ADVICE RATING |
 4.67 (Highly recommend) from 13 votes (287 Visits) |
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Surviving Parenthood when you pass 2.5 children |
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by gwennie  (December 2006) (rank 500+) |
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Well people say the average no of children is the 2.5 kids. NOT. What happens when you have No 3, No 4, No 5 etc.
Its called SURVIVAL of the fittest. And the fittest needs to be you.
You will go through all the feelings of "How
am I going to stretch myself between them all"
"Will they feel neglected with so many?"
There are so many more questions but where do you start? My answer to all this is start at the beginning. Ask yourself how many children can I cope with before I will be stretched too far. I asked myself that question and felt 3. NAH!! So here I am with 5 boys and looking to have another. A GIRL PLEASE. I found for me to survive I had to spend equal amounts of time with each, but whil dealing with a baby or the youngest always allow the older ones to help. Ask them if they would like to help change the baby, bath the baby etc. This will help them to feel like they are doing something and also bonding with their sibling.
Teh other big thin you need is a really INSANE babysitter who is willing to look after them all at least once a month and just have you and hubby time. But weekly or fortnightly is better, it just depends on who you are able to find to look after your most prized possession. I have an advantage now that I have 2 older boys, as we are able to leave them to look after their little brothers, but I also have great friends a mother a grandmother who is still active enough to control them and a sister who are all happy to help out.
The hardest thing for me has been my age gaps. My older 2 boys are 17 & 15, then there is a 4 and a half year gap, then a 4 year gap then 2 again. This has been a great challenge as the 10 year old is piggy in the middle. He feels too young for the older 2 and too young for the younger 2. We have had to find alternative things for him to not feel so left out, bike riding, friends and sport are all grear and he is starting to feel better about himself. So there are alot of challenges with a large family, but the biggest thing I have found is there is never a dull moment and I love every minute of it.
There is so much more that I could write but I won't. If you have any questions please send me a note.
Regards
Gwennie
