With my first son, I was living with his biological father. I was working the graveyard shift at a 24 hour restaurant and barely scraping by. Fast forward to child #2, four years later, and I was married to my current husband, working days, and crazy happy and in love. The situations were so very different, I'm sure that had much more of an affect on me than actually adding a kid in.
Add to that the fact that my oldest son has been an old man since the day he was born, lol! Very serious, a real rule follower for the most part, pretty easy to get along with. My younger son was physically sickly from 1 month until about 2 (never slept for more than a few hours at a time) and was diagnosed with autism at 3.
I can say, that in generalities, there are big differences in having two instead of one, though (not as big a difference going from 2 to 3!). On the positive side, I think 2 kids made me feel more like a "family" than just one did. Life just seemed... fuller? More rounded out? It's hard to describe.
I also think kids with siblings can (can, mind you) sometimes get a better sense of social skills earlier in life. Even when they are fighting over toys or possessions, they are learning how to deal with other kids and how to share and socialize. (I definitely think having an older sibling has been instrumental in how far my middles son has come since he was small).
Of course the work is doubled. It's more expensive. If there's a big age gap between the two, it can be hard to start all over again with an infant.
No matter what hardships come along, though, there's always enough room in your heart for another once they come.
Mr. B. likes to say: "It's not real parenting until the kids outnumber you!" Lol!
1 Comments:
Ahah!
I have the sense that our family will get fuller, too :)
They will only be 2 years apart, and every baby stuff is still out there.
I'm glad your life changed for the best between kid 1 and 2!
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