Triplets - more than a handful for mom

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

LINSTEAD, St Catherine:"THEY ARE more than a handful!" Ardene Bailey, mother of triplets, seven year-old Afiah, Asheba and Azeeza Pryce laughed.

She says the girls, grade-two students at Jericho Primary School on the outskirts of Linstead, play tricks on her.

"Honestly, they still confuse me sometimes, like when they are at a distance, and especially if they are dressed alike, if everybody is wearing the same colour or the same thing. If they are not wearing the same thing, I have to use like their clothes to differentiate them," Bailey of Cotton Piece District, St Catherine, told The Gleaner.

needs

The mother of four older children, two boys and two girls, shared some of the challenges she and Wayne, the triplets' father, encounter to fulfill their needs.

"One of my bigger daughters is in high school, and for the triplets now going to school, buying books, textbooks, bags, and bus fare, travelling back and forth, it's a real challenge," she said.

Despite this, Bailey treasures the memory of the birth of the girls at the Linstead Hospital.

"I went to the hospital expecting just one. I never did an ultrasound, so I had no idea that there was more than one. I mean, the pregnancy was a bit different from others, but I wasn't even expecting two, much less three, but I was happy," she recalled.

While the triplets were a surprise, both Bailey and Wayne have twins in their families. Bailey has two uncles who are twins, while Wayne has twin brothers.

However, for now, Afiah - who loves to sing, dance and eat vegetables, ripe bananas, apples, and cherrie - wants to become a dentist.

"I love to clean people's teeth!" she exclaimed. She also enjoys doing mathematics, and her favourite cartoon is Barnyard.

On the other hand, Asheba aspires to become a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Her favourite colours are green, blue, and black. She, too, likes mathematics.

"I like to learn plus and minus," she smiles.

Notably, the girls are vegetarian like Bailey, who is a Rastafarian.

Azeeza's favourite fruits are bananas and oranges. She wants to become a teacher, so sometimes she plays school with her sisters.

"I like to colour and draw, too," she smiled.