THE ATMOSPHERE was filled with frolic and laughter at the home of the Deanes as triplets Jamiya, Safiya and Takiya celebrated their birthdays at Stadium Road, St Michael, over the weekend.
Jamiya, Safiya and Takiya, daughters of 26-year-old Rashada Deane, had a grand time.
They were dressed identically in yellow, green and purple tie-dye outfits with matching purple tiaras. There was not a dull moment as family and friends arrived at their party to share the excitement with the youngsters who played and jumped in the Barbie jumping tent along with seven year-old brother Rashandre Deane-Rawlins.
Rashada said three was the big number, as the triplets had turned three on October 13 and she wanted to throw a big party to celebrate with family and friends in the community.
A single mother, Rashada said it was not easy managing the girls and in this economic climate since she had to make sacrifices to ensure the comfort of her children.
“I does sacrifice like something else. I does cut my losses and just make sure that my girls and my son, we set, them set actually,” she said.
“I’m not the person to complain because nobody can’t tell Rashada ‘I ain’t send you to get them’. No. They are a triplet, they will stand out; I have to do what I have to do and once they healthy, I good,” she said.
The mother of four, told the MIDWEEK NATION that when she first discovered that she was having triplets, there were mixed emotions as it had never occurred to her that triplets could be a possibility.
“I felt fainty, I could have dropped off the bed, I didn’t know what to think. I was in here, out there, my mind was just going wild, because I never expected it, honestly. I went for one and he [the doctor] coming to tell me that I got three?” she recalled.
Though acknowledging that children brought joy, she had been depressed when she had thought about the resulting economic stress.
Rashada, a cashier at Cave Shepherd, explained that it was not easy being a mother to a triplet and an older son. She said mornings could be a great challenge to get them all ready for school at the Eden Lodge Nursery and Eden Lodge Primary School respectively and arriving at work on time.
“What I can say is that everything is a challenge because as you know, it’s not one, it’s not two, but it’s three, so everything is a task for me. If I don’t stay humble, again I would be shouting and screaming and getting angry, ‘til the minute I step out of the door and walk down the gap to get a bus or get a drop for them to school.”
Rashada said the triplets had unique personalities and made her laugh more than they gave her stress.
“Personality-wise, they are different; for sure, especially Takiya. Takiya, she mouthy, she quick, she friendly, everybody say she like she mother. Jamiya is a mummy’s girl, everybody would be outside playing and Jamiya would just stay around close by. She is the first. Safiya now, she is friendly, she would laugh, she would talk and stuff like that,” she explained.
Rashada said that Takiya, while the first to be conceived a full two days before her sisters, was the last to be born and was the biggest of the triplets.
She said that when it came to her children, she did not stand for foolishness and noted that she had learnt to be patient with her children, while listening to what they were saying.
A family person, she said that she just wanted her children to be happy, to respect her as their mother and to understand her sacrifices for them.
