If that sounds crazy to you, it's because well, it is. But it's our crazy. And I've personally found many pros to deciding to have our kids close together.
Table of contents
- 5 Ways to Keep Your Family Close As Your Kids Grow Up
- College Parents Discover a Secret to Staying Close With Kids
- "We connect through music."
- 10 Reasons Why I’m Glad I Had My Kids Close Together;
- The Ups and Downs of Raising Three Kids Close in Age;
- Eden!
- iPod and iTunes For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))!
- The Old Rugged Cross.
- Courage to Succeed; Believe in Who You Are.
We used to sit in separate chairs and read the paper. It made me realize that Daniel feels love through touch, so we needed to sit closer to each other. Back rubs, massages, and cuddling make me feel appreciated. Kate, on the other hand, responds more to affectionate and positive words. In the past, this created some tension between us because I didn't get the physical contact I need, and I tried to show Kate my love through touch instead of compliments, which are what she needs.
We were speaking different languages. So one evening I sidled up to Daniel in his "man chair," and his face lit up right away. It created this intimate moment where it was just the two of us. Since then, I've noticed that he responds much better to talking about finances or work issues when I'm holding his hand or rubbing his back rather than sitting across the room. The fact that Kate took the time to understand me better makes us feel closer than ever.
It's also inspired me to give her what she needs to feel cherished. Now I'll say, "Thanks for cooking dinner, honey," or "I'm proud of the hard work you've done this week.
5 Ways to Keep Your Family Close As Your Kids Grow Up
After the kids are asleep, we grab some beers, light candles, and surf the music stations on TV. We'll dance and sing along to our favorites and reminisce about where we were and what we were doing when we first heard a song. It's a fun way to learn more about each other, and it also reminds us how much we share in common. Sometimes they'll play a song that one of us doesn't like. Shayla can't stand the Retro Rock channel, but we'll keep it on as I try to explain why I like it.
- Interlude in E-flat Major.
- The Beginning of the End of the Line?
- The Surgeon and the Shepherd: Two Resistance Heroes in Vichy France.
- Hung by the Tongue?
- I Had 3 Kids in 3 Years — and Here’s Why I Love That They’re Close in Age.
I love that she's willing to listen in order to understand me better. I find it amazing how much you can find out about a person from his taste in music. One of my favorite songs is "Falls on Me," by Fuel.
After we've finished our musical date, I feel closer to Shayla. The fact that we still enjoy being together gives me confidence in our marriage. It started seven years ago when we were testing a new printer. Daniel printed "I love you" and then hid the paper for me to find. Since then, we've concealed this same "love note" in the house, in our car, and all across the country whenever we travel. I like surprising Caren, and it lets her know I'm thinking of her. We both have a lot of fun with it, though it's an escalating challenge to find unique places to stash the note that neither of us has thought of before.
I crack up when the hiding spot catches me off guard. One time Daniel taped the note to the inside of our toilet-seat cover it was protected in a plastic baggy, thank goodness! This simple, hilarious game has become a constant reminder of our mutual affection, which is a nice thing, since our life with a preschooler is so busy. My philosophy is you can't have love without laughter. I've been known to break into spontaneous dancing and make silly faces to amuse Caren. But the note is my greatest invention.
My favorite memory was the time I mailed it to our new home, addressed to her. That way, it was the first piece of mail she received. Caren knew exactly what it was before she opened it. She just looked at me and smiled. We didn't exchange a single word, but we both felt an instant, powerful connection.
Each month we plan a date that's based on a different letter of the alphabet, an idea I got from the book Alphabet Weekends: For the letter C , we spent an afternoon at the local children's museum by ourselves. This gave us the opportunity to explore the exhibits our kids aren't crazy about, and it made us feel young again.
- The Poetics of Psychoanalysis: In the Wake of Klein.
- Fall in Love With Your Partner All Over Again?
- Chemical Weapons Destruction and Explosive Waste: Unexploded Ordinance Remediations.
After having my first child, I believed the shock to my system needed time to wear off. I also thought the amount of time it would take for that to happen would be about five years. I believed that with my whole being, until something came over me one day before his first birthday. I had changed my mind overnight and I wanted to have another child as soon as I possibly could.
He was thinking we would get the hard years over with all at once. Since I was drunk with baby lust, I went along with it, knowing full well there probably would never be a time in my life when I thought raising kids was easy — no matter their age, no matter how many we had, no matter what day of the week it was.
I got pregnant for the second time that night, and while our second child was about 6 months old, we got pregnant again. And there have been and still are , quite a few pros to having your kids close together, like:.
College Parents Discover a Secret to Staying Close With Kids
My oldest was still going down for afternoon naps when I had my youngest. This was the biggest reason I survived those years in the trenches. I would power through the 45 minutes of fresh hell it would take to get them to all simmer down, read, get them water, check under their bed, yell at them to get back in bed, check the closets, lie down with them, get one more drink of water. After that, I was done and it was glorious. You can potty train them together. This was never my intention, but when my oldest started potty training around 3, his 1-year-old sister watched him and wanted in on the potty action.
Seeing her use the potty, and the fact she was younger than him, gave him some motivation to master toilet time.
Before I knew it, they were both potty trained and out of diapers. I went from having three kids in diapers to only having one child in diapers and it felt like a vacation.
"We connect through music."
My youngest was right behind them, wanting to sit on the pot when he was 1. Even though it took him a few years after that to get out of diapers during the day, it was encouraging. Which makes me also remember the three months I had three kids in diapers and hated my life. There is nothing positive about that and I apologized to the garbage man on the regular.
When our oldest was 5, we signed the three of them up for swimming lessons together and they all mastered it by the time lessons were over. Going to the beach got a bit easier after that.