Finding 3 kids w/ big age gap really challenging

[Anonymous]

I found 15- 22 months the hardest no matter if siblings were in play. They want to walk, climb, touch, mouth everything. But they are not totally safe to do so. They have to be watched like a hawk all the time and there is no sit and play with a thing for longer than 5 min (at least for my three kids). It was exhausting. One parent was always with a child that age because of the constant monitoring. And going to a friend's get together would never happen without the express knowledge that we will need to leave very shortly after arriving. It is wildly unfun to chase a toddler in another person's home. And there was no sitting and socializing with friends - they needed to be engaged and monitored all the time.

So, I think it may be more of a forgetting what that stage is like than about age gap or three kids. I do think you should have set things -- mom does soccer practice and karate class with the older boys. Dad does music lessons and Sunday nature hikes or whatever. That way you are not negotiating every week and you know you will get older kid time, too.

BUT, if baby is a good napper -- I would LOVE that 2 hours to sit in a quiet house and read a book, eat a food, drink a coffee and not at soccer, karate, art class, or a birthday party. Daddy can do all that