Long Time, No Sea!

I'm Baaack!  It's been a while since I've written.  School ended in June and our family's been spending an aweful lot of time together.  Some days I love it, some days I hate it.   Depends on how much fighting is going on.

Many times I plan to blog, but never get to it.  However, I witnessed something at the beach today that I had to get off my, pardon the pun, chest.

Today my husband and I took our kids to the beach for the day.  We packed a lunch and spent a perfect summer day on the beach, kids playing in the sand and surf.

At the end of the day, while Dad and our oldest packed the truck to leave, I headed to the outdoor public shower with our daughter and the triplets to wash the sand off of them.  As the boys started showering (fully clothed), we all couldn't help but notice a man of about 60 holding the water on for his wife, not much younger.  She had her bathing suit top down and was washing her boobs for quite a bit of time for all to see.

I was horrified, stared her husband down, and said "this ISN'T the nude beach".   He stared at me like he had no idea what I was saying while she giggled.  One of the boys said, "What did I just see?"  I tried to nonchalantly herd the boys to a shower with an obstructed view while I told them to mind their business.  My poor daughter looked on as horrified as I was!

WTF?!  I'm not exactly a prude, but I don't walk around bare-breasted in front of my 8 year old boys and certainly don't want THAT memory to stick in their heads. 

Fortunately, by the time we got back to the truck, they seemed to have forgotten about it and were on to asking what was for dinner.  Thankfully, they worked up an appetite at the beach!

Let's Pretend We're the U.N.

So tonight at dinner, while my kids are fighting (big surprise) and my food is stuck in my throat, I ask them once again, why are they so mean to each other?  Sister says, "it's how siblings bond".  Tonight they are "bonding" over french fries.  The triplet who only eats white food fills his plate with them because he's not going to eat the burgers I made and this makes everybody else protest. 

My 15 year old has an idea.  "Let's pretend we're the U.N. and we're each a country".  I like this game.  I tell him he's "Turkey" because that's the only meat he eats.  My only girl is "Italy" and she likes that because she's our Italian Princess.  The little guys are "Hungary" (little man, big appetite), "Iran" (the guy who never stops moving) and "Iraq" (pronounced "I-Rock", no explanation needed).

Everybody laughs, my food slides down my throat, and I thank God for my Full House.

'Are you Mom Enough' to comment on this Time cover?

I know that breastfeeding is a controversial subject.  Like religion or politics, we all have strong beliefs that cannot be swayed by people shouting their oppositional views at us.

HOWEVER, to me, this Time cover photo is not about breastfeeding.  It's about a disturbing cover photo that is going to haunt this poor child forever.  There is something very perverted about this picture.  The mother looks a little sexy and smug, and the poor little boy has an odd look in his eyes and is dressed to look older than he is, standing on a chair to look even bigger.  I think Time went too far in an effort to sell magazines - pedophiles and perverts will no doubt cause this cover to be a sellout.  Ew!

As far as my personal view on breastfeeding, I think it is beautiful and natural for a new mother to bond and nurture her baby.  I breastfed my first 2 children, didn't have enough milk (or boobs) to nurse my preemie triplets.

I have no problem with someone breastfeeding in public (I was much too modest to, myself) but appreciate someone doing it discreetly so little (and grown) boys don't stare and giggle.  If you want to continue beyond infancy, more power to you, but I don't want to see it.  I was once at a birthday party where a preschooler was eating spicy salsa, then ran over to her mom, lifted her shirt, and took a drink.  It was just freaky to me, sorry!

Here's my bottom line - women should not judge each other for breastfeeding or not breastfeeding.  Some women are naturals, others find it awkward or just don't produce enough milk.  As women, we should support each other in sisterhood either way, just like working moms or stay at home moms should respect each other's choices.

Oh, and please ladies, remember to take good care of your 'girls' either way!

Hair We Go

"Hair, hair, it's everywhere.  Some have little, some have lots, plain hair, striped hair, polka dots."  (A line from a children's book embedded in my memory after reading it a thousand times over the past 15 years.)

I have a crappy head of fine hair.  I don't complain, I'm fortunate to only have a few grays at my age and they're silver, so they kind of look like highlights.  I'm happy to say none of my kids have my cruddy hair, they all have beautiful, thick heads of hair from their dad's side of the family.

I have to admit that I worried for the first 2 years of my daughter's life that she'd have my hair.  Our first boy was born with a full head of dark hair, predicted by the terrible heartburn I had during my pregnancy.  I figured our little girl would come out with the same hair, but she just had a head covered in peach fuzz.  Uh oh.  Then as it started to grow, it only sprouted long on the top of her head.  I'd put it in a pony tail on top, like a pineapple. 

