Two Under 2 from the Other Side

MitoRachel

I've been lurking here and talking to my husband as we get ready to try for two under 2 and I thought he had some interesting comments. Background: DH is the 2nd of 8 kids with the oldest 5 being boys. The boys are spaced out pretty evenly at 21 months between each. First of all I find it telling that he wants two under 2 after experiencing it first hand. He also said that when you have siblings close in age you sort of grow up knowing that the world doesn't revolve around you and so you don't get a shock later on in life. All the boys are highly successful so I didn't take it as a "who cares what I do" comment, but just a fact of life. His dad was in the air force but I have never once heard DH mention being lonely with all of the moving that they did. In fact the real difficulty seems to be that brother 1 is on the autism spectrum and found the constant people interaction hard. As the wife I really enjoy that the boys' wives/steady girlfriends are so close to me in age and we get to go through the same stages in life together. I think sometimes it has been hard for the boys to join a sports team and have another brother or two already there, and the same goes for college, but they really do seem to enjoy each others company. I think they bring out the best and the worst in each other! 

 Anybody else have two under 2 stories from the kids' perspectives? 

celiabwatson

My younger brother and sister are 16 months apart. I'm almost 4 years older than my sister. The two of them are so much closer than I ever was with either one. They enjoyed going to school together (though they were 2 grade levels apart because of when their birthdays fell) and had a lot of the same friends. It was a little interesting being boy/girl vs same sex because there was some potential of dating each others' friends, but neither of them dated all that much. They partied together though, which was interesting. Overall I look at their relationship and I'm jealous and that's why we chose to have our 2u2. 

PepperStick

My parents had 5u5. (Last two were twins). It was really awesome growing up and always having someone to play and talk too. Me and my sister closest in age had a lot of the same friends through high school although we never hung out with friends outside of school together. We both felt awkward about that. And now me, her and my oldest sister all had kids within the same year.

I actually wish these two kiddos were closer in age. DD will be 23 months when DS is due. I wish they were 18/19 months apart.  

laura1

My sister and I are 11.5 months apart.  It was great always having someone to play with no matter what was going on - when we went on vacation, when we moved, we always had someone close in age to talk to!  It was a bit weird in the HS years, when my sister (the older one) really tried to act like the big sister, and never wanted to mix friends with me.  We actually fought a lot at that stage in our lives.  But after HS, things got better, and now we live in the same town (that we grew up in), and see each other often (like multiple times a week).  Our kids love hanging out together as well (she has a 7yo and 3yo, we have 3yo and 2yo).  

I am also a bit worried about baby #3, here (will be 2.5 years younger than DD).  My 2 (15 months apart) are SO close and get along so well - they do everything together and we are waiting until DD turns 3 to start them both in soccer and T-ball next year because we know that sending only one would be a disaster (for both DS who relies on his sister, and for DD who would be so mad to be left behind).  #3 is just going to have to get right in the mix with them!! 

MammaBear81

DH is #3 of four kids ( boys and one girl who is the youngest) and they are all 18 months apart.  DH LOVES that his siblings are close in age, he doesn't have a single complaint.  I'm sure he's looking at it through "rose colored glasses" a bit, because I know they didn't get along perfectly (a story about him turning his sisters door knob around, chasing her to her room and then locking her in it comes to mind) but they enjoy each others company/  Everyone is starting to "settle down" and have kids around now, and it's just really nice to have friends in your family, I'm sure there is more to it than just the spacing of the kids, but as mine get older I am able to find activities that suit more than just one child at at time, and it's really nice.

tulipblossom

My brother and I are about 18 months apart and have always been very close. We were always there for each other and our friends mixed well so hinge were fairly easy. Even as adults we are still very close. We were even roommates for about 3 years before he moved to another state. After DH saw how close my brother and I are he is the one who was more open to 2u2 than I was. He and his brother are 7 years apart and they get along but "its nothing like you and your brother" he says.

kewltif

I have a brother 21 months older than me and another a little over 2 years younger than me. I always thought it was a good age gap growing up. We were each two years apart in school. It seemed like we were all ready to do the same things around the same time. Like at a certain point we all started riding roller coasters and whatnot together. We learned to ride our bikes together, etc.