You have to be a Nazi.

I’d like to elaborate more on nap training. Man, if this doesn’t kill me, nothing will. I don’t think any part of being a new mom to triplets has overwhelmed me as much as this. Probably because now it’s my responsibility to do something about it, rather than blame their behavior on their newborn status. Now that I’m in charge, I suddenly feel all helpless. The books to help  a little, but they still don’t know my babies, and what I can take. I knew the babies were changing, and I knew our routine had to also

Lately we have been in what I’d consider an age appropriate system. It worked alright, and semi-comfortably for me, knowing that this was just a stage and things would change soon. It probably just felt okay since it was better than before. They go to bed without crying, and that was quite an accomplishment to me. So I held off a little bit doing anything else so I could revel in a little success until I had to go to work again.

Enter nap training. Before today I felt completely incompetent for this job. It’s not as easy as nighttime to me, since they have to eat soon, and would surely cry until that time. I read, re-read, and re-read the chapters in the books on naps, and just felt overwhelmed with information, yet felt like nothing was answered. I’d start each day full of resolve and a new idea, feeling like what we tried the day before clearly didn’t work. And by about 9 am my nerves were always shot, and I felt like a failure all over again.  I know there are multiples groups out there, and blog after blog featuring triplets. But I don’t love support groups, and it just seemed like something else I don’t have time for. I remembered my sister Amber mentioning a friend that had triplets and had them trained to sleep through the night by 8 weeks. She said she would be happy to talk to me anytime. But she only intimidated me, and made me quite jealous to tell you the truth, so I put that on the back burner.

Well, it was moved to the front today when I got to a point where I just couldn’t take the high maintenance babies who need constant rocking/patting/holding, or the uncertainty of what I supposed to do any longer. So I called Amber, who gave me a number. But before I even had a chance to think about calling her, I got a call from Holly herself. What a wonder woman. She made me feel so empowered, and  gave me strict instructions on what to do, guaranteeing that in a few weeks I’ll have a different life. This is more my way 0f learning that reading books. Word of mouth instructions have always been more appealing to me that reading it on a piece of paper. I’ll have to post the schedule we are sticking to sometime. Maybe as soon as it’s up and running for sure. But Holly told me I have to be a Nazi and to not let anybody or anything get in my way.  And that I will do. Yes, the babies have been screaming as I write this, and it’s breaking my heart, but I know I am doing what is right in the long run. Here is a picture of their cute but sad splotchy faces after a long bout of crying, the poor dears.

I wish I could just always  know what to do. It’s hard to admit that you don’t know what you are doing. Something which I’ve had to do many times since becoming not only a first time parent, but one of triplets. Humility is being learned for sure. I know my great love for these babies will only grow as they learn to sleep and give me a break from the daily grind we’ve been living. It’s just time for some serious changes around here. I’ll probably be listening to my ipod, or vacuuming a lot more in the days to come, but hopefully soon the home will be silent for several hour everyday during which I can get back into some of my hobbies on hiatus. On enjoy a long shower, nap, or movie without interruptions. I’m going to stick to this plan and hope to report success in the near future.

So, since there isn’t too much time for lots of playing while we’re nap-training-minded, here are some recent picks to hold you over. 

And btw, KC’s sister Camille came to visit last weekend. We were all sad to see her go.