Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I couldn't be more than friendly acquaintances with someone who had more than 4 kids.
aww you're missing out then!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We have 1 with no plans for a second. Of our close friends who are local, they have:
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2
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2
Honestly, we like hanging out with the other families with just one child the most. Our kids play together even if there is an age gap and that occupies them, and then all the adults can actually get time to socialize. Even when the kids need more hands on supervision, it generally only takes one adult at a time, so it is just a much more relaxing social outing.
Our friends with 2 kids, what usually happens is that two of the kids play together but someone is always left out (usually whoever is youngest). There is more fighting and complaining and the varying ages mean we are more limited in what we can do. It's just more stressful overall.
The couple with 3 kids I no longer invite to our home because it is exhausting and chaotic and I don't feel like they supervise their kids well enough and I find myself spending the whole time getting interrupted and cleaning up after their kids, or feeding their kids, or answering their kids questions. My own child winds up getting neglected because their 3 kids just dominate everything and their dynamic becomes the group dynamic. We will sometimes meet up with them at the park or go to their house for a BBQ where we can just be the guest and there is less pressure on us.
Yes- we find we have most in common financially, politically and socially with other one-and-dones
And yes, this is by design.
Anonymous wrote:We have 1 with no plans for a second. Of our close friends who are local, they have:
1
2
1
2
1
3
2
Honestly, we like hanging out with the other families with just one child the most. Our kids play together even if there is an age gap and that occupies them, and then all the adults can actually get time to socialize. Even when the kids need more hands on supervision, it generally only takes one adult at a time, so it is just a much more relaxing social outing.
Our friends with 2 kids, what usually happens is that two of the kids play together but someone is always left out (usually whoever is youngest). There is more fighting and complaining and the varying ages mean we are more limited in what we can do. It's just more stressful overall.
The couple with 3 kids I no longer invite to our home because it is exhausting and chaotic and I don't feel like they supervise their kids well enough and I find myself spending the whole time getting interrupted and cleaning up after their kids, or feeding their kids, or answering their kids questions. My own child winds up getting neglected because their 3 kids just dominate everything and their dynamic becomes the group dynamic. We will sometimes meet up with them at the park or go to their house for a BBQ where we can just be the guest and there is less pressure on us.
Anonymous wrote:I couldn't be more than friendly acquaintances with someone who had more than 4 kids.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I'm pregnant with our fourth and probably final kid. Our friends have 2-6, if you count pregnancies. Some are done having kids and some are not. Among our kids' friends, a few are from larger families, with the largest being 10.
You can't count pregnancies! Just kids that are alive. Hell, my own mother had SEVEN miscarriages before she got pregnant with my older brother. She believes strongly that it's fine to "replace yourselves" with a new generation but that's it. She has two kids. She would NEVER have had seven kids!
You sound disturbed. I don't mean counting every pregnancy ever had. If I was counting that way, I'd say I'm pregnant with my ninth, which would be ridiculous.
Well what else could you have possibly meant when you said "... if you count pregnancies." ? That's what that means.
Pregnancies currently in progress. Rounding up, essentially. Not past miscarriages. That is an extremely bizarre reading.
Nah, I've seen too many things go wrong - you can't count a pregnancy until it's resulted in a live baby.