I Sleep at Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets

by Bruce Stockler

Overview

Bruce Stockler captures the chaos, joy and challenges of becoming the father of triplets in this hilarious, fast-paced, and refreshingly honest memoir.

From the moment Stockler and his wife ,Roni, learn they have hit the fertility jackpot, their lives are turned upside down. The day the babies are born—in an operating room bustling with 30 doctors, nurses and technicians—is the first jolt in a physical and emotional roller-coaster ride. And every day following continues to reveal one unpredictable twist after another. Just going to the supermarket and keeping the kids—and the store—safe from disaster is like an episode from an adventure story. When the triplets start to walk, and explode in three directions at once, they quickly learn to exploit their newfound freedom at every possible turn.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312315290
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/01/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Bruce Stockler's humor pieces have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Christian Science Monitor. A regular contributor to Esquire, he has also been a joke writer for Jay Leno. He and his family live in the suburbs of New York City.

Table of Contents

1.	Seven Weeks	1
2.	The Big Family	13
3.	Bribing the Gynecologist	30
4.	A, B, and C	47
5.	The Wife We Never Had	71
6.	I Sleep at Red Lights	89
7.	The Worry-Go-Round	110
8.	My Fifteen Minutes	121
9.	Nature vs. Ferber	138
10.	The Movable House, the Lemon Cookies, and Being Crushed: My Wife	152
11.	Chaos Theory	168
12.	The Special Box	187
13.	Lost in the Supermarket	204
14.	Something in the System	221
15.	No Means No (and Other Lies)	234
16.	In the Ladies' Room	251
17.	Transition Time	265
18.	The Value of Baseball Cards	277

Editorial Reviews

Bruce Stockler is a very funny guy. He's our Mr. Mom for the new millennium.” —Jay Leno

“Bruce Stockler may not have time to sleep, but he did have time to write a hilarious, smart and touching book. I hope his wife gives birth to quadruplets so there will be a sequel soon.” —A.J. Jacobs, Esquire magazine

From the Publisher

The joys and horrors of staying home to raise triplets and their older sibling. Like a veteran war correspondent, Esquire columnist Stockler takes pride in the sheer fact of still being alive. And while raising children, even triplets, should not be comparable to waging war, the times conspire to make the enterprise as demanding as any military incursion. Stockler begins with wife Roni’s conception via in-vitro fertilization. The couple live in a small New York apartment and already have one son, two-year-old Asher. When they learn that Roni is carrying triplets, Stockler, editor of a film trade magazine, alternately exults and worries about money, accommodations, and spending time with Asher. Roni spends the last weeks of her pregnancy in bed, but is back at work three weeks after she delivers Jared, Barak, and Hannah. (She is the major earner and has just made partner at her law firm.) The family moves to a house in the suburbs, and the exhausted Stockler commutes into the city each day, snatching moments of sleep on the train and at work. They have some help, but as Roni works longer hours, getting home well after 10 p.m. most nights, he feeds, diapers, and comforts the triplets through the night. He becomes a local fixture, running errands while pushing a three-seat stroller, and recipient of many friendly greetings. When Roni talks wistfully of changing her job and moving to a small town, Stockler is conscious of the sacrifices she is making, especially when he loses his job and does not find another. But despite the worries and the physical and financial cost, he feels privileged to have been so present in his children’s lives. Funny—but undercurrents of angst make this a vividstatus report on modern parenting.

Kirkus Reviews