By Erik Zygmont
“What was it like to all of a sudden to be taking care of four babies?” is the burning question most people would pose to a mother of quadruplets.
Lisa Scott, a parishioner of New All Saints in Liberty Heights, says she and her husband, Adam, “just kind of handled it.”
The couple’s four children – Alexis, Brandon, Christina and Dominque – were born in the order indicated by their alphabetized names, each child coming one minute after his or her predecessor.
“We figured it would be the easiest way to name them,” Scott says, “so that there wouldn’t be any arguments about who came first.
The Scotts applied the same practical approach to parenting.
“We kept a very good schedule,” Lisa Scott remembers. “When one got changed, they all got changed. When one napped, they all napped.”
Scott would attend nursing school when her children were older, but she initially elected to stay home and care for them rather than return to her job as a billing supervisor and computer programmer. Again, a mixture of love and practicality tempered her decision.
“I would have been working just to pay for daycare, so we sacrificed what we could and I stayed home,” Scott says. “The benefits of having a mom at home outweighed it.”
She expresses gratitude to members of her extended family for their assistance. Her mother and sister helped her care for the quadruplets during the day, and her husband’s parents lent a hand in the evenings.
Alexis, Brandon, Christina and Dominique are now 17, but the Scotts have been bringing them to Mass and a host of other activities at New All Saints since they were in baby carriers.
“To see how (Lisa) and Adam have raised those children in church and in a variety of ways is awesome, and their spirit is so warm,” said Father Donald Sterling, pastor of New All Saints.
The children are junior lectors, altarservers and hold leadership positions in the church’s youth ministry. They enliven the liturgy by singing in the choir, playing instruments or dancing.
“We are so very supported by everyone at New All Saints,” Lisa Scott says. “There was always a kind word for our kids. (The parishioners) want to see them succeed.”
Now juniors at River Hill High School in Clarksville, the Scott children are looking to their futures. Alexis hopes to study psychology in college and one day become a lawyer. Brandon wants to study business with a special focus on marketing. Christina hopes to pursue forensic science; Dominique is interested in computer forensics.
Their mother hopes these dreams can be pursued together.
“They have their moments; don’t get me wrong,” Scott says. “But they are very close and protective of each other. We’re hoping that they can continue that and all go to the same college.”
She has other hopes as well.
“The church has given them a sense of who they are and how they should approach life,” she says. “Hopefully, that will continue to be putting God first, and then everything else hopefully falls into place.”
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