I Sleep at Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets - Bruce Stockler
This one was recommended to me by Lori after my complaint that there really aren't many resources for stay-at-home dads. Well, there still aren't, but at least there are some funny stories written by one. Bruce Stockler's family suddenly doubled in size when his wife Roni became pregnant with triplets, and this book chronicles their experience, from unimaginable wonders to unimaginable horrors. He tells about becoming a minor celebrity in their neighborhood, about hiring a $2,100-a-week nanny (in addition to their regular nanny for their 3-year-old) who can bottle-feed all three triplets simultaneously, and about managing four small kids in a public restroom.
He writes in the present tense, which is somewhat difficult to read, but understandable since he spent a lot of time working on screenplays, where everything is in the present tense. It does make for some bizarre past-future-tense, such as "One day, a long time from now, when the babies are ten months old, Asher and I will take them for a walk." This is followed by a long passage describing an event that has already happened, but in the future tense, because the "present" tense is when the babies are still thirteen weeks old. Another minor annoyance is when he repeats things, a sign of poor editing, I think. For instance, how many times does he need to tell us that his father made their furniture in the basement and never finished it?
But those complaints aside, the book is a fascinating tale of near-chaos, which makes me so grateful that (1) we didn't have to resort to fertility treatments, (2) we don't have triplets, (3) we don't live in New York City, and any number of other things.
Fed to jonathan's brain | March 26, 2004
