Look on the bright side...

Last night my daughter asked me, "what do you call someone who always looks at the bright side of things?"  I said, of course, "an optimist".  "And what's the opposite?" she asked.  "A pessimist."  I asked her, already knowing the answer, "what are you?"  "An optimist!"  Thinking I knew what she'd say, I also asked, "what do you think I am?"  She answered honestly, "it depends".  Ouch. 

My mantra is, "it could always be worse", so I definitely consider myself an optimist.  But as a dear friend of mine often responds when I say that, "but does it have to be this bad?"  Sometimes, I think it does, for us to appreciate the good.  The more blessings we have in life, the more responsibilities, and the more potential for things to go wrong.

I truly believe I look at things from the "glass half full" perspective, rather than "half empty", but it'd sure be easier if my glass stopped getting knocked over!

Yay Me!

Last night was our PTA's annual tricky tray fundraiser, the social event of the year in our town.  I've been going every year for the past ten years with my mom and before last night, I had only won one prize.  Free religious ed classes - I was thrilled, but my oldest was plenty disappointed that he waited up til 11:00 for that big news.

We have some pretty impressive gift baskets - tickets to Disney, tvs, Ipads, Ipods, designer handbags, spa treatments.  I won a 10 piece Cuisinart Cookware Set.  I'm pretty sure my mom and I were the only one who put tickets in that box, and she may have given the cookware to me anyway if she had won, because that's how she rolls.  Crazy generous, my mom is!

Anyway, it may have been the white wine, but I was pretty excited!  I texted my daughter:  "Tell everyone I won a ten piece cookware set!  Yay me!"  An hour later I hadn't heard back from her so I texted again:  "Did you get my text that I won pots?"  Her response:  "Yeah nice!"

When we got home, my husband was a little more excited, at least he opened the box and had a look at them.  Over breakfast I asked the other kids what they thought of my prize.  Triplet A - "Can I have the bow?"  My oldest - "You could've at least won a Coach bag".

Yeah, not me.  Just a set of pots.  Pretty much sums up who I am.   But at least I won SOMETHING!  Guess I'm easy to please.

What Was That Noise?!?!?

There is constant noise in my house when the kids are home, kind of like a beehive.  But sometimes the noise is a little more urgent, and I can tell that something's been broken or someone's been hurt badly.

Here's a list of some of the things my kids have accidentally broken:

• a brand new 60" TV, just out of the box and hooked up - weapon of choice, a Wii remote
• a beautiful ceramic tile, a souvenier from a loved-one's trip to Spain - weapon of choice, a softball
• a seatbelt in our truck - weapon of choice, a silly band (green, so we think we know who did it)
• a CD player - the triplets were babies and one of them pulled it down, causing it to spark, while his brother happily shouted "more more fireworks!"
• too many picture frames to count
• too many window blinds to count
• a laptop
• 2 DS's - one belonging to their old brother, one not even 24 hours after Santa delivered it
• an antique vase of priceless sentimental value
• my nose - weapon of choice, our back door

Now before you judge, please keep in mind that there are 5 kids in this house, so this much damage is more likely than in other houses, and this is over an 8 year period.

For the most part, the culprit is usually caught and punished.  But sometimes we just can't get them to rat on the offender.  They either say that none of them did it, or the dog did it, or the big brother did it.  Never the sister though, no one ever blames her.  Too afraid of feeling her wrath, I believe!

Most of my precious breakables are safely (fingers crossed!) inside a glass curio, while the rest are still packed away, like my wedding China.  Maybe I'll finally unpack it when I have grandchildren - I probably won't be as mad when they break my things!

"To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children.  Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others."  Pope John Paul II

AHA!  I think I've just figured out the answer to all the problems in our house!  I'm the only servant!

All kidding aside, because I have the greatest respect for Pope John Paul, I completely understand what he meant.  We should all serve and help each other to be a well-functioning family.  Just try explaining that to a 15 year old who sees chores as a punishment.  Or a 13 year old who's tired of helping with her little brothers (who can blame her).  Or telling an 8 year old who has shared everything with his brothers since the womb, to share his new toy with his brothers.

I know my kids don't understand now, but this is one of the main reasons I bring them to church.  I want them to know that we serve something greater than ourselves, or even each other.  That it is our responsibility while we're on God's good earth to make it a better place and live our lives as honest, respectable people.   I especially want them to know how important it is to cherish your family and to always support each other.

Religion is a difficult thing for a young child to grasp.  My little guys are preparing for their first holy communion, so I'm glad they've been asking questions for the past few years.  Things like "why does Jesus where those flipflops?"  And "is there a mailbox in heaven so you can write letters to people after they die?"  Now they are anticipating receiving the "holy cracker" in the spring.

Next, I hope to teach them to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".  Wonder how that will go...

