For any of those singleton moms out there who say triplets are the same as having any 3 kids in school, the big projects are what prove that to be false. We just finished a marathon of clothespin dolls and houses. But first we had to show our geneology to the kids so they could pick something from our past to make their doll represent.

Is this like a bandaid, that you should just try to get all 3 done at once, or is it better to sit down 3 separate times--once with each child to get the project done? Frankly I'm glad to be done, though in a perfect world I would have had time to enjoy doing it with one kid at a time.

I did them all together for 2 main reasons....didn't want to have to clean up the mess 3 times. Didn't want to have a fight over who got to do theirs first....whose turned out better because I had already figured it out with the 1st kids....didn't want to have it take even more time out of our already busy schedule.

What do you do when a big project comes around???

Andi
g/b/g
triplets in 2nd grade

Mine won't let me partcipate. They are insane crafters and we have a whole wall of cabinets devoted to their crafting supplies. I would say doing it all together is the way to go. Mine start on projects before I even know what they are doing. It's like, SLOW DOWN. Gosh.

What do I do when a big project comes around, you ask? Well. I go to the fridge and crack open a bottle of Chardonnay. And then...

No, not really.

Actually, we just got done with some weather projects. Totally time consuming and frustrating at times, but they did a great job.

I usually sit down with all three, set them up with everything they need, go online and get the info they need, they write rough drafts on index cards and then I leave them alone. Which doesn't last for long because someone always wants some help, but yeah. I have to really gear up and focus to knock these projects out especially if we want them done nicely.

And it always cracks me up when buddies of mine from school complain about these projects. With their ONE kid! LOL!

What's worked for us is to not wait to the last minute. That would be pure hell.

My problem was fighting the urge to micromanage. What's funny (to me, anyway) is that I'm anal-retentive and had to learn to step back last year when volunteering at the school. Wrangling bottles of glue and glitter while instructing 10-20 kids at a time was daunting, but it taught me that my kids' projects are theirs, not mine.

I'd do all 3 at a time and just "float" between them as they need help or instruction. The only things that I do separately are writing or reading assignments.

Loren
GGG Jan.2005 @ 28wks

Sweetened Taters - http://sweetenedtaters.blogspot.com

Having 3 singletons and triplets, I have to say it can be easier in some ways, harder in some ways but mostly it really is the same.

To me it's more difficult only because the temptation is to have them all work together, but the right thing to do of course is to have each child do their own work. In the case of an independent project like this, I set them up separately so they are doing it themselves and not looking at what the others are doing. This can be difficult but to me it's essential. If necessary they take turns at the kitchen table. They do all their own work. This includes all planning, research, figuring out how to do it and cleanup. They come to an adult only if they really need help. If the project is specified to be done WITH a parent, obviously we would do that, but we haven't had that come up since Pre-K.

Kari S.

Mom to BBB 21, 18, 14
BBG 9/25/01