Three's Company
Imagine a house overflowing with triplets, a dozen adults trying to direct a photo shoot and a chance of rain. It's ambitious, getting together four sets of triplets, ages 3, 5, and 6 under one roof. As one mother put it: "It's like herding kittens some days"-a great description of shooing Jenna, Leah, Mya, Nicholas, Palmer, Madison, Adam, Elizabeth, Emily, Christopher, Alexandria and Victoria around the Barboursville home.
"If it had been 12 singletons, it would have been chaos," says Jean Potter, mother of 6-year-old triplets Christopher, Alexandria and Victoria of Charleston. "For whatever reason, it wasn't." In fact the kids were cooperative and fun, with of course the occasional runaway and sly shove between siblings.
The children are busy little bees as the camera flashes, a priceless blend of sweetness, mischief and innocence. The mothers are on their toes, pros in the field of multiples: "Don't run. Walk." "Did you push her? Don't push." "Emily, say cheese." Four-year-old Palmer Riggio of Huntington finds a can in the refrigerator and brings it into the living room, but his mother, Sherri Riggio is on the ball. "I don't think you need a Bud Light, Palmer," she says. "You've got 17 years to go."
People's reactions to triplets are amazing. They seem to get lost in their strong resemblance and matching clothes, but forget that each is an individual. Three-year-olds Jenna, Leah and Mya Strope are identical triplets. Mya says she doesn't look anything like her sisters, even though each is the same weight and height. "They don't look alike," says their mother Angela. "From the day I brought them home from the hospital and somebody would cry, I learned whose voice was whose."
Leah is the oldest and what she says goes; Mya is the pleaser who goes with the flow; while Jenna is the true baby of the bunch. Angela and Michael Strope, who live in Scott Depot, found out about their triplets on April Fool's Day when Angela was 21 weeks along. "I was speechless," remembers Angela. "Most people probably would have freaked out, but I didn't have time."
The eldest Strope daughter, Kristin, thought she was getting three baby dolls to play with. Kristin was 9 years old when her sisters were born. "They cry every morning when she goes to school. You would think they would get used to it. They're constantly in her room, trying on her shoes," says Angela.
The Riggio triplets are 3-year-olds with big imaginations. They're always somebody, whether it's Scooby Doo, Batman or a WWE wrestler. After the photo shoot Nicholas and Palmer pretended to be Christopher Potter (the eldest boy at the photo shoot) for days. "The boys wanted to be Christopher," Sherri says. "All day I'd say, 'Nicholas,' and he'd say, 'I'm not Nicholas, I'm Christopher.'"
For the first five months of the pregnancy, Sherri and Frank Riggio thought they were having three boys, but then they discovered Madison. From day one, Nicholas was more timid, Palmer was the leader and Madison was absolutely feminine, but she's tough. "She holds her own, that's for sure. She's not afraid of either one of them. She and Nicholas, that's the pair that butt heads. But she does not back down. When they pretend they're wrestlers, she gets down there, pins Nicholas and counts 'One, two, three!'"
The threesome wants to do everything that their big brother, 14-year-old Matthew, does. They want to listen to his music, ride his scooter and they're notorious for stealing his money and his sports waters. "Matthew is absolutely great with them," says Sherri. "He reads to them, watches them when I shower and takes them to the mall."
Doctors told the Riggios that people with triplets sometimes have financial and emotional difficulty, but Sherri wasn't worried. "I was kind of excited," she recalls. "I thought Frank was going to faint. I was scared, but I never had a sick day. I worked until they made me quit working. We went right out and bought a van and three cribs." Believe it or not, Sherri says it is easier than people think. "Routine is the key and scheduling is the key; otherwise you'd be crazy. We've been on the same schedule pretty much since they were born."
Jean Potter says raising triplets is like having a party all the time. She and her husband, Tom, were married for 16 years before the birth of their children. "We just didn't know what to expect. It has fulfilled our lives in more ways than I can ever imagine. Many people come up to me and say, 'Better you than me,' and I say, 'Absolutely, I agree.' Now they're in school and I miss my buddies, I really do. When they come home they have schoolwork or art lessons. They're just growing up too fast."
"It's been a truly fascinating study of human development," says Jean, an early childhood education consultant. It is amazing for her to see three children from the same genetics and backgrounds grow. "I fed them all the same things and now one has a sweet tooth, one picks everything healthy and one is in between. We treat them all alike, but each has different strengths and weaknesses. They are all different people."
The Potter siblings are very protective of one another. They dress alike, a choice that Jean and Tom are leaving up to the kids. Do they fight? Not Christopher, Alexandria and Victoria; instead they have "mini discussions," like "I want you to give me that," Jean says. "If you were to say, 'Christopher, would you like a lollipop?' he will say, 'Yes, but I also want one for my sisters.'"
People think having multiples is a lot of work, and it is, but it also draws people into your lives that otherwise would not have been there, explains Jean. When the triplets were born people would knock on the Potters' door with presents, amazed to see three little babies. Their children ended up bringing old friends back into their lives-yet another blessing of three.