Thanks, But No Thanks

I still haven't sent out thank you cards for the triplets' birthday party in November.  Or maybe I should be more honest and say I'm not going to.   The window of opportunity has probably passed.  Three months - probably people have forgotten that I didn't send a thank you.  I certainly don't want to remind them now of how long it took me to get around to it. 

I had good intentions of sending thank yous.  I even have the cards made just for kids where they fill in the blanks:  "Dear _______, thank for the awesome _____________, Your Friend, __________."  Or something along those lines.  Three blanks to fill in, seems easy, but you know, for us that's 3 X 3 X however many gifts there were, and it all gets overwhelming.

Maybe I should have done them right away, but between November and December I have all 5 kids birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, holiday parties, birthday parties.  Things get a little hectic.

I strongly believe in the good character it shows to send out thank yous, but I also know what I do (and probably most of you do, too) when my own kids receive a thank you card.  I read it and recycle it right away. 

So I want today's blog to express my gratitude to all the people who took the time to buy my boys thoughtful gifts and sent their kids to our party.  Your gift was very much appreciated and enjoyed and I hope you will excuse my bad manners.

I remain,
scatteredmomof5
XOXO

Morning Pee Times Three

"Morning pee x 3" - that's the note I left myself last night so I'd remember to collect the triplets' urine samples for their yearly checkup at the pediatrician today.  I started thinking back to doctor visits with the three of them over the years.

I must admit the first few years of their lives are a bit of a blurry memory to me.  I remember their early doctor visits being the only time they ever left the house.  Three heart monitors, three infant car seats, one large diaper bag - their two older siblings coming along for the adventure.  My husband and I would start a production line - he would undress one baby to begin his exam, then start undressing the next, I'd hand the first guy back to be re-dressed and one of our doctor's amazing staff members would take the boys as they finished being examined and give them bottles so we could finish up with the others. 

Shot time was a nightmare - their doctor would come in with 2 nurses and 6 needles ready to go (at one particularly memorable visit, they received 3 shots each).  Three screaming babies, five sweating adults. Forget flu shot time when all 5 kids go at the same time, all afraid of needles.

We'd weigh and measure, so excited when they finally made it onto the charts to even be compared to their peers to find which percentile they were in.  Tiny little boys with big personalities, reaching all of their milestones late - my husband and I so relieved when they finally rolled, crawled, walked, talked. 

With our first two kids, percentiles were so important to us.  He was consistently 75th percentile, she was consistently 25th percentile.  I read "What to Expect - The Toddler Years" every month to be sure they were where they were supposed to be.  With the triplets, I quickly got rid of the book - it was clearly not going to apply to this situation.  There were no books to tell us what to expect, so we took their development one day at a time.

At their last yearly checkup, two were average height and weight, one is in the 75th percentile.  What a cause for celebration!  They are little fighters - I think back to when they were first born, so tiny and fragile in their incubators.  I would sit in a rocker beside them, thinking ahead to when they were all running around laughing and playing together.  I try to always keep those early, uncertain days in mind so that I am sure to appreciate the crazy beehive our house is today.

The Heart of Valentine's Day

I find Valentine's Day to be a really strange 'holiday'.  I think the people who enjoy it the most are kids 10 and under and new couples.  While I was at the Shoprite today, I heard a few people wish each other a happy Valentine's Day - odd to me.

My 8 year old triplets think it's great - they decorated Valentine boxes for school and wrote out Valentines for their classes.  We attached a lollipop to each card, even though you're not supposed to send in candy because of food allergies.  The problem with that is if you are a parent who follows the rules, then your kid is looked at like a cheapskate for just giving out cards.  There are also always a few moms who put the rest of us to shame by making little Valentine goodie bags for their kid's classmates.  No way am I doing that for 75 kids, no matter how much my boys beg!

For a new couple, Valentines Day can make or break their relationship.  Young women are conditioned to want candy and flowers, a romantic card and dinner.  I've seen desperate men of all ages standing wide-eyed in the card aisle realizing that picking the right card is going to seal their fate for the rest of February.

My mother told me today that Valentine's Day annoys her.  I get it.  Practical, grown-up women realize that it's an over-hyped tradition - restaurants are crowded and rushed, roses are over-priced, candy is no good for us.  Sometimes we even tell our husbands not to waste their money.  We really don't mean it - who doesn't love flowers and a mushy card?

Then I think of my 88 year old grandmother on Valentines Day, her sweetheart long gone.  And single friends who can't help but feel like they're missing something.  Or mothers like me, who tonight will be doing the same things we do every other school night - homework, carting kids to activities, making dinner.

A few years ago, when all of the kids were finally in school full time, my honey and I finally seemed to find the right balance for Valentines Day.  We have a nice, leisurely lunch at a local restaurant and spend the afternoon together.  After school, we greet our 5 sweethearts with candy and dinner at home with a special dessert.  For me, that's the meaning of Valentines Day - spending it with my family who truly fill my heart with love and happiness.