My wife’s friend (let’s just call her Anne) has triplets and the trio is as old as my daughter, J.
During our recent hometown trip, we caught up with Anne and let the kids mingle among themselves while we adults engaged in conversation.
We shared stories and one topic that was unavoidable was parenting. Imagine you have to take care of not one but three babies simultaneously. There’s a lot to learn from Anne.
I thought Anne was like any other ordinary mother who is submissive to children’s wishes.
Lucky for her. She is not.
She is pretty firm, I must say. And I am happy she is.
If she is not, things would have gotten out of hand for sure.
She is firm on things that are important. And yet, she is lenient on things that are not so critical.
When it comes to attitude and behavior and discipline, Anne gives no leeway to her triplets.
I can see it for myself that her 3 children are polite and well-behaved.
One story that stood out among the others is when she talked about sharing among her triplets.
For most parents, we tend to make sure everyone gets their share during shopping. That means every child gets one item if we are going to buy something.
Not for Anne. She only buys things that are in need. If Trio #1 needs a pair of shoes, Trio #2 and Trio #3 will get nothing. Anne will not buy things just to please them.
Good job.
Also, the triplets must learn how to share. Here’s where Anne gave me a good parenting lesson.
If the trio ever gets into a fight over one toy (one, not three), Anne will take away the toy and explain to them:
“If this toy creates tension and unhappiness among you three, it shows that this toy is BAD. Three of you were born on the same day and have been living together ever since. It’s not worth it to have your relationships strained over one toy. We’d better give it away or throw it away so all of you can be together happily.”
Most of the time, the triplets get to keep the toy because they’d rather learn to share among themselves than to lose the toy.
Wonderful lesson.
After talking to her, I have found many similarities in her style of parenting as much as in mine – which I share in The Nonconformist’s Guide to Parenting.
If this has the triplets under control for Anne, imagine what it can do for you.
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