The very honest pros & cons of having our children close in age

I haven’t fully processed having 3 under 3 or 4 under 6, but here’s what it’s actually been like so far.

We had two under 2, three under 3, and then four just under 5 1/2.

We’re still in the thick of it with four boys ages 6, 4, 3, and 1… but so far we’ve lived to tell the tale. And I would never tell anyone else how to structure their family, but I’m happy to share the pros and cons of ours.

I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom of four (more on that here), but I didn’t have a grand plan for how close in age they would ideally be. I grew up as the oldest of four children spread across 8 years and 11 days, and my youngest brother Camden is now one of my best friends despite our different phases of life.

When our oldest son Teddy was around 7 or 8 months old, I felt the baby fever creeping back in. Honestly it felt like a relief to want to repeat the experience after battling hyperemesis and experiencing a challenging first delivery, and I felt beyond fortunate to recast the experience in such a positive light with our son Peter’s birth when Teddy was 18.5 months old.

Plenty of our friends shared similar two under 2 timing, but I’ll be honest and say that our transition from 1 to 2 kids humbled the sh*t out of me.