Triple Threat

Triple Threat parenting triplets in the Capital District

Watching in horror

News of the war in Ukraine leaves a mom and her family worried

Iwatch the news and can’t turn off the mother part of me when I see families trying desperately to get out of Ukraine. How could I? The very sight of children in winter coats clinging to adults as they continue to put one foot in front of the other while carrying another child or the basic necessities in a bag is heartbreaking. This mom doesn’t know how long she will be walking, how far she is travelling or if she has enough supplies. This isn’t a camping trip. This isn’t a quick trip to see the family the next city over. Imagine having to leave your home with your child and not knowing if you need diapers and food for two or three days, weeks or months. How many children can a mother carry? How many supplies?

Moms are talking, tears flowing unchecked, about leaving behind homes and families that may no longer be there when it is safe to return to Ukraine. There is no question that life will never be the same. Families will feel this fracture forever. How will people find family members? How will the children get back their innocence? I have never faced this and won’t pretend to be an authority on the subject. I don’t know how I could get three children, my disabled husband and my mother out of Albany and cover hundreds of miles. I could try to find a safe place and then figure out how to meet the family’s most basic needs. Harlan is medically fragile and would die in 7-10 days without dialysis. How far can my mom walk before she could not keep going? What would I do? I have no answers. I feel utterly useless. I see these women and I wish that I could help.

Presently, the kids are learning about World War II in Social Studies, and they are drawing conclusions while watching the international news. I see them struggling to comprehend this situation. For sixth grade Hebrew School, the entire curriculum is the Holocaust. I see Olivia, Benjamin and Rebecca losing some of their innocence because they know genocide can happen again. My kids are 14 years old and they see the inhumane treatment of people just like us and don’t understand how this repeat behavior is possible. They feel helpless, just like the adults do.

One of the families at the school is organizing donations

by Jennifer Steuer

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that are needed in the refugee camps, field hospitals and for the people who have nothing. No matter the need, we will have something to donate. Putting good energy, something positive, out into the world might just help us all feel like we are doing something good. If we sit back and do nothing, then we are complicit. If we do not protest, we are in agreement. In my heart, I will say a prayer with each item we are donating so that maybe, just maybe when the items are used the person will feel a positive energy. Maybe that person will know we are trying to help.

I sit on a comfortable chair. I sleep in a comfortable bed with my favorite blankets, and I am warm all night. To do laundry, I simply walk to my laundry room and wash my clothes. If I need groceries, I get into my car and go to the store. If my kids need a doctor, we can make As Ukrainian cities are pummeled with bombs and refugees stream out of the country in droves, many in the United States are left wondering how they can help.

an appointment or head to urgent care. If someone needs medications, I can just go to the pharmacy. We do not live in a country that is fighting for its very survival. Ukrainian citizens are likely feeling uneasy and afraid.

My heart breaks and my tears spill every night. I think how grateful I am we do not live in Ukraine right now. I watch their president’s pride when speaking of how his fellow Ukrainians are fighting back. The cities are being bombarded and decimated by mortar shells. The children are afraid. Grandmothers are learning to make Molotov Cocktails and to shoot automatic weapons. Ukrainian citizens stand in front of Russian tanks. Over two million people have become refugees over the last two weeks. This is equivalent to the population of Nebraska leaving for anywhere but where the fighting, shelling and killing is happening. I look at the families and believe that they will make a difference.

Jennifer Steuer is an Albany mom whose busy household includes her husband, Harlan, and 14-year-old triplets Olivia, Benjamin and Rebecca. Follow her on Instagram: jennifersteuer.