Super Keen triplets ready to start preschool

The whole Canberra community may be feeling the same way as it realises the Keen triplets are off to school on Monday.

Aleisha, Maddilyn and Eloise, the national capital's rare identical triplets, will be attending Isabella Plains Early Childhood School from Monday, another milestone for the trio who were born eight weeks' premature in 2018.

"I'm very excited," mum Emma said, with a smile.

The girls are just three of the six children of Chisholm couple Emma and Matt Keen.

When the triplets were born on March 25, 2018, the family instantly grew to having six children under the age of 12.

The triplets turn four in March. Big brother Patrick is now 15 while big sister Laura is 11 and next big sister Lily is nine.

The Canberra Times reported on the triplets' birth back in 2018, when they arrived at 32 weeks at the Canberra Hospital.

It was a rare event. The chances of having identical triplets are put at anywhere between one in 60,000 to one in 200 million pregnancies.

Aleisha was first to arrive at 1.56pm, weighing 1.76 kilograms and 39.5cm in length. Second to make her appearance, two minutes later, was Maddilyn weighing 1.3kg and 37cm in length. And baby number three was Eloise who arrived at 1.59pm weighing 1.65kg and 41cm in length.

Now the girls are active preschoolers, running around with brown ponytails.

"They love Barbies, dolls, Duplo, going to the park, dressing up. They're very girly girls," Emma said.

Emma will be also be breathing a sigh of relief on Monday.

During the COVID lockdowns, she was homeschooling their three older children while keeping the triplets entertained and helping Matt run their plumbing business.

Emma said having the triplets at preschool would be fantastic for their development.

"They need the socialisation, the interaction, which they don't have with me stuck at home trying to work and juggle everything else," she said.

She has made it easier for their teacher Kylie to distinguish between the three girls, printing each girl's name on their bright-green shirt. Each of the triplets also wears different coloured sneakers - Aleisha has black and pink, Maddilyn has pale pink and Eloise has multi-coloured.

The family will be up early on Monday to fill the lunch boxes. Emma expects to go through two loaves of bread a day making seven lunches a day - six for the kids and one for Matt.

COVID-enforced limits on some items at supermarkets has not made it easy feeding the big family.

"I mean six chicken fillets is not going to feed a family of eight," Emma said.

When they were born, the Keen triplets spent six weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Special Care Nursery at the Canberra Hospital.

The girls finally went home for the first time in May of that year. Since then, they have thrived.

"Their health has been perfect," Emma said.

The Canberra community took the triplets to its heart, donating items and sending cards as the Keens grappled with their family expanding overnight. Since then, the family has juggled it all on their own.

And, now, the family is excited for the girls to start preschool.

"When we walked into the preschool, it was an amazing feeling," Emma said.

"We were returning the paperwork and Simon the principal was so friendly. The girls were like, 'Can we go to preschool now'?"

And while it's not always easy raising a big family, there is a lot of joy.

"There is always someone to give you a cuddle. And they love you so much," Emma said.

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