Do you regret your family size?

[Anonymous]

Have one. Wish I had more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH and I never had a family plan. We thought two might be nice, but then also were fine not having kids. When our DS was born it felt like I space I didn’t know needed filling was filled. There’s no other little soul out there waiting to be in our family. We’re all accounted for.

I’ll let that guide me and have an only I think. That’s the only way so far I can sort out what to do next.

We also started out with no plan. I was inclined towards a kid. DH was inclined against. Neither of us felt so strongly that it was a deal breaker. We decided to try for one and ended up with a perfect DD. A couple of weeks after she was born it was clear that she was SO AWESOME that we just had to do it again. Ended up with DD2 who is different, but also perfect. And now we are done. Like pp said, we’re all accounted for and couldn’t be happier with our family of four.

[Anonymous]

I have one (9 yo) and I'm mostly ok with that. But occasionally I get a little pang when there's an especially cute little kid hanging around. I'm like the toddler whisperer - I seem to attract them everywhere I go - so at times I wonder "what if". It makes it worse that my daughter is great with little kids - she might have been a great big sis.

[Anonymous]

I really wish society was different and more men were OK doing their half or being the default parent. The men I've loved were either destined to be career-focused seagull dad or low-ambition contemplation-focused, both types needing enormous praise for doing 25% of parenting and bringing in 25% of the bread.

So, even though I love my career, and I would have loved to have four kids, I am a single parent of two with a disappointing career and no help.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 (4.5 and 2.5) and I think I still want one more... DH feels the same, but I am not so sure as I was for number 2... what should I do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two. I wish that I was the type of parent that could handle more because I think down the road, lots of kids is a huge gift. But I recognize my limits. So two it is. No regrets.

This is exactly how I feel

This is me too. If I'd started in my 20s, maybe having three would be nice. But I am 37, have two awesome kids, and every day feel more sure this is it. They are 1 and 3.

[Anonymous]

I wish we had paid parental leave, affordable childcare and housing costs, and less expensive higher education. These are our main barriers to a larger family size. (Throw in infertility with no insurance coverage for IVF.) I am reading the question as a financial one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have 1 right now. We are young but have had many health issues since having our DC.

Always thought we'd have 2 or may be even 3 but health has been really really really hard. Not sure what to do, actually.

Any suggestions? ha

What are the health issues? Hard giving you advice without more details.

DH has has 2 hip reconstructions and 1 back surgery in 6 months. We're both young, young 30's. All surgeries unexpected. I am exhausted. He hasn't physically been able to do much of anything for the entire time we've had our DC but we both thought we'd have more kids. I just don't know if I'm being a 'baby' about all of this or if it's normal for me to think may be this is it.

I don't think you're being a baby at all. Being a single parent must be hard, not to mention having to take care of your DH.

[Anonymous]

Just me and DH and no regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two. I wish that I was the type of parent that could handle more because I think down the road, lots of kids is a huge gift. But I recognize my limits. So two it is. No regrets.

This is exactly how I feel

This is me too. If I'd started in my 20s, maybe having three would be nice. But I am 37, have two awesome kids, and every day feel more sure this is it. They are 1 and 3.

Another one who feels that way. And even if I started earlier, am not certain I would have been able to handle more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just me and DH and no regrets.

What are you doing in the General Parenting Discussion forum of the DC Urban Moms and Dads website, then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two. I wish that I was the type of parent that could handle more because I think down the road, lots of kids is a huge gift. But I recognize my limits. So two it is. No regrets.

This is exactly how I feel

This is me too. If I'd started in my 20s, maybe having three would be nice. But I am 37, have two awesome kids, and every day feel more sure this is it. They are 1 and 3.

Another one who feels that way. And even if I started earlier, am not certain I would have been able to handle more.

The large families I see don't seem to be handling anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just me and DH and no regrets.

What are you doing in the General Parenting Discussion forum of the DC Urban Moms and Dads website, then?

DP. Also childfree. This is hardly just a parenting forum. I got to this particular thread from Recent Threads--I was just curious to see what people said.

[Anonymous]

We have four. The only time I regret having four is when planning travel. The logistics are insane for 7 people (nanny or mother included).

Other than that, I absolutely adore my family. DH has 3 older siblings so I knew we'd end up with a big family even though we never had a real plan going in.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 - 1.5YO and 3YO. I'd be lying if sometimes I didn't wonder "what if we stopped with 1". DS2 is a much harder child than DS1. I love my family, I adore my kids, but honestly I could see it being much easier with just 1.