My Diary of Triplet Fatherhood

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.