[.ca] I Sleep at Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets (ISBN 0312315295)

This is real life:
I'm an older, working, single mother of twins and this is a TERRIFIC book. I think Bruce self-effacingly doesn't convey how even harder it is than his descriptions. Please DO WRITE A SEQUEL -- I am dying to know, as my own children are growing up, how everyone turns out. Highest praise for a wonderful look at a situation much like my own -- this is what books are for: to give one an honest and deep look at another's reality for insights about our own life. Thank you, Dear Bruce and Roni and all four dear children.

Or, how NOT to raise children...:
This is an extremely funny, and extremely well written book. It is also a light read. Anybody who has kids and has silently thanked God that they did not have twins or triplets themselves will enjoy Stockler's honest and witty rendering of what life with triplets is really like (i.e., chaotic and sleep-deprived). Unfortunately, my enjoyment of this book was marred by my increasing dislike of Stockler's wife. If Stockler described their relationship and her involvement as a parent honestly, I can't understand why he remains married to her and/or why she ever bothered to go through IVF in the first place. She is a high powered New York lawyer, who works until at least 10 pm most nights and often later. Stockler's book is a litany of all the important rites of passage that Roni missed because she was at work, as well as all the "unimportant" (but just as crucial from the perspective of a child) day in and day out moments that make up the bulk of child-rearing. I am a working mother myself, but I took unpaid leaves of absence for the first years of both my children's lives, and I gladly put up with lowered productivity (and hence salary) now in order to make my children my highest priority. I might have been more understanding if Stockler's wife was doing important, challenging work that she found fulfilling, but according to Stockler, she HATED her job and was there just for the money. And it was at that point I lost sympathy for both her and Stockler. There are more important things than money, and being there to raise your children well is one of them. Stockler acknowledged repeatedly through the book that Roni didn't have to endure that brutal work schedule, that they could have moved to a more affordable region of the country and gotten by on what she (or he) could have made in a more normal job with less brutal work hours. The big unanswered question in the book is why the heck they didn't, then. But Stockler wasn't much of a hero himself. As you read the book, his obvious love for his children shines through (although while I appreciate his honesty in pointing out his difficulties in bonding with the one girl, Hannah, I cringe to think of how she will feel one day when she reads this book), and you've got to admire his willingness to be not just Mr. Mom, but Mr. Mom of triplets and an older child. But I found myself wishing he would read a few parenting manuals, as some of his parenting tactics (offering bribes for good behavior, letting the children stay up as late as they want on school nights) leave much to be desired. I know it is hard to be firm and enforce rules, and it must be exponentially more difficult when dealing with three toddlers at once, but as every parent (except, apparently, Stockler) knows, giving in is easier in the short term but sets disastrous precedents for the long run. The giving in and bribes sure make for more entertaining reading, but I can't help but think that these are going to be some pretty out of control teenagers. I probably shouldn't criticize when I have not (thank God) had to deal with the breath-taking logistical problems of raising triplets. That Stockler has been able to do so while maintaining a sharp sense of humor is to his credit. However, I think it is fair to say that when I reached the end of the book, my memories of having chuckled through most of it were overshadowed by the sad realization that this book portrays the worst of modern American culture: when a big paycheck is more important than spending time with your children.

Hilarious!:
This is a hilarous account of family life told through a man's point of view. The POV is refreshing and it's a book that will have you laughing and nodding your head. For humor from a mother's POV I recommend Debbie Farmer's 'Don't Put Lipstick on the Cat!' I give both books five stars for family humor!

Cheap title/soulful book. A classic.:
Oh my God. You'll laugh, you'll cry. You will think YOUR life is easy and manageable. You will count your blessings, because the author shows you how. This guy is honest (example: he states that he loves his son more than he loves his wife early on in the book), can really turn a phrase, and loves, loves, loves his (older son) Asher and his babies. I would love to meet him at Starbucks and have a cup of coffee. He is a man who gets it! How about a sequel or two? The kids are only about 7 and 3 when it ends. God bless this lovely, human man.

A Wonderful Memoir:
Bruce Stockler's I Sleep at Red Lights is a wondeful memoir which recounts Stockler's experience, for a couple years at least, of parenting triplets. Stockler's experience is a little different than most dads, however. While his wife is a high-powered lawyer at a Manhattan law firm, Stockler is the one who eventually stays home with the kids. They start out in Manhattan in a small apartment, but eventually move to the suburbs. Stockler's story is very funny and heartwarming. ONe of the things that makes this book work is Stockler's almost brutal honesty--he sugarcoats nothing--not his relationship with his wife or his feelings for his kids. His life has not been picture-perfect in the Norman Rockwell sense, but there is a lot of love in that Stockler family and Stockler shares it with us well. Enjoy.