplet Ballerinas" (updated)

With my guest blogger on vacation and me busy working on my book, I decided to update a post from September 2016:

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli Jo and Maysie.
 In researching what I wanted my picture book story to be about, I took inspiration from where I could find it.  So, one day, when one of the triplets leaped off the couch, the idea of ballet was born.  I started researching ballet and ballerinas and found the book, "Ballerina: A Step-by-Step Guide to Ballet", which was very informative.  I decided to have one of the triplets be the most interested in ballet and the other two girls more interested in horses to make them seem boyish.  I found the book, "For Horse-Crazy Girls Only: Everything You Want to Know About Horses", which was also very informative about horses and ponies.  Sadly, through editing, I had to cut out some scenes that didn't fit and the "leaping off the couch scene" was one of the first to go.  But, it had served its purpose anyway by giving me the idea of ballet and ballerinas.  In one of my early critiques, the horses the girls got for their birthday were called "ponies" instead of "horses".  It dawned on me then that it would probably be better to have the triplets get the smaller, more manageable, ponies for their birthday than the bigger horses so the horses became ponies in the story.  At one time, the ponies even had names:  Jamie's (Jaeli) was "Beauty", Macie's (Maysie) was "Ella", and Annie's (Makenna) was "Snow."  But, eventually, I sadly had to cut this scene too.  The real-life triplets were not happy with this since they were the ones to name their counterpart's ponies.  Beverly

Update on my book: I decided to take my book in a different direction, so  I cut out the ponies and have made it all about ballet. I also changed the character name of Jamie to Julie to make her name sound more girly.  It is truly about "triplet ballerinas" now.                      

Facebook page:  The Triplet Ballerinas

Triplet Characteristics

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli Jo and Maysie.
Lately, I have been working on revising my manuscript (see my Facebook Page: The Triplet Ballerinas). Right now, I am working on characterization of my pretend triplet ballerinas which brings to mind the characteristics that make up our own triplet ballerinas.

If I were to describe the character of Makenna, I would give her the characteristics of stubborness (she resists greatly the idea of even attempting to say "I'm sorry" when she is in the wrong), intelligence (she is very smart and studious), curiosity (she will read a factual book from the first page to the last to find out interesting facts and recite them), creativeness (her drawings and ideas are so good) and helpfulness (whenever she sees someone in need, she will help them out without being asked).

The first thing that comes to mind in describing Jaeli is shyness. This is something she was struggling with all the time so I gave her a diary of sorts to write in every day how she was feeling that day and to record how she made an effort to talk to at least one person. It is so great that Jaeli feels comfortable now in talking to people and doesn't need the crutch of the diary anymore. Jaeli would also be described as being sweet and nice. I would also say solitary and quiet would be words to describe her too.

As for Maysie, there is no doubt that dramatic fits her to a tee. I would also have to add emotional and moody too. When she doesn't like something, you know all about it. But, that's not all the time, just occasionally. She is also imaginative (she is always coming up with great ideas) and fun-loving (when she's not being moody!).

The triplets in my book will probably have some of these same characteristics, but I am sure they will all have their own individual characteristics as their counterparts do.  Beverly

Identical Twins in Triplets

Guest Blogger:  Megan J.

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet daughters, Makenna Anne, Jaeli Jo and Maysie Jailyn.

When I was about 7 weeks along with my pregnancy, we learned we were having triplets. At this time, we were told they are all fraternal because they were in three separate sacs. It didn't really matter to us, we were just happy to have three babies and didn't think much of it after this.

After the triplets were born and in the NICU, we noticed right away that Jaeli and Maysie looked exactly the same. We even had trouble telling them apart. We only knew who was who because of the names the nurses put on their cribs. At only a few weeks old, we took the girls back to the hospital for pictures and had to remove Maysie's hip brace and Jaeli's heart monitor. After taking the pictures, it was time to put everything back on. This is the only time that I was ever confused about which one was Maysie and which one was Jaeli. Thankfully, I had previously painted Maysie's toe nail in case this would happen. This made me start to wonder though if Maysie and Jaeli were really fraternal. I remembered hearing from another triplet mom that she had her triplets tested with an at-home DNA test. This was very cheap and simple to do, so we decided to have it done. It was mostly so all of us would know when they were older if they are identical or not. I also knew we would have questions from outsiders as they grew up. One day, the lab called and said they were emailing me the results but wanted to let me know that the test showed a 99% match for Jaeli and Maysie being identical twins. I was very excited and happy we took the test but was a bit frustrated with the doctors for telling us they are fraternal and not even suggesting the possibility that they are identical.

As Jaeli and Maysie have gotten older, it is easier now to tell them apart. They may be identical but they are also different in many ways. Like their triplet sister, Makenna, they both have their own individual personality that makes them their own person.  

Beverly's Facebook Page:  The Triplet Ballerinas