Somewhere around her second birthday, it seemed to grow overnight, a full head of long, thick, wavy hair with blond highlights that I paid a small fortunate to replicate on my own head.  I was thrilled to see she had the same beautiful hair as her cousins, but I had no clue what to do with it.

I still blow dry it for her at night, it takes around 30 minutes to dry and has caused several hair dryers to explode prematurely.   Before her, a hair dryer would last me 10 years, no lie.  I've been through 3 in the past few months.

The biggest reason I'm glad she doesn't have my hair is that I secretly enjoy the bonding time we have, just us 2 girls, when I blow it out for her at night.  I know she can do it herself, but she's so independent and growing up so fast that I love grooming her like a little girl.

But I'm happy I only have to do it for 1 kid - imagine if the triplets were girls and I had to do 4 heads of that hair every night!

She is a Friend of Mind

"She is a friend of mind.  She gather me, man.  The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.  It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind." - Toni Morrison

Today is my BFF's birthday, my chosen sister.  We met 32 years ago in junior high and have been like family ever since. 

When I look at her, I see the young, fresh-faced kids that we both were when we met in 8th grade.  I see the crazy, care-free teenagers we were, remember all the milestone moments of our lives.  Getting our drivers' licenses, prom, graduation.  Turning 21 and clubbing, dancing til the wee hours of the morning, eating Taco Bell the next afternoon.

Meeting the men of our dreams, getting engaged, planning weddings, having our first, then second, babies within months of each other.

When I became pregnant with the triplets, she doted on me and worried about me like only a sister would do.  She and her amazing husband are Godparents to one, special aunt and uncle to all.

In fact, this woman is so amazing that she gave blood for the triplets when they needed transfusions after their premature birth.  I guess she really is blood-related to them!

I cherish all the beautiful memories of our friendship and don't mind growing old knowing that she's right there beside me.  We enjoy the time we get to share now as moms to growing kids and look forward to watching our children, who are as close as cousins, enjoy all the same milestones together. 

Happy Birthday, Boo - love you forever!

Back to the ER

Spring Break is this week, which is great if you're going away, but not so much fun if you don't have vacation plans.  Just as well - my oldest has a different week off than the rest of the kids, my hubby is still recuperating from surgery, and one of the triplets is restricted in his activity because of a head injury last week.

Yup, another triplet trip to the ER!  The latest injury happened when Triplet C tripped and hit the back of his head on a step outside.  No concussion, thank the Good Lord, but quite a few stitches.  It happened, of course, during the hours of 4 pm and 7 pm, otherwise known as the 'witching hours' in many houses with young children.

Not that I want my family to panic when there's an emergency, but as my husband and I decided that he definitely needed stitches, no one seemed bothered much at all.  Probably because in the past 5 years, we've been to the ER 10 times.  I have the plastic surgeon's number programmed into my cell phone.  I always call ahead in the hopes that he's on call (he's the best), and he usually is.

On the way to the hospital, I informed the injured party that he had officially earned the title of most trips to the ER (a total of 5).  He said, "that's not funny, Mom!"  I wasn't trying to be funny, just stating the facts.

All of our trips to the ER have been facial or head lacerations, except for my broken nose, and the time this same boy swallowed a penny in Hilton Head.  By the way, they have a beautiful, well-staffed hospital there, FYI.

Please don't think that I have taken any of these trips to the ER lightly.  It is a terrible thing to see your children hurt and each time I have wished I could switch places with them.  I am so grateful that these injuries have all been minor.

What are my Spring Break plans?  I have set the bar very low this year - as long as we don't make any more trips to the ER our vacation will be a success.

Language of Love

When the triplets were small, I was often asked if they had their own 'language', like many multiples do.  There wasn't a special verbal language between them, it was an unspoken connection that prompted them to move and work as a unit, almost like they could read each other's minds.

There have been a lot of cute variations on the English language, though, that have been spoken in our house, by all 5 kids.  For example:

• Cellaphone - cell phone
• Backaround - the background on my computer screen
• Limbo - short for limousine
• Bled - lead used in mechanical pencils
• 3 Stitches - a new movie about the Three Stooges, which is right up the triplets' alley
• Fat Jackets - winter coats
• Hanitizer - hand sanitizer, located in each of our vehicles, their snack and lunch boxes, and my handbag, because I never give up the battle of fighting germs
• Eye-tacts - contact lenses
• Magic Milk - milk and strawberry Quick, so named because it was the only way my first born would drink any milk at all, still the only way Triplet A drinks milk
• Blue-Eyed Buddies - the special club formed by our only 2 blue-eyed children

I'd love to hear some other families' favorites, if you'd like to share!