Pre-School and Daycare
if you have 2 boy children..
tell me about it. We just found out we are having another boy! Wondering what I am in for. DS was and is a very, very active baby and toddler...we are always on our toes. I guess I have heard that boys keep us busy when they are younger!
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Re: if you have 2 boy children..
I have two boys ages 2.5 and 5. I am always breaking up a fight (2 year old can hold his own against his brother lol) they are always fighting over toys, food, drinks, covers (they share a room but have seperate beds). Ds1 will protect his brother though and when they are older they will be good friends.
Also they didnt start fighting about things until ds2 hit his terrible twos, but it should taper
I have three boys. A friend who also has three boys (in high school and college now) told me the key maintaining your sanity with multiple boys in your house is to tire them out! That is certainly true for us. If we sit around and try to have too much quiet time without activity - they find it on their own. And it's usually not something we approve of.
When they aren't fighting and trying to bother each other they can be really sweet and supportive of each other. It's a cool dynamic I think.
Congrats!
My twins are 5! My baby is 3!
DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi
DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame
Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
I have 2 boys: 4 and 2 years. They also like to wrestle a lot. They egg each other on and my 2 year old starts it as much as my 4 year old. I have more trouble having them two other than any of the other combination of kids, for that reason, we don't stay at DD's gymnastics practice rather drop off. They do have different personalities- one is more laid back than the other (if he has what he wants) but he is pretty picky and the other has a really sweet but also a really sour side--he's not too picky tho.
eta: I always hear that boys are harder as toddlers but get progressively easier-they are less complex and drama filled--who knows. MH has high hopes that one day the boys will be "homeboys" and I believe they will. My brothers are very close now....
Mine are 17 months apart.
With yours being spaced so much farther apart I think your experiences will be quite different from ours.
My oldest's BFF has a sibling who is spaced like yours will be and frankly he still barely notices him at 16 months old where as for us by the time the 2nd was that age they were attached at the hip and what DH would call "one unit" because they were in such similar stages.
I think you will find that you will get to see some leadership and care taking in your older son as well some resentment.
One thing I think is likely no matter what the spacing is that the younger one tends to follow what the older one is interested in. The Star Wars craze hit both kids at the same time even though I think my younger child would have had zero interest in it had it not been for his brother reading and playing with Star Wars stuff non-stop. They may have similar interests in sports simply because what ever the older one plays most is what the younger one will get dragged to and hence get the most exposure to.
They are very physical and I've found my younger one to be pretty fearless because he's busy trying to keep up with the older one.
Mine honestly don't fight that much (yet - hee hee). They certainly have times where they want "alone time" to get away from the other but over all they play well together most of the time.
My next door neighbor has 2 spaced about what yours will be but they're now 10 and 6. I'm constantly FLOORED by how amazing her older son is. He's awesome with younger kids. He was old enough at the baby's birth to comprehend that he needed to be gentle and it's carried over. He always works to include all of the younger kids in the neighborhood in the group play and has amazing patience as well as a true interest in helping the younger kids learn things like sports.
I think the bottom line with same gendered siblings is that they tend "get" each other regardless of age difference. It's amazing to see them play together, learn together, grow together and most of all learn to express love to someone other than their parents.
And yes... they certainly keep you young! I'm on the go ALL.THE.TIME. and I love it!
Total score: 6 pregnancies, 5 losses, 2 amazing blessings that I'm thankful for every single day.
Busy is a good word for it. Good luck.
GREAT ADVISE!
Our two boys are extremely active. The love each other and try to kill each other but it is awesome.
I agree with what everyone else said, plus I will add that I think their individual personalities play a lare part in the dynamic. My boys are a little over 2 years apart and my older son NEEDS to be the center of attention at all times. He is a very spirited, strong willed child, so even by himself he is a lot of work and adding a second child has sort of made things a little crazy. My younger son is super laid back and go with the flow so I think if he was the older one, we would have had a much different dynamic when the 2nd came along.