Horton, Kidd tots healthy and active at 2 years old
Two years after a nationwide media frenzy swirled around the stories of Oswego mom Taunacy Horton, her wounded Marine husband Josh and their tiny quintuplets, life for the once-famous local family has become routine -- and a strict one at that.
• 8:30 a.m.: Rise and shine.
• 11:45 a.m.: Military-style line-up in front of the row of high chairs in preparation for lunch served by mom with cafeteria-lady expediency.
• 6 p.m.: Dinner -- and it's never late.
Then bath at 7 p.m., followed by another military-style line-up in front of the row of cribs. In bed by 8 p.m., and there are no excuses.
"We're strict on the routine here," Taunacy Horton said. "We never deviate."
Any mother of a mischievous, energetic "Terrible 2" knows that's the best way to keep order in the house. But for the Hortons -- and for the Kidd family, who had quadruplets in Oswego that same year but garnered far less media attention than the Hortons -- sticking to a schedule is not just about organization.
It's the only possible way to get a house full of 2-year-olds bathed, fed and into bed.
"It's all routine," said mom Sheri Kidd, who now lives in Bristol with husband Jason. "It allows us to function at least somewhat civilized."
Not that routine means the excitement of raising a gaggle of children ever runs out. The younger years were spent worrying about the health of the little ones -- "multiples" are often born at low birth weights and require more intensive care. One of the Horton Five, Addyson, died 19 days after birth.
But they've now reached the "fun age," Taunacy Horton said. Not only are both sets of children healthy and rowdy, they've all started claiming their individual identities.
In the Kidd household, Nathan's the "little flirt," Joshua the "Momma's boy," Nicholas the trickster, and Hailey -- "she's just a princess, plain and simple," their mother said.
And each of the Horton children has grown a different color of hair: Coira's is red, Portter's is brown, Lachlan's is blonde and Caitlynn's is black.
In spite of new differences, and a decent level of sibling rivalry, Horton notices her children have also developed "their own little club." They said the same first words and communicate in their own made-up language.
That bond will likely get tested next year as both sets of kids prepare to enter preschool -- the Hortons will attend an early-childhood program in the Oswego School District, and the Kidds will go to a program in the Yorkville School District.
But the best way to handle four preschoolers is the same way you handle four newborns:
"Just take it day by day," Kidd said.
"Sometimes one minute at a time, one second at a time," Horton said.
And when the seconds still get overwhelming, the mothers of multiples cling to each other, almost like their own little club. Horton and Kidd became fast friends shortly after their children were born.
Aurora's new Jones quadruplets born this week already have the set of strollers handed down from the Kidds, who got them from the Rabicks, an Oswego family with four 5-year-olds.
"Don't be afraid to ask for help," said Horton, who last week asked a teenager who came to her door selling newspaper subscriptions to help her prepare dinner. "If you ring my doorbell, I put you to work."
Her advice to families just starting out with "multiples"? "There's a time when you'll be able to sit and enjoy it. And, yeah, you will eventually sleep."
