4-times the fun goes to school

Kids adjust more quickly than parents

By GINA KINSLOW

GLASGOW — There were some tears on the day Joey and Karissa Newberry’s quadruplets started kindergarten.

But it wasn’t Skylar, Sydney, Ally Grace or Maylin who cried.

It was their mom, Karissa, who was teary-eyed.

“It was a rough day,” Karissa said. “Not for them, but for me and Joey. I had to hold my tears in as much as I could so I wasn’t around them.”

Joey owns a local dental practice and took the day off for the special event.

“When we came back to the house, it was just so quiet. That was a big adjustment, and then her having to come back and stay here by herself ... ,” Joey said. “But she’s remedied that.”

Karissa, who is a speech therapist, went back to work soon after school began this year and said doing so has helped her keep from worrying about the children.

Still, she and Joey can’t believe their babies are old enough to actually be in school.

Skylar, Sydney, Ally Grace and Maylin were born three-and-a-half months early in 2003.

The couple worried their children may suffer complications by being born premature.

“I remember when they were in the hospital I would pray they would all be able to go to school and be in a regular class. I think that’s one thing ... and Joey would remind me, when I felt sad about them going to school, he would say, ‘This is what we prayed they would be able to do, be all healthy, all intelligent and they would be going to school and be just like all other kids,’” Karissa said. “That’s really what we prayed for. I’m just glad that came true.”

While Joey and Karissa had a tough time the first of school, their children didn’t.

“They had no trouble. They went in and settled right in with no problem,” Karissa said.

All of the children enjoy school. They are all in the same kindergarten class at Park City Elementary. Joey and Karissa were given the option of placing their children in separate classes, but the school doesn’t have four kindergarten classes. It only has three.

“I just thought it would be good to try it like this and see how it goes,” Karissa said. “It’s really easier on the parents than it is on the child when they are all in the same class. They all have the same homework. They are all doing the same thing, same field trips and parties.”

The children are students in Stella Downs’ class.

“They are their own individual person. They get along well with all the other students. They are all unique in their own way,” said Downs, who has had twins in her class before, but never quadruplets. “They’ve been a joy to have. They are a joy to be around.”

Anthony Frazier, principal, pointed out the children all behave differently.

“It’s neat to see how they interact with each other in the same room,” he said. “I was surprised. Sometimes when we have siblings in the same room, there is some conflict and things like that, but it’s not been like that. They are real close. They work well together. They take care of each other. It’s been a positive experience for all of them to be in the same room.”

Karissa drops the children off in the mornings, and they ride the bus home in the afternoons. All four say they enjoy riding the bus.

While Skylar and Ally Grace enjoy playing on the playground at school, Sydney and Maylin enjoy doing math.

“I like to do star student time,” said Maylin.

“That’s because star students make good choices,” said Skylar.

The children play well together, their parents said.

“They do fight like brothers and sisters, but they have a big time,” Karissa said.

The quadruplets will be celebrating their sixth birthday soon.

Sydney wants a My Little Pony toy, while Ally Grace wants Barbies. Maylin wants “a swimming Barbie,” and Skylar wants a real lizard. Why? “‘Cause I love lizards,” he said.

All four also have what they call “loose tooths.”

Skylar asked if the Tooth Fairy would bring him a Wal-Mart gift card, but Karissa explained to him that type of gift was a bit much for the Tooth Fairy and that he should probably expect 50 cents or a $1 for his tooth.

The Newberrys underwent fertility treatments to get pregnant with the quadruplets. If they were to get pregnant again, on their own without fertility treatments, then additional children would be welcome.

Sydney, however, feels very differently about the possibility of having more brothers and sisters.

“I don’t want to have any more,” she said. “This is enough.”

Hearing her say such a thing made her parents laugh.

“We feel like we’ve been blessed,” Joey said.

“We think we are done,” Karissa said. “If we were to have another one, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”

The Newberrys admit time has flown for them and it’s hard to believe that their children are 5 years old and in school already.

“It’s just like you blink and they are going to school,” Joey said. “We’ve had a lot of fun in the last five years.”