Multiplicity

Things are different in a household with twins, triplets or quadruplets.

For one, there are no hand-me-downs.

But even more, time management becomes crucial for moms as they try to juggle all the activities and events their children are involved in.

And whereas most moms gain experience through the lives of their firstborn, mothers of multiples learn new things as they go and pay for expenses like braces all at the same time.

And though it may be stressful tackling both similar and surprisingly different needs of multiple children, it's probably a safe bet moms wouldn't trade it for the world.

And today, of all days, these women reflect on being moms - something their children appreciate as well.

WILLIAMS FAMILY

Odessan Laurie Williams shuttles her 12-year-old triplets, Caitlynn, Courtney and Caleb, to various events and activities each week - or even numerous lessons each day.

"I'm definitely a taxi-driver mom," Williams said.

Williams, who's a 44-year-old single mom, said she receives some help from her mother, Janice Golden, who takes shifts of hauling the seventh-graders places like their orchestra practices at Nimitz Junior High.

Caitlynn, Courtney and Caleb experience things together. For Williams, that means having one shot at parenting instead of going through phases with children of various ages.

"It's a one-time thing," she said. "They go through these stages all at the same time.

"Everything is extreme because it's all at once," she said.

Because Williams is a single mom, her triplets know to care for themselves by getting out of bed, preparing for school and doing homework.

Courtney said she and her two siblings provide a support system for each other from studying together to working through a situation.

Caitlynn said she admires her mom because she works hard to give the teens what they need or want in life.

"She has to do it with three," Caitlynn said. "I don't know how she does it all."

Courtney said she'd tell her mom "thanks for everything" today for Mother's Day.

"She's amazing," Courtney said.

HOLCOMB FAMILY

Odessan Mary Ann Holcomb said her family of two identical twin boys and her husband, Brad, is a close-knit bunch.

They travel to lakes, play golf, take cruises and trek across Texas to various attractions each year.

Her twins, Justin and Austin, are ninth-graders at Bowie Junior High and both play golf and take algebra 2 and geometry.

The 15-year-olds also go through things all at once, and Holcomb said that side of it tends to get expensive.

"There's no such thing as hand-me-downs," she said.

Each also has braces right now, which totals to about $10,000, she said.

And soon the boys will get driver's licenses and go off to college, she said, noting she doesn't look forward to that.

Holcomb said people tend to treat her boys as if they're one person.

"They're constantly labeled, ‘the twins,' " she said, noting one's usually mistaken for the other.

Holcomb said she's proud of her boys, who were raised to be respectful and look out for each other.

"I've really been blessed," she said. "I feel really, really lucky."

ONE BIG FAMILY

Gardendale resident Jennifer Smith, 30, said her family knows how to have fun.

The kids, a set of 9-year-old triplets, two boys and one girl, and a 7-year-old boy, usually jump on their trampoline, watch SpongeBob SquarePants, or play football and games.

The triplets, Alex, Lee and Elizabeth Maker, were only a minute apart each when they were born.

Now, the triplets and their 7-year-old brother, T.J. Huffman, have learned to help each other with homework and get along at school at Barbara Jordan Elementary.

Smith, a science teacher at the Career Center, recently married Marvin Smith, 37, and all seem to have fun as a new family.

"It's a lot easier now that they're bigger," Jennifer Smith said of her kids.

She said in addition to keeping her kids' schedules in line, she watches the expenses.

It costs about $175 for all four children to buy school pictures this year, she said, and if the boys want to attend football camp, it'll cost at least $50 each.

"You always have to times everything by three or four so that gets expensive," Smith said.

Elizabeth said she appreciates her mom, not just on Mother's Day, but every day.

"She's nice, pretty and she's really a good mother," the 9-year-old said.