Business Lessons from Raising Triplets - Part 1

I joke that having triplets is my claim to fame, but in a way it's true. It gets a lot of attention. Far less now that they are getting bigger but when they were babies and I had the triple stroller, the three baby carriers and the small army that travelled with me, it was hard to miss us.

Without even knowing it I leant some valuable life lessons:

1. Take care of one at a time

As I was trying to make three screaming kids happy and running around from one to the other, picking them up for a minute then putting them down and hoping that their minute of attention would make them stop crying it dawned on me there must be another way. And there was. Meet the needs of one child and then move on to the next. I was going crazy trying to pacify 3 children in the hopes of making everyone happy and I was making no one happy. So pick one child up, give them your undivided attention and figure out what they need and once that is satisfied, move on to the next child. I can hear your objections, how can I focus with 2 other kids screaming in my ear, what if I can't make the first one be quiet .. and on and on the list of doubts and excuses could go. So it is in the real world. It would probably only take you a second to list the multiple different things you are trying to do right now. But if you really want to get something done, pick one and get it done.

2. Get busy doing, not busy planning to do

The beauty of having to look after triplets is that you rarely have leisure time to debate and mull over your plans and write them down, then type them up, frame them ... You could spend your life's work just finding ways of avoiding doing what you are planning to do. We are masterful at this. So much so, that we do it without even realizing it. My goals were pretty simple when they were babies: feed em, clean em, put em to bed! How hard could this be? Not that hard when you are motivated. My motivation was survival. What is yours and what is the concise simple version of your goals?

3. Stick to the schedule

I came in the door as a master scheduler so this one came as naturally as breathing. The schedule was always out on the table in plain view of anyone helping to look after the kids. In fact I planned when people could come help based on the schedule. The most exciting times were feeding and that happened like clock work every 3 hours proceeded by a diaper change and followed by a nap. No excuses and no deviations. In fact my kids were on this schedule for years. It brought a sense of calm, order and peace in what otherwise would have been a chaotic madhouse.

4. Time out is a valuable tool

Take a deep breath, excuse yourself and leave the room. The time out I am referring to is not for the child, but for the adult. There are days I came pretty close to wanting to inflicting pain to my precious beautiful kids! There are some days I lost it and I would have, had I not left the room. It is not possible to think rationally when you are emotional. Telling a child to calm down might be useful but teaching them to calm down is better. The same goes for the adult. Find a quiet spot and find a way to return to that serene calm self that you know yourself to be where you are not reacting to someone else's drama.

I will leave you with these for this week, because as I started blogging I realized that my list was getting too long for one blog. So stay tuned in for next weeks list and in the meantime send me your business or life lessons from an unexpected event.