The Byler sextuplets burst through the front door, half of them smiling, half of them screaming. Three came home from preschool with lollipops. The other three, who attend a different preschool, arrived empty handed. ¶ Welcome to sibling rivalry times six.
"Some teachers give them surprises and some don't," mom Karoline Byler explained as her husband, Ben, tried to quiet the riot by handing out gum. "The ones who don't have them want them."
The Byler bunch — five boys and a girl who are the state's first set of surviving sextuplets — celebrate their 4th birthday today. While the good-night kisses overshadow the tantrums, refereeing the pack is a constant balancing act between fairness and equality.
"They don't yet get the wait-your-turn thing," said Karoline, 33, after the kids celebrated their birthday party last weekend at a bowling alley. "MacKenzie was just throwing balls. Charlie and Eli love (potato) chips, so they were sitting with the chip bowls in their laps."
Much has changed since the children were delivered via caesarian section in 2007 at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.
The calls from national television shows have stopped, mainly because the Bylers haven't bitten. Karoline cringes at reality shows and the dysfunction they seem to create in some of the families who agree to be featured. She also questions the motives of some parents.
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