three times …

Lately one down side to reading is that after four years, we seem to have read them all. Sure, the kids still have old favorites that we read again and again, but when we go to the library it seems like all the recommended reading books or award winners are checked out. We struggle to find books that the children truly enjoy. Over the past few months, in part on my own and in part on recommendations from friends, I have found some great books for preschoolers that I don’t perceive as being in the mainstream, which makes it easier to find them at the library or on Amazon.com. I don’t think any of them have won awards, but they are really great books that we have enjoyed, nonetheless. So I have put together this list in the hopes that any of you who are looking for a good read with your little ones might find a few that you enjoy. And if you have additions to the list, I’d love to hear them!

1. Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This is a darling book about a little pea who doesn’t want to eat his candy for dinner. My son loves to make the sounds of the little pea eating each piece of candy.

2. The Empty Pot by Demi. A great story about honesty and “being comfortable in your own skin.” Introduces kids to a less popular type of illustration and gives parents a chance to talk with kids about integrity, honesty, and developing character.

3. Night House, Bright House by Monica Wellington. A less popular book from a fairly well-known author, this is a cute little book about bedtime is a classic pleaser.

4. Going to Sleep on the Farm by Wendy Lewison. A fun book about how each animal on the farm says goodnight. What kid doesn’t like barnyard sounds? Of course, a great going-to-bed or taking a nap book.

5. Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. A clever book about an animal that outsmarts other forest creatures to keep himself from being eaten by them. I am not sure that my four-year-olds truly understood the story, but they loved the pictures and loved the repetition (because when it repeats they get to “read along”)

6. The Monster Who Ate My Peas by Danny Schnitzlein. Like Little Pea, this book focuses on a picky eater, but beware, it isn’t nearly as “cute.” The pictures might even be considered a little bit gross, which is why my four-year old boys LOVED it. It’s about a boy who gets approached at the dinner table by a monster who offers to eat the child’s peas in exchange for the boy giving up something valuable, like dessert. Multiple times the monster approaches the boy, and it is fun to see his response.

7. Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak. I realize that this is a popular book, but I am not suggesting the book by itself. You’ve got to try the book that comes with a tape/CD. Instead of just reading the words, the book-on-CD sets the words to a catchy song. We stumbled on this by accident when looking for this book (but it was checked-out, of course), and the local library had it in this format. My children loved singing along (and dancing, for that matter). And learning the months of the year is a bonus. A wonderful way to enjoy a classic.

8. There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent. A great little tale about a mom who doesn’t belief her little boy when he tells her there is a dragon in the house, even when the dragon grows larger and larger right in front of their eyes.

HAPPY READING!

Right now, hand’s down the biggest challenge of raising triplets is the noise level.  I mean seriously, am I raising zoo animals or children?  The noise can be deafening at times – from shrieks and screams to the not-so-low din of continual four-year-old chatter.

Perhaps my intolerance is partly from my upbringing.  After all, I was raised in a family with two children – me, and my brother who is nearly five years older than I am.  By junior high my brother was away at college and my house was pretty much, well, silent.

Even if you don’t have triplets, I am sure you can nonetheless relate. Have you ever let your four-year-old child have not just one — but two friends over?  Whatever noise one child makes, three children can make, well, three times the noise.

So I did a little research on the internet, hoping to find a solution to the question, “How can you encourage your four-year-old to play more quietly?”  Surely, I thought, parents before my time and scholars through the ages have dealt with this issue.  Let me tell you what I came up with – nothing.  A big fat zero.  Apparently no one else has encountered this situation except for me. So now I am venting to you.  And just in case you have suffered from preschool noise overload on occasion, here are a few of my coping techniques:

First: At the risk of sounding a little silly, I try to actually listen to the noise.  I have to confess that I previously felt like all noise above a certain decibel level was “naughty.”  Now before I rush in to calm the seas I listen carefully to what the kids are doing.  Are they loud because they are misbehaving, or are those squeals of delight?  Are they suffering from the famous Seinfeld “loud-talkers” syndrome, simply forgetting that they are indoors?  If it’s angry, whiny noise, then I interfere.  Putting them in separate rooms for a little while or switching activities usually calms everyone down.

