If you have three kids with uneven spacing, what is it like?

[Anonymous]

Pp again. I had 2 boys and then the girl who was 5 years younger. I love taking her to dance and doing the girly things I couldn’t do with boys. I just went a bit crazy with cute Halloween pajamas and shirts and dresses. I love buying dresses and hair bows. Love dressing up my mini me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 kids under 5 isn’t a big gap. Lol.

Exactly. 3 kids in 5-6 years is the complete opposite of a big gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My youngest is 5 years younger than mh older two. Older two were 2 years apart. I absolutely loved having a baby when older two were in elementary school. I got to stay home and spend quality time with the baby when older kids were in school. Then I focused on the big kids and their activities after school.

Now I have a kid in elementary, middle and high school. All 3 kids have afternoon activities and we have a lot of conflicts. When kids get older, you don’t have control of sports practice schedules and games and often don’t get notice of changes until the week of. This may just be an older kid norm.

Uber teen just started and my 14yo took an Uber for the first time last week. We carpool a lot.

I hear this a lot when there’s 5-6 years between the second and third. Big kids dote on and it’s fun to tote around a baby, but by the time all three kids are older and in activities, it’s a struggle. Not to say you shouldn’t have that spacing, but it’s helpful to hear from folks farther down the parenting journey.

[Anonymous]

That’s not a big gap at all. My boys were 5 and 7 when their baby sister was born. I was worried about the gap, but turns out the gap has been lovely. My boys could actually help somewhat during the baby/toddler years and were really patient with her because they see her as so much younger vs. the way they can get competitive with each other.

Also, our daughter is a ham. She is seriously our family’s comedic relief. She keeps us all laughing. My boys adore her and it’s mutual. I’m a total fan of a gap between #2 and 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My youngest is 5 years younger than mh older two. Older two were 2 years apart. I absolutely loved having a baby when older two were in elementary school. I got to stay home and spend quality time with the baby when older kids were in school. Then I focused on the big kids and their activities after school.

Now I have a kid in elementary, middle and high school. All 3 kids have afternoon activities and we have a lot of conflicts. When kids get older, you don’t have control of sports practice schedules and games and often don’t get notice of changes until the week of. This may just be an older kid norm.

Uber teen just started and my 14yo took an Uber for the first time last week. We carpool a lot.

I hear this a lot when there’s 5-6 years between the second and third. Big kids dote on and it’s fun to tote around a baby, but by the time all three kids are older and in activities, it’s a struggle. Not to say you shouldn’t have that spacing, but it’s helpful to hear from folks farther down the parenting journey.

Wouldn’t this be the case with 3 kids in activities regardless of age spacing? I do think it’s something parents should think about as far as scheduling, but if anything with a gap you buy yourself sometime before #3 gets heavily involved in stuff and the oldest may be driving. In our case we also prioritized living somewhere walkable so my kids can walk to some of their practices, which is nice. We also have a minivan and set up carpools with other families (many with 3+ kids who are willing to trade off with us).

[Anonymous]

Lol that's not uneven spacing. Infertility is awesome!

[Anonymous]

This isn’t a big gap. My first two (both boys) are 3 years apart. Always have been very close. My third (girl) is 20 months apart from the second. She is close with both of them, but the older two are closest (they have more of the same interests — sports/rough housing etc.).