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April 27, 1999 During his recent visit, Mike and I took the boys for yet another equally significant, albeit far less painful type of trim: their first trip to the Barber. The boys were remarkably calm and relaxed for Becky the Barber (especially compared to how they were for Bob the Urologist) and are now--if you can imagine this--even more handsome than before. Poor little Sara has yet to have any of her hair cut. That's enough words for now. Look at the New Pictures March 31 , 1999 About Rude People: I'll warn you right now, I feel like complaining and so I'm going to. I've just about had it with certain types of people:
Pointers--and I don't mean the dogs (I like all dogs. I've rarely been insulted by a dog, and even then, it was probably an accident). This past Saturday, Jill and I took the babies to an outdoor citywide garage sale. We hadn't been there 30 seconds before some moron was pointing at the babies and excitedly saying "Look at them babies." I smiled my weakest "thanks for noticing but leave me the heck alone" smile and quickly moved in the opposite direction only to turn right in the path of yet another pointing moron. This one started pointing, jumping up and down, then started yelling "Honey, come here and look at them babies." "Honey" was far too engrossed in haggling over a priceless avocado green fondue pot to notice, so the guy just kept pointing and jumping in ever more loud and excited ways.At this point, I had had enough and decided to go to the car to wait for Jill to finish haggling over her avocado green fondue pot, or whatever she was buying. Secondly, is there nothing more clever than "You've got your hands full" for people to say? Some days, it takes all my self-control to keep from answering back "Yes, and since we're pointing out the obvious, you're rude and you've got a big butt." This is perhaps just a bit harsh, because I know most of the time people are just trying to be friendly, but my tolerance has become exhausted by the sheer repetition of that phrase. I suppose it is also because the phrase implies that the babies are an unfortunate burden. However, despite that raising multiples is a sometimes arduous task, we feel blessed every day and wouldn't trade it (or them) for all of Bill Gates' money, all the tea in China, or all of anything else. I suppose when someone actually says something that alludes that the babies are a blessing, it always comes as a pleasant surprise. I'm reminded of a wonderful encounter last summer where a nice man said numerous times in a melodious South African accent "Oh, how wonderful. God has blessed you three times." Third, there's a whole separate class of people that seem absolutely stupefied by the sight of multiples. Recently, Jill and I were taking the babies for a stroll through the park when the rather narrow path became blocked by a very stupid woman who had her bicycle turned sideways so we couldn't pass. She stood staring at us for several minutes before asking, "Are you the Smiths?" (a local couple with quads). After we said no, she continued to block the path as though she would move out of the way for Quads but not Triplets. Of course, it was difficult to resist asking her if she could count all the way to four because there were clearly only three babies in our stroller. Now, obviously not everybody's mother taught them that POINTING IS RUDE and I know that idiots are unavoidable, but I wonder what this type of attention will do to the poor babies' self-images. Fortunately, I know that babies learn to speak far before they learn tact, so within a very short time, rude people and other idiots will get back far more than they bargained for. I'm sure the babies will learn in a surprisingly short time to answer back to stupid questions long before we can teach them that pointing is rude and that it's not always nice to openly discuss people's shortcomings. Of course, when this happens, we'll just smile, shrug, and apologize, all the while being secretly amused that the idiots are getting what they deserve. All right, I'm through complaining--for now--and I promise to post some new pictures soon. And, as my brother says I always say: There you go. March 16, 1999 Perks:
For example, Starbucks should offer us free coffee; grocery stores, coupon values in relation to the number of multiples (triple value for triplets, double for twins, etc.); doctors, volume discounts; pharmaceutical companies, free tranquilizers...you get the idea. On the other hand, compared to regular first-time parents, we do have 3 times the tax deductions, so at least that's something. Despite our knowing that life isn't fair, I am not stopped from trying to, dare I say, USE the babies to my advantage. Here's a good example. The other day while home alone with the babies, I took them on an afternoon drive because they were fussy and having a hard time settling down for a nap. I took one of our regular baby drive routes down to Guthrie, then back. The babies settled down quickly and within minutes were all three purring away contentedly in their baby seats. Mere yards after I turned on to State Highway 33, I passed a Guthrie PD patrolman, who immediately turned on his lights and began to follow me. I wasn't sure why he had picked me, because I was only going 50 and, having seen no other speed limit signs, felt I was well within the bounds of the law. I'll readily admit that I am a flawed human with all the desires to seek pleasure and avoid pain which are common to humans. So, as soon as I saw those red lights in my rear view mirror I began to devise ways to get the officer not to write me a ticket. Immediately, a patently evil thought entered my mind. I figured that I could give the brakes just a slightly too hard nudge as I was stopping which would wake the babies hard enough so that at least 2 would begin crying. The officer would then notice that I was a poor, pitiful, man alone to care for triplets, take pity on me, and not write me a ticket. Fortunately, my better side prevailed and the babies were not awakened by my bringing the van to a stop. However, the officer could obviously tell by the deep lines in my face, bags under my bloodshot eyes, and general haggard demeanor, that I was someone who could use a break and did not give me a ticket for doing 53 in a 45. He didn't even notice the sleeping babes in the back. In other
news: We completed a 4-day trip to Alabama for Daddy Bush's 85th birthday party and everyone made the trip with no accidents, traumas, tantrums, or bad vibes--that is if you don't count me. Seriously, it was a very pleasant trip and Jill and I have proved to ourselves that we can actually travel with the babies and therefore may try to take a vacation sometime before their 18th birthday. |