What I have discovered, though, is that more often than not, they aren’t doing what they shouldn’t, they simply just can’t help the noise.  What any one child does with a minimal amount of noise – say, play with action figures or dolls — sounds loud when three kids do it at once.  Especially the laughing.  I have actually eavesdropped on some pretty great play time since I started doing this, like the time the kids put clean underwear on over their pajamas and on their heads and were playing “Nacho Libre” and cracking themselves up reciting lines from the movie. (I’ll have to address any issues that flow from letting my four-year-olds watch that film that in a later blog).  That I took the time to actually recognize what was going on made the noise more bearable.  And sometimes I do remind them to use quieter voices, but really, can I expect them all to speak in hushed tones all day long?  I realize in retrospect that this is a basic, simple concept that the average mom has already mastered, but apparently I am a slow learner.

Next: Since the kids have grown out of naps, we have also instituted a “quiet time.”  Every day for an hour or so the kids “get” to sit on the couch and do something quiet, i.e. read a book or watch a show, or just rest.  Since we don’t watch a ton of TV otherwise, they really like it on the days we pick a movie to watch.  Usually I snuggle them up in a blanket, and the rule is that they aren’t allowed to speak above a whisper.  You might think to yourself, “Why don’t you have them sit at the table and color, or play play-doh or something?”  The Answer, well, see above.  What one child can do quietly and independently three kids do loudly and with more supervision needed.  Picture, for example, markers being used to color a beautiful picture for about ten minutes, then being stacked up like a pyramid while the other siblings crash them down onto the wooden table using various nefarious means – a kitchen spoon, another marker, a wadded up piece of paper, etc. Can you hear the clatter?  (You get my drift, eh?)  While I check in on them occasionally, of course, it gives me a chance to enjoy a little afternoon solitude and rejuvenate myself for the evening – after all, from the time our oldest son gets home from school until after dinner, the house will be hectic and non-stop.

Last, but not least, counter-noise is helpful.  You know, my iPod with one-ear-plug-in-one-ear-plug-out has become my new best friend.  I can enjoy grown-up sounds while I am doing dishes, but have an ear free just in case the latest pirate expedition gets lost or the princess breaks her crown.

And then at eight o’clock, it’s bedtime. I love bedtime, because after bedtime, it’s really calm.  And though sometimes it takes me a while to unwind, there’s nothing like cuddling with my sweetheart and a good book, in silence.

So I’m spending time trying to fill out some of the resources, etc. for this blog and ran across this GREAT list of the top ten WORST gifts (this one is great too).  I love reading stuff like this, because it makes me feel like a slightly better husband.  I mean, my gifts certainly aren’t as bad as those in the article are they?  Sandy?  Well, I’m going to choose to believe they aren’t … if that’s OK.

There are quite a few gifts that mention “re-gifting”, which reminded me of one of our favorite wedding gifts.  We received a gift from good friends of mine that was given with an explanation of how much they thought we would enjoy this particular item.  I mean they really went on about it, about how much they had looked and really just felt that this would be a great thing for us.  Well, upon opening the gift we found a card from the individual who had originally given the gift to our friends.  Ouch.  We’ve been married for 11 years now and have never mentioned this to our friends, hopefully they don’t read this (or if they do, please read this as well)!

“… the first post is the hardest … ” or something like that.  Welcome to our blog!  We hope you find something useful or entertaining or at least helpful here.  Sandy and I have been parents for eight years, and parents of triplets for just over four.  While parenting can be challenging at times, we love it and wouldn’t trade it for anything.  We definitely aren’t experts at this whole thing, but I think we have learned a few tricks and helpful shortcuts that have made life a bit easier.  We’ll try to share those as well as anything else that might be of interest.

Having triplets might be three times the work, but it can also be three times the reward!

Above is our 2006 Christmas card shot to give you an idea of who we are.