Odd or Even # of Kids?

I’d never have 3. Middle child syndrome is real :smiling_face_with_tear:

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This is why I really like the idea of BGB or GBG trios. I think when the middle child is different it subverts the middle child issue bc they get a different kind of attention.

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I’m not trying to discount what you’re saying, but I think what Rosebeth was saying… once you actually become a parent, sometimes it feels (and maybe it’s largely imagined!) that you’re being judged for EVERYTHING. Judged for co-sleeping, judged for sleep-training, judged for breastfeeding too publicly or once your child is “too old”, judged for bottle-feeding, judged for appearing too permissive or too authoritative in your parenting, for letting your boy wear pink sparkly dresses, etc etc… so the stereotyping you’ve seen in your home town might SEEM like a big deal to you now, esp watching people go through it if it’s particularly severe judginess from others, but ultimately you have to learn to ignore all that and do what you really feel is best for you, your child, your family. Because that stereotype is really just a drop in the ocean of people’s unwanted opinions :sweat_smile:

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I think it’s a rather unfair generalisation to say that most only children are spoiled. I certainly wasn’t. What I did have was a very close relationship with my mother (primary caregiver). I know only children who aren’t spoiled, and I know children with siblings who are. It comes down to the individual’s parenting choices, not an arbitrary thing like whether they have siblings or not. I will say that for me, the loneliness was real at times, with a single mum who had to work and no siblings. I got very good at entertaining myself and reading a lot.

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I want four children, there is a reason to this. I have a sister (she’s twelve years younger) and a brother (he’s two and a half years younger). I moved out at sixteen and my brother is at boarding school, so she is basically an only child. I spend long periods of time with her when she comes and stays at mine, but I have a more mother figure that sister. I want four so that someone will always have a sibling to be close to. If I have a child many years after I will have another within 18-30 months so they have someone.

[name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I are having another 4th kid talk next week. We’re on opposite sides of the fence on this one. I love my three girls and I really want them to have one more sibling/play mate. They (mostly) are the best of friends and have been asking me for another baby :pleading_face: Wish me luck!

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I can’t have any less then five kids, it just wouldn’t be enough for me, I think 7 is the perfect number of kids for me,

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whatever the [name_m]Lord[/name_m] gives me is a blessing :heart:

but if I could choose, I’d say 3-5 :sunny:

In the end I’ll probably try for an even 2, close in age. I know I can’t handle more than that, and though I’m tempted to stick with one (I’m expecting our first), having grown up with 3 siblings and 2 for my husband, it’s hard for us to imagine not having another. It’s not off the table but yeah, I would say probably two

Whatever number I have is of course amazing, and I would feel extremely lucky, but I think at the moment I’d love to have three little babes. The first two within 2 years of each other, and then maybe wait 3 more years before having another, after which I would decide if I wanted to try for a fourth, I wish I would want an even number and would prefer it, but realistically I think 3 would be the number for me.

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Honestly, I always thought I wanted a bunch of kids and that it was a shame to just have one. But after my struggles with pregnancy, I’m thinking we just have one. However, ideally I’d like 3! Odd numbers just seem right to me

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Our plan is to either have 2 or 3 (we will play it by ear whether we decide to try for a third or not when we get to that point).

Growing up one of 9 kids, the idea of trying to match kids up with “buddies” in even numbers doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. I’ve had fluctuating levels of closeness with each of my siblings my whole life just based on what our interests were or what we were up to at the time, which I think is pretty normal… I’m not even sure what people are talking about when they say they want their kids to be in pairs. No judgement, but it just seems strange to me.

I do know I’ve always wanted more than one, and my SO (who’s an only child) STRONGLY hopes to have more than one because of the difficulties he feels he personally had as an only child.

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I don’t mind as long as I have more than 1, I have always wanted several kids.

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