My Diary of Triplet Fatherhood

Day two was hard work but we saw good progress. Mind you, I was exhausted by the end of it.

Even with both J and I there it was seriously hard at times to keep up with girls’ ‘needs’. Each wee (there havn’t been any no poos yet) required either J or I to first sweep talk whoever it was off to the potty then talk them through pulling their knickers down and sitting down, offer encouragement if they were finding it frustrating or boring waiting for their wee to come then finally shower praise, help them wipe themselves with a tissue, take them to wash their hands, let them choose a gold star (or red heart if no wee had come) and stick it on the star chart then, finally, to take the potty upstairs to empty into the toilet and wash out. All while helping the others with whatever stage they happened to be at.

Still, despite feeling run ragged by the end of the day, we did manage to keep on top of both helping the girls use their potties and clean up accidents. We even managed to have a few meals, too.

And the girls all did fantastically well. All three had managed to use their potties by the end of the day, and even when there were accidents we never had any tears.

The only difficulty was that Scarlett found it a bit more difficult than either Evie or Jem. So much so that by lunchtime she was asking to have a nappy back on. At the time I found this surprising. She’s always been the most focussed on doing grown up things – dressing herself, doing her shoes, drinking from cups without lids – and was showing off her ability to wee in the bath months ago (”Done a wee wee! Done a wee wee on Evie’s foot!”), so I expected her to hit the ground running. On the day, though, I think the pressure got to her. She just couldn’t go for a long time despite spending much long periods sitting there trying her hardest. Poor thing. She has a tendency towards anxiousness. Still, I was really proud of her determination. By the afternoon she also had a gold star up there with her sisters’.

In fact it was Evie who took to her potty with the greatest ease. By 9am, he was able to tell us when a wee was coming and do great big ones straight after sitting down. Sure, she still had a few accidents but only when distracted (damn you, Lego!). Maybe that was also an worry thing. Evie tends more towards obliviousness than anxiousness so probably felt little stage fright.

It was probably better that way round. If Evie can’t do something she generally tends to lose interest while Scarlett will work and work at things she has trouble with until she gets them right.

Today was even better. Not a single ‘accident’ (as our potty training in a week book so euphemistically puts it). Lost of new gold stars on the star chart. Growing confidence all round – including for J and me. I think we’re managing to maintain the right balance between encouragement and inducing stage fright.

Our only concern is that no one’s managed to do a poo yet. Everyone holding their bowels until the lunchtime nap. Within minutes of leaving the room I was back in to change all three nappies. Still, it’s early days yet and I couldn’t have asked for more from them.

Tomorrow… our first trip out. We’re all going to Jo Jingles, the girls weekly music and movement class. Hopefully all that singing and dancing won’t have the Lego effect.

I call it “day one” but we only really started at four in the afternoon. The two hours before bath time were a scary enough prospect. We’re saving a whole day of it for tomorrow. As it happened, the girls did great, all sitting nicely on their three little potties, all lined up in the dining room while J read them The Gruffalo.

That’s right. You guessed it. This week we’re potting training triplets!

J and I have both taken the week off work. We have a several bumper packs of cheap knickers. The rugs are rolled up and away in the spare room. A huge, pink “big grown-up girls’ super star chart” decorated with glitter, pompoms and feathers hangs on the wall. You might almost be fooled into thinking J and I were prepared when in fact were both terrified. Funny really – it’s not supposed to be the parents who are pooing their pants during potty training.

Evie, Tettie and Jem, on the other hand, are taking it al in their stride. The star chart already has a few gold stars on it for successful wees and poos they’ve managed to do during the morning and evening practice runs we’ve instituted over the last few weeks, together with lots of the shiny, red heart stickers the girls get when they sit on the potty for more than a few minutes.

And tonight, following the excitement of choosing and putting on the big girl knickers they”ve been coveting since we bought them a week or so ago, not only did all three girls got a new shiny, red heart on their section of the chart, but Evie and Jem got big, gold stars, too. I’ve never been so proud of anyone for doing a wee before. Or ever.

I just hope that the rest of the week goes so swimmingly.