Gotta send the girls to college

I think I shouldn't have had that Coke Zero at 7pm tonight, I'm a little wired hence the multiple postings this evening. So I think I've figured out how I'm going to make a few extra $$ to send the girls to college. You see last week my clients came into town for the day which meant I left Avery and Lily at home with their grandmothers, Namo and Mimi. While the grandmothers are very competent and take excellent care of the girls, I, being the stubborn, control-freak that I am, worry that if others take care of them without me they'll get off their schedule. You see I believe that having a predictable, regular schedule is key to a baby's happiness and well-being, not o tmention the only possible way for me to survive as a mom of triplets. That being said, I kind of had the girls on a good schedule, but then they decided to change it up on me, they decided they no longer need to eat 5 times a day that 4 times with more volume works just fine. Knowing that Namo is with us for a day or two each week, and that the girls do a lot of changing and growing in between the times she is here I decided I would make a "Care Manual" to be used as an ever-changing guide on how to care for the babies.

Richard thinks I'm nuts - he called me The General, and he was just a lowly Colonel (although I'm sure he feels more like a Cadet sometimes because I can be, shall we say staunch?). Anyway, I think this just may be my ticket to making extra money. I made several very specific sections - there was the introduction to the care plan explaining my intentions, there are two sample daily schedules all based on my observations and notes of the babies eating and napping over a two week period (schedule "a" is if they take a bottle at 6 am, schedule "b" comes in to play if they sleep through the 6 am bottle), there are feeding guidelines for each girl because Lily's feeding needs and strategies are different from Avery's, there is a page on solid foods (which foods they like, which to stay away from, when to give just the food and when to mix it with formula), there is a page on theirs meds including dosage, how to administer, and when to give, there is a page on naptime, developmental play (which highlights the things we are working on with our PT), there is a section on language building (which stands to reinforce all that we will be doing with Zoe to help make it second nature with all three girls) and in the back of the book I have included each week's lesson plan from Zoe's teacher which can be continually referenced. I think I need to include a general section on infection control (especially since it's RSV season).

So...I made the pages look all nice using Publisher, placed them in sheet protectors and put them in a beautiful recycled paper binder only to change it out two days later for a non-eco-friendly plastic one that can be wiped down and sanitized. I think this could be it, I could market it to moms of multiples or any other control-freak moms (like myself, there is no shame in being a little OCD) in some format that is easy to get them started and then easy to make changes...I need to think about it some more, but I think I'm almost there. Once Zoe comes home it will be easy enough to write out her meds, feeding, etc. and I think I'll include a weekly calendar too that shows all pertinent appointments...hmmmmmmmmmmm anyone want to place an advance order?