Expecting

[DoctorWho-PE]

MiniBuff #1 turns 12 TODAY! And it sure is "fun" having a 12 year old in the house.But in all seriousness, it is amazing how time flies.

12 year olds are the BEST!  My son is 12 (13 in March), and daughter is 10 (11 in March).  I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the teenage years... that haven't even started yet.

 

[ktulu]

MiniBuff #1 turns 12 TODAY! And it sure is "fun" having a 12 year old in the house.But in all seriousness, it is amazing how time flies.

Yeah her birthday is Saturday. Knew they were only a few days apart. 

 

[Road Guy]

**** I didn't realize this thread was that old! or that this board was that old!

Its a strange ride.. mine are 20, 18, and the "baby" will be 17 Friday! (skipping out of work & school and going skiing Friday) - Only one more year to do that on his birthday next year

 

[Orchid PE]

So is 3 the way to go or should stop with the nuclear family? We've always wanted 3, but I really want to start doing stuff with them and I know if we have 1 more, it's going to be a few extra years before we can start doing what we want to with them.

I've always imagined having nice family holidays when I get older; 3 kids with their 3 spouses and all the grandchildren running around. With us only have 2 kids, that's less grandchildren.

 

[Road Guy]

We thought 2 would have been ideal, but apparently the margaritas had other plans!

But my 3rd is pretty cool - however it makes everything more complicated, from cars to vacations, even houses to some extent..  Were taking all the "kids" to Fla for some family time (my parents live in Tampa) and Key Largo time and we ended up getting a suburban for the rental car - it just makes everything more expensive - or more fun!  Truthfully if we weren't  packing dive gear we could probably use a Tahoe but anything smaller is almost out of the question.. We did a road trip from Vegas, Grand Canyon, LA, etc in a "big" mini van and with the luggage it was a PIA!

But it does give you more options for later if you are banking on grand kids..

 

[MA_PE]

I get to relive the baby experience through my grandson.  2 1/2 months and the changes are amazing.  Thank god for IMs and FaceTime with him so far away.

 

[JayKay PE]

So is 3 the way to go or should stop with the nuclear family? We've always wanted 3, but I really want to start doing stuff with them and I know if we have 1 more, it's going to be a few extra years before we can start doing what we want to with them.

I've always imagined having nice family holidays when I get older; 3 kids with their 3 spouses and all the grandchildren running around. With us only have 2 kids, that's less grandchildren.

Mmmm, my family went for three (2 girls, 1 boy), but there are no grandchildren on the horizon, so I wouldn't bank on another child automatically meaning more and/or less grandchildren.  As for vacations/cars/etc., I think my parents did okay with it.  We had a station wagon up until I think I turned 5 or 6 (and my siblings were 7 and 9, so we just became too big), and then they got a minivan.  Mostly used that as the day-to-day driver for my mom since one kid sat in the front, one in the middle, and one laying in the back.  As for vacations and stuff, my parents have vacation photos starting when I was 4 (old enough to walk a bit, sit in a more simple stroller), and siblings were 6 and 8.  Of course, they also had to deal with my brother having autistic tantrums, so the vacations were did younger were more...anti-stiming?  Lots of museums!  And caves!  And cool mining facilities!  And Colonial Williamsburg!  

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

So is 3 the way to go or should stop with the nuclear family? We've always wanted 3, but I really want to start doing stuff with them and I know if we have 1 more, it's going to be a few extra years before we can start doing what we want to with them.

I've always imagined having nice family holidays when I get older; 3 kids with their 3 spouses and all the grandchildren running around. With us only have 2 kids, that's less grandchildren.

My advice is to see how you do with two kids first. With two, at least you can play “man-to-man” defense, whereas with three you have to play zone defense. It gets somewhat tricky at times. And, as @JayKay PE already mentioned, it changes more than just the family dynamic.

I don’t regret having three kids, and I love all of them, but it is a lot of work.

 

[Orchid PE]

I actually grew up as the baby with two older sisters. My oldest sister has 2 and is planning on at least 1 more. My other sister is working on having some. My dad grew up as the youngest of 3, and my mom grew up as the youngest of 4. My wife had only 1 other sibling.

I know growing up with 3 was nice. If two of us were mad at each other, there was always the 3rd to either smooth things over or just someone else to play with. I think wanting kids was something that was ingrained in us as children.

I will force my children to have more children if I have to.

 

[NikR_PE]

Since most is already covered and having only one child myself I have no advice.

But I will paraphrase what my colleague said.

"With one kid, you have some time for yourself. With two, you have none. With three, you are just borrowing time from other kids". Not sure how true this is, but he has 3 teenagers. So I guess he knows. 

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

I actually grew up as the baby with two older sisters. My oldest sister has 2 and is planning on at least 1 more. My other sister is working on having some. My dad grew up as the youngest of 3, and my mom grew up as the youngest of 4. My wife had only 1 other sibling.

I know growing up with 3 was nice. If two of us were mad at each other, there was always the 3rd to either smooth things over or just someone else to play with. I think wanting kids was something that was ingrained in us as children.

I grew up with 3 sibs, and my wife with 2, so we were both keen on having kids (we originally talked maybe 4).

Having multiple siblings was certainly fun, but the initial “everyone’s below 4” stage is exhausting as a parent. I’m sure it’ll get better once they get older but it’s definitely a dynamic I didn’t expect.

 

[Orchid PE]

With my luck if we go for a 3rd, we'll have twins (we've been preg with twins before so it's a possibility)!

I really wanted twins the first time around. One pregnancy but getting 2 babies!?!?! Might be hard at first, but if we stopped at 2 we wouldn't have to get pregnant again!

 

[Orchid PE]

I grew up with 3 sibs, and my wife with 2, so we were both keen on having kids (we originally talked maybe 4).

Having multiple siblings was certainly fun, but the initial “everyone’s below 4” stage is exhausting as a parent. I’m sure it’ll get better once they get older but it’s definitely a dynamic I didn’t expect.

Idk how my mom did it.

Our age difference:

Me<- 18mo ->Sister<- 20mo ->Sister

There were times when I was +/- 1yo and my dad was overseas in the navy. Idk how my mom did it by herself.

 

[NikR_PE]

We wanted to have 2 kids. Mrs. NikR was hoping to have twins too. Just to get it over in one go. Didn't work out that way. Luckily for me we didn't have to buy two of everything.