There’s a rumour going around that having three children is the new ‘perfect two’, and outnumbered mums are beginning to take the spotlight. For the last twenty years or so, the average number of children per family has been between one and two, but we could see that beginning to change into the future.
What’s your plan? Do you plan for one, two, three or more? Or will you let the cards fall where they lay, as it were? Tell us how many children you plan to have or would like and why!
Pros
Camaraderie
The camaraderie from other outnumbered-mums is great. You’ll feel the support in a multitude of forms, from watching the kids in the playground to getting a hand in the bathroom or swimming pool changing room.
You know what you’re doing
It’s a given that you’ll be watching your first child like a hawk, and applauding everything they do from poos to coos. Your second will be less studied, though you’ll know where you went wrong the first time. Your third, well, it’s as if they come out of the womb walking and chatting away. You blink and all of a sudden they’re a toddler…
They’re more chilled out
It’s true that your third baby is more relaxed and less work than the first two. But why is this? Usually, the house is so busy that your third baby hasn’t got a choice, but to slot their way into the family, and learn to be content with the third of attention they get from their parents. It also helps that parents tend to be more relaxed, with less hard and fast rules about what they eat, play with or do to relax (more screen time perhaps?).
Cons
Outnumbered
You are outnumbered, and no pros will change that. So when you’re in the supermarket and your three children decide to run in three different directions, you have to know which two are more likely to make good decisions, and which one is likely to, well, make a regrettable one.
Middle child syndrome
Yes, all us middle children in the world agree; it is a real thing and difficult to avoid. Your oldest is out in the world achieving things at school or on the pitch, while the baby is cooing, crying and burping away, and the middle child… is doing just fine!
Family time is hard
Long gone are the days when you and your partner could chill with some Netflix and bottle of red of a Friday. They’ve since been taken up by your children’s preferences (be that games, movies or general tom-foolery). But now you have the added struggle of each child having different tastes in movies, games, and tom-foolery. Which can lead to some long discussions about what the family get up to on a Friday. And then there’s Saturday and Sunday to contend with as well!
Facts
You won’t believe just how big your capacity for love can expand with the arrival of each new child. You really do have to live it to believe it.
maternity & infant
Originally posted 2018-01-29 14:56:58.