Triple The Dad

The triplets turned 2-years old recently. People often ask me how we manage (we get less "I'd kill myself" now, which is nice) and what it is like to be a Dad to triplets.  This number sums it up: 13,000 diapers in two years.  My wife and I and essentially one other person have changed 13,000 diapers over the course of the last two years. That is what it is like. And 13,000 probably falls on the conservative side. I arrived at 13,000 based on 6 diapers per day per kid for 730 days.  With potty training under way we are probably edging closer to 5 diapers per day or even 4 in some cases, but throw in a random pootastrophe here and changes during said training there and 6 per kid isn't unreasonable.  There was a time when we easily changed 8 or 10 per child per day.  Probably hit 12 on numerous occasions. 13,000 diapers.  And we are almost two months past their birthday now, so lets just throw another 1,000 onto that pile.  Why not?  14...

One small step for Rand; one big step for independence. "No, No, No.  Me," my son says as he tries to span a gap that seems impossibly large for his little, flip-flop clad feet. "Alright, son, I'm just minding the gap." As much as the refutation of my help hurt on some level, I loved his independence in this moment.  Of course there was a chance he would get hurt.  He was three feet up on a metal play set crossing a gap he probably had no business crossing. To me, this was a prime position for him to lose balance, topple over and bang his head on the metal play set.  Probably multiple times.  Have I mentioned its metal? He wobbled and my hand reflexively grasped at his shirt. Again the words came, this time with a swipe at my shirt-filled hand; the turn required for this rejection of Daddy unbalanced him more than anything he had done. "No, No, No." "Ok.  I'm just here for you if you fall." Of course, if he fell, I...

My wife pointed out that my previous post about fearing my kids probably wasn’t accurate.  I think she is correct.  Don’t go back and read it.  It wasn’t my best work.  Most of the best stuff made its way here. I don’t really fear my kids.  Fear isn’t the proper word. When I’ve been up late the night before and work has kicked my butt and my eyes are struggling to stay open and I’m still staring at 3 or 4 hours of 3-against-1 odds it isn’t fear I’m feeling.  Instead it’s a sense of just how daunting the task ahead is. Daunting. That sums it up. The odds are bad enough.  As the first sonogram revealed one, and maybe 2, embryos, my wife turned to me and asked: “are you OK with that, honey?”  I said “yeah, I just don’t want to be outnumbered.  Man-to-man coverage is fine, I just don’t want to play zone.” Famous last words and all because of course a week later we learned that one grainy black-and-white image migh...

Is the whole Miley Cyrus thing played out yet?  I’ve seen takes on the topic regarding slut shaming, race, rape, and pretty much everything in between.  It isn’t played out yet?  Good; because I have something to say about as it relates to fatherhood. @MegMeeker recently posted an article in which she blames Billy Ray Cyrus (BRC) for whatever that was Miley did on stage.  In it, she decries BRC’s attitude toward parenting: mostly that he cooks hot dogs and plays games with Miley and leaves the discipline up to his wife.  She goes on to say that “ What happened on stage several nights ago shows what happens to young girls who have no fatherly influence. ”  But that isn’t right.  At no point does the quote above indicate that BRC doesn’t exert a “fatherly influence” on Miley.  In fact, cooking dinner and playing games with a daughter is exactly what constitutes a fatherly influence.  More fathers should be doing those things...

Bounce childhood obesity from your child's life. This is, of all the Tuesday Trip Tips I've posted, probably my favorite so far.  It's the Little Tykes Jump 'N Slide Dry Slide.  We just call it the Bounce House. And the kids love it. While its recommended for ages 3+, as you can see here our 2+ year old triplets love it.  It isn't the type to toy they spend hours with, but what toy is at 2-years old?  And the time they do spend on it is frantic, frenetic, toddler tiring explosion of exertion.  Want 15 minutes of "alone" time?  Blow this up and let the kids go wild.  You can literally sit in a chair nearby and relax. The instructions claim the "heavy duty blower" inflates this thing in a minute, and to both my wife and I's amazement, it really does.  The blower also comes with a long enough cord to allow you to place the bounce house what I would imagine are most locations without having to rewire electricity to your entire yard. ...