I’d never heard this phrase before, but the second my friend mentioned it to me, I understood it with clarity. It goes something like this:
One boy is one boy. Two boys are half a boy. Three boys are no boy at all.
It sums up the challenges of raising more than one boy in the family. As if I needed proof, recently T2 was snoozing one afternoon (seeing as he’d been up at 5am causing me sleep torture again – this was before we tried the GroClock) and T1 was wide awake and following me around the house. They’re rarely allowed to come in the kitchen as we haven’t got childlocks on the cupboards. Anyway, on this day T1 came with me while I prepared lunch. Having him in the kitchen is usually a nightmare as he’s the most adventurous and excitable of the two and he’s always the first to yank open the cupboards and empty everything out on to the floor. On this day he walked around a bit, sat on the floor and played with his cars. It was all too easy.
This, I assume, is what he’d be like if he’d been a singleton. Sure, he’d have his moments just like any child, but in general I guess he’d be a regular quiet little boy. In reality he has a partner in crime around 24/7, and he’s always running around like a crazy thing, throwing things, having tantrums and jumping off things that are too high. When he’s with his brother, I only have half of his attention and he’s constantly in a state of double excitement. On this lovely peaceful afternoon I had the pleasure of having one whole boy, without any distractions.
So, hats off to any of you mums of triplet boys out there, or mums of three boys close together in age!! Two half boys are more than enough for me! But I have to admit, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
