Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The things that people say....good grief.



  • "I'm glad I'm not you."

  • "You've sure got your hands full (negative tone of voice)."

  • "What did you do, just decide to have a litter and get it over with?" (well, let's see...cats and dogs have litters of things...I am a person...to my knowledge people do not give birth to litters...they give birth to people).

  • "Did you plan to have triplets on purpose?"

  • "Was this natural?" (most people do not realize this, but this is a very personal question to ask a complete stranger in public)

  • "That one is the cutest one of the whole bunch (as if the other two are not cute)."

  • "Are you gonna have any more kids? I bet in a couple of months, I'll see you and you'll tell me you're pregnant again. Then, you'll really be miserable with four kids." (when I answer 'no' I am not planning on having a fourth child, then people assume that I do not want the three children that I have, or that I am not happy with them).

  • "Your kids will just take over and you will be miserable and not have any time or space for yourself."

  • "It's only going to get worse. Just wait until they..... (fill in the blank...start crawling...start walking...start on solid foods, etc.)"

  • "When I was up late at night with my twins screaming and crying, all I could do was thank God that I did not have triplets."

Believe it or not, all of the above comments are ones that Chad and I have heard from acquaintances and strangers in public. No, I'm not kidding, and yes, people really do say things like that! Sometimes, it is hard to have a polite answer to the out of line questions people ask and the statements that they make. Some people genuinely have no clue about triplets (I still have no clue about triplets, and yet I have them) and are just curious and mean well by the questions that they ask. But, it seems that others are looking for the negative and are just trying to be mean. It is difficult to continue to be polite to people that say things like that, but I am learning. Unless someone is a close friend or family member, they cannot possibly know what goes on in our house at any given time. So far, what is going on here is happy, joyful, hilarious, fun CHAOS! :o) I have three babies in my house (finally)! They ARE taking over the house, and I am glad! Chad and I built this house just hoping that one day we would have at least one child to fill these walls with laughter. The house was built for FAMILY. Gus, Kate and Claire have a nursery with baby beds and a closet for their clothes (their room used to be a sparsely decorated guest room) . They also have two different closets that are for extra supplies (these closets used to be the linen closet and empty guest room closet, but not anymore). And just yesterday, I converted my boring old sitting/family room that is just off of my kitchen area into Gus, Kate and Claire's play area, which I loved doing...


Sure, sometimes the days are hard when the babies are having difficulty eating or if they are just having an old fashioned "fussy" day. But, that's just life with babies. They fuss, they cry...it's the only way that they have to communicate and it is nothing personal against me when they do these things. But, even on the difficult days, Chad and I have never been happier. Every day, I thank God that He did not listen to me when I said I just wanted A baby. He had something so much better in store. He gave me a Gus, a Kate and a Claire. I cannot imagine life without any one of them.


Having said all of that, most people (including those of you who are still keeping up with the babies) have so many sweet and positive things to say...things like:



  • "I am still praying for those babies."

  • "I bet that you are having so much fun."

  • "I don't know how you ever get anything done. I would just sit and look at the babies all day."

  • "You are blessed times three."

  • "I am so happy for you."

  • "They are so cute and sweet."

  • "Treasure every minute, because before you know it, they won't be babies any more."

  • "I cannot wait until Spring when I can come see those babies and get my hands on them!"

  • "You just thought that this Christmas was fun...just wait 'til next year!!"

  • "It just gets better and better."

Those are the comments that Chad and I hang on to...those are the comments that mean something. So, if you have said something to me or to Chad that is along those lines, THANK YOU for being such a sweet source of encouragement to us. You make us SMILE! :o)


I attached a picture of Gus, Kate and Claire's new play area. As I said, they ARE taking over the house and Chad and I LOVE it! :o) The area is still not quite completely decorated yet (thus the squirt bottle of non-toxic furniture dusting spray on the shelf), but I am working on it as I have a spare minute.


Enjoy your day!


We love you!


Leslie, Chad, Gus, Kate and Claire



2 comments:

Jill Hardin said...

Now that is a play room!

Sarah and the rest of the family said...

I, too, have heard such ugly comments from people who talk before they think. One time I was asked how we ended up with three at once, and it had been a rough day, and that lady caught me at an "off" time. As she pushed for personal details, I finally told her "We did it three times in one night!" She blushed, poofed out her cheeks in disgust, and stormed away. As embarrasing as it was for her to hear that, I just don't understand why people think it's appropriate to ask (or make assumptions) about my sex life just because I was blessed with triplets.

When people say, "Better you than me," I look at them and say "You are right!" Once when people start ogling, Will looked at them and said, "Yeah, they're triplets. Mama already knows her hands are full, you don't have to tell her again." That was one of my favorites.

Enjoy your three!