Tuesday, March 03, 2009

speaking of babies...

If we wanted Fry to have a sibling with the same age difference and my sister and I, we'd have to get pregnant this month.

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA- *gasp* -AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHA!

no.

My parents did have their reasons, though. My mother, an only child, had read that siblings close in age tend to be very close growing up, so this is why she and my father, the oldest of four (plus two half-brothers that are 20+ years younger, which has no bearing on this story but I feel awkward not mentioning them for some reason) planned to get pregnant ASAP. Consequently, my sister and I are 13 months apart in age.

Now, this may work for some siblings, but it didn't work for us. I'm glad to report that my sister and I get along like gangbusters today, but not so much when we were kids.

So yeah, maybe when Fry's 13 months old we'll start talking siblings, but until then...

7 comments:

JChevais said...

My kids are 18 months apart and I can tell you that the second pregnancy, the full time job, the toddler and standard maternity leave busted my ass.

Mr C is an only child too. That's probably the catalyst for a lot of siblings close in age.

However that being said, I feel like we got everything done with (I am speaking diapers and bottles) all at the same time. Now that they're older, I'm glad that my hands aren't as tied as much.

And when dishes need doing so that I can laze around watching the news drinking wine, they work together.

Ms Mac said...

Patrick and James are less than 13 months apart and it was hard work at the time (essentially two babies but with different requirements, routines etc) but it was totally worth it. Then Ewan came along when James was 2.5- I was done with nappies, bottles, weaning, bibs, cots etc within 5 years and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Also, my love life (ifyouknowwhaddimean) was back to pre-baby form in that time too.

The downside is, of course, that you don't get to enjoy your oldest as a baby for very long- they soon have the tag of big brother thrust upon them and expectations suddenly arrive from everyone around for them to grow up overnight.

(I might mention that physically, James's passage into the world was a lot less.... stretchy burny?... than Patrick's was. By the time Ewan arrived the stretchy burny sensation had returned- ouch! But you had a c-section, didn't you so this doesn't apply to you.)

Vivi said...

I have to say, I think there are some really, really good arguments for having children close in age. The diaper thing is a good reason but we're using cloth so it will actually be to our advantage to wait until Fry is done (though I don't know if we'll wait quite that long!). We do have some more reasons for wanting to wait a little that I haven't blogged about but the important thing is that we've definitely discussed our options and decided that waiting a little is best for us.

Champsleeve said...

Back when we were thinking of having a second baby, we were planning 5 years between them. Our thinking was that my husband and his brother are 2 years apart and hate each other whereas my brother and I are very close and we are 5 years apart. I doubt it actually has anything to do with the age difference though. I think it has more to do with the terrible person my husband's brother is!!

Like you, I can't imagine getting pregnant that soon after a baby though. Obviously my opinion doesn't count for much though since we decided to only have one! I never was able to wrap my mind around getting pregnant again.

-Dana

Doc said...

Dude, let me tell you...

No, don't. Baby things, ALL baby things, are best when you do what YOU want, need, feel like etc....

But, if you decide to go the crazy way, hon, I'll totally hold your hand.

And laugh at you.

JChevais said...

Doc is truly unrepentant.

And that is why we lover her. Right?...

...

Bueller?

Lisanne said...

Our children are 19 months apart. Meredith was a "surprise blessing," LOL! :) Lucas wasn't even one yet when I found out that I was pregnant for the second time, and he was still nursing, too! Ouch ~ that hurt! LOL! :) Anyway, Meredith is such an *amazing* blessing to our family ~ like she has been with us all along. But yeah, "busted my ass" is a good way of putting it. It's *so* freaking hard sometimes. We are considering having a third ~ maybe next year, but we shall see. That would be IT for us.