On having three children
I'm an only child.
I come from a long line of only children, too, so the whole notion of having brothers and sisters is foreign to me.
My husband is the youngest of four boys, so, he has his own experiences and opinions about siblings.
Now, I have no problem being an only child, even if I did, what would I do about it, anyway? My father steadfastly refuses to give me a sibling, mainly because he's 75, and, my mother died a couple of years ago.
Yeah, I know. But, what about meeeee?
Hey, I'm kidding if you don't know me.
Anyway, I have 3 kids, and, sometimes that amazes me.
I knew I wanted to have more than one child, not because I was unhappy being an only, on the contrary, I think I had a lot of advantages, and, I turned out OK (You? In the 3rd row? Shut up.), but, it's just what I felt was right.
My husband was all for one, possibly two, and, indeed we had the first two twenty months apart, and, all was well.
Or, was it?
He was quite happy, as was I, except, I just had a nagging feeling someone was missing.
I'd bring up the idea of a third child every now and then, and, it would get dismissed, as reality pretty much indicated that it wouldn't be a good idea for a variety of reasons.
Our two children were wonderful, yet, the feeling that someone wasn't at the party persisted, and, I didn't like feeling that way. I wanted to be OK with our family the way it was.
Indeed, I eventually resolved it, and, the notion of more children no longer occupied my admittedly limited brain space.
Until I realized I was indeed pregnant with the third nearly 6 years after my second child.
I'll spare you the details, but, I had a doctor's prescription that severely cut down on the odds of that, but, well, some things were meant to be, I guess. And, no, I would never deliberately do something like that.
After the initial shock wore off, I figured out how this happened.
You see, when my oldest was in kindergarten, I recall standing at the kindergarten picnic talking to a group of mothers whom I realized all had something in common: they each had kindergarteners and high schoolers.
Now, remember, my oldest child was in kindergarten, and, I thought this was hysterical!
I laughed loud. I laughed long.
Who knew that I would be on the same track a mere two years later?
Karma, dude. Karma.
Anyway, though I have no siblings, and, I can't always relate to what it feels like when someone takes your toy, or, what it's like to have to share your parents with someone, I wouldn't have it any other way.
The party is complete.
Comments
I too am an only child. I currently have 2 boys. I'm on the fence about a 3rd, even though I never thought I would even consider it.
Then again, I'm an older mom, so I won't be waiting a few years if I do have another. It's a hard decision, that's for certain!
Posted by: Naomi (Urban Mummy) | February 8, 2008 3:56 PM
Wow...how similar we are! I am an only child with a 4 year old DD and a 20 month old DS. And someone is missing...I just know it. For all the practical reasons, I talk myself out of it and then I will casually say "when we have the next...". 3 terrifies me, but I think 2 terrifies me more. I don't want to be 20 years down the road and regret that 3rd baby. Is it hard having 3 kids? Probably? But isn't one kid hard??
Posted by: Melissa | February 25, 2008 1:22 PM