Hmmm, not quite the creative title I'm going for on this one folks....originally it was "Family planning...", but that wasn't quite going down the path I want to take either. What I'm curious about is how people decide(d) when to start their family and if you have children now, how far apart your kids are spaced: 1 year, 2 years, etc.
My "plan" (because we all know how subject to change our plans are when it comes to having kids) is to aim for a two to two and a half year spacing between Jack and the next child, Lord willing. I'm just not that keen on having children in my 30's if I have any say about it, and I'm approaching that target date a little faster than I realized (denial is the subject of another post).
Of course there are all sorts of pros and cons in this discussion and I don't believe there's a one-size-fits-all type solution for everyone. I can totally understand wanting to build a career through the 20's and then thinking about children in your 30's (or 40s), and I can also see wanting to get child-rearing out of the way in time for you to still enjoy some of your pre-senior citizen status (I tend to fall into this camp).
As far as spacing goes, my sister made a good point when she said that it's nice to have a second child before the first is out of diapers, that way you're still in diaper mode and it's not such a shock to the system to start changing diapers again. I think the same kind of idea applies to breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, etc: it's harder to jump back into dealing with those things the longer you go without doing them. Of course, in regards to the diaper changing, the flip side is that you have two kids in diapers when it sure would be nice if at least one of them could fend for themselves in the potty arena.
I know people have all sorts of reasons for when they start a family (or don't) and how far apart they decide to space their children's birthdays, so I thought I would just ask everyone how you arrived at your decision.
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We are going for one in diapers at a time. We will probably start trying fairly soon after Ryan turns 2. I'm more and more ready now that i'm watching nolan and i see it isn't as difficult as i imagined taking care of two. at the same time, it makes me realize how nice it is to just have one. ANYWAY...right now, it is boiling down to that we are going to Germany in Dec of next year and I don't want to be TOO pregnant on the flight :)
We wanted kids young so that we can enjoy our lives later. I also knew that I wanted them somewhat close together. They will end up being about 20 months apart by the time this new one joins us. I wish my daughter understood a little more what is going on, but I know in the long run we are going to be very happy about the decision. There are no plans to rush potty training on the first one, but I do hope we can get her out of the crib and into a big bed. Wish us good luck!